"A king who limps, and The King who Conquers" (2 Samuel 13:39-14:17) 2/09/25

2 Samuel 13:39-14:17 (ESV) 39And the spirit of the kinglonged to go outto Absalom, becausehe was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead. Absalom Returns to Jerusalem 14Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knewthat the king's heart went out to Absalom.2And Joab sent toTekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments.Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead.3Go to the king and speak thus to him. So Joabput the words in her mouth. 4When the woman of Tekoa came to the king,she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said,Save me, O king.5And the king said to her, What is your trouble? She answered,Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead.6And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.7And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed. And so they woulddestroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name norremnant on the face of the earth. 8Then the king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.9And the woman of Tekoa said to the king,On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.10The king said, If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.11Then she said, Please let the king invoke theLordyour God, thatthe avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed. He said,As theLordlives,not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground. 12Then the woman said, Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king. He said, Speak.13And the woman said, Why then have you planned such a thing againstthe people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bringhis banished one home again.14We must all die; we arelike water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises meansso that the banished one will not remain an outcast.15Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.16For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together fromthe heritage of God.17And your servant thought, The word of my lord the king will set me at rest, for my lord the king islike the angel of God to discern good and evil. TheLordyour God be with you!