2 Samuel 14

1 Y CONOCIENDO Joab hijo de Sarvia, que el corazón del rey estaba por Absalom,

And Joab the son of Saruia knew that the heart of the king was towards Abessalom.

2 Envió Joab á Tecoa, y tomó de allá una mujer astuta, y díjole: Yo te ruego que te enlutes, y te vistas de ropas de luto, y no te unjas con óleo, antes sé como mujer que ha mucho tiempo que trae luto por [algún] muerto;

And Joab sent to Thecoe, and took thence a cunning woman, and said to her, Mourn, I pray you, and put on mourning apparel, and anoint you not with oil, and you shall be as a woman mourning for one that is dead thus for many days.

3 Y entrando al rey, habla con él de esta manera. Y puso Joab las palabras en su boca.

And you shall go to the king, and speak to him according to this word. And Joab put the words in her mouth.

4 Entró pues aquella mujer de Tecoa al rey, y postrándose en tierra sobre su rostro hizo reverencia, y dijo: Oh rey, salva.

So the woman of Thecoe went in to the king and fell upon her face to the earth, and did him obeisance, and said, Help, O king, help.

5 Y el rey le dijo: ¿Qué tienes? Y ella respondió: Yo á la verdad soy una mujer viuda y mi marido es muerto.

And the king said to her, What is the matter with you? And she said, I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.

6 Y tu sierva tenía dos hijos y los dos riñeron en el campo; y no habiendo quien los despartiese, hirió el uno al otro, y matólo.

And moreover your handmaid had two sons, and they fought together in the field, and there was no one to part them; and the one struck the other his brother, and killed him.

7 Y he aquí toda la parentela se ha levantado contra tu sierva, diciendo: Entrega al que mató á su hermano, para que le hagamos morir por la vida de su hermano á quien él mató, y quitemos también el heredero. Así apagarán el ascua que me ha quedado, no dejando á mi marido nombre ni reliquia sobre la tierra.

And behold the whole family rose up against your handmaid, and they said, Give up the one that struck his brother, and we will put him to death for the life of his brother, whom he killed, and we will take away even your heir: so they will quench my coal that is left, so as not to leave my husband remnant or name on the face of the earth.

8 Entonces el rey dijo á la mujer: Vete á tu casa, que yo mandaré acerca de ti.

And the king said to the woman, Go in peace to your house, and I will give commandment concerning you.

9 Y la mujer de Tecoa dijo al rey: Rey señor mío, la maldad sea sobre mí y sobre la casa de mi padre; mas el rey y su trono sin culpa.

And the woman of Thecoe said to the king, On me, my lord, O king, and on my father's house [be] the iniquity, and the king and his throne [be] guiltless.

10 Y el rey dijo: Al que hablare contra ti, tráelo á mí, que no te tocará más.

And the king said, Who was it that spoke to you? you shall even bring him to me, and [one] shall not touch him any more.

11 Dijo ella entonces: Ruégote, oh rey, que te acuerdes de Jehová tu Dios, que no dejes á los cercanos de la sangre aumentar el daño con destruir á mi hijo. Y él respondió: Vive Jehová, que no caerá ni un cabello de la cabeza de tu hijo en tierra.

And she said, Let now the king remember concerning his Lord God in that the avenger of blood is multiplied to destroy, and let them not take away my son. And he said, [As] the lord lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground.

12 Y la mujer dijo: Ruégote que hable tu criada una palabra á mi señor el rey. Y él dijo: Habla.

And the woman said, Let now your servant speak a word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

13 Entonces la mujer dijo: ¿Por qué pues piensas tú otro tanto contra el pueblo de Dios? que hablando el rey esta palabra, es como culpado, por cuanto el rey no hace volver á su fugitivo.

And the woman said, Why have you devised this thing against the people of God? or [is] this word out of the king's mouth as a transgression, so that the king should not bring back his banished?

14 Porque de cierto morimos, y somos como aguas derramadas por tierra, que no pueden volver á recogerse: ni Dios quita la vida, sino que arbitra medio para que su desviado no sea de él excluído.

For we shall surely die, and be as water poured upon the earth, which shall not be gathered up, and God shall take the life, even as he devises to thrust forth from him his outcast.

15 Y que yo he venido ahora para decir esto al rey mi señor, es porque el pueblo me ha puesto miedo. Mas tu sierva dijo: Hablaré ahora al rey: quizá él hará lo que su sierva diga.

And now whereas I came to speak this word to my lord the king, [the reason is] that the people will see me, and your handmaid will say, Let one now speak to my lord the king, if perhaps the king will perform the request of his handmaid;

16 Pues el rey oirá, para librar á su sierva de mano del hombre que me quiere raer á mí, y á mi hijo juntamente, de la heredad de Dios.

for the king will hear. Let him rescue his handmaid out of the hand of the man that seeks to cast out me and my son from the inheritance of God.

17 Tu sierva pues dice: Que sea ahora la respuesta de mi señor el rey para descanso; pues que mi señor el rey es como un ángel de Dios para escuchar lo bueno y lo malo. Así Jehová tu Dios sea contigo.

And the woman said, If now the word of my lord the king be gracious, —[well]: for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king, to hear good and evil: and the Lord your God shall be with you.

18 Entonces él respondió, y dijo á la mujer: Yo te ruego que no me encubras nada de lo que yo te preguntare. Y la mujer dijo: Hable mi señor el rey.

And the king answered, and said to the woman, Hide not from me, I pray you, the matter which I ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king by all means speak.

19 Y el rey dijo: ¿No ha sido la mano de Joab contigo en todas estas cosas? Y la mujer respondió y dijo: Vive tu alma, rey señor mío, que no hay que apartarse á derecha ni á izquierda de todo lo que mi señor el rey ha hablado: porque tu siervo Joab, él me mandó, y él puso en boca de tu sierva todas estas palabras;

And the king said, [Is] not the hand of Joab in all this matter with you? and the woman said to the king, [As] your soul lives, my lord, O king, there is no turning to the right hand or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab himself charged me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid.

20 Y que trocara la forma de las palabras, Joab tu siervo lo ha hecho: mas mi señor es sabio, conforme á la sabiduría de un ángel de Dios, para conocer lo que hay en la tierra.

In order that this form of speech might come about [it was] that your servant Joab has framed this matter: and my lord is wise as [is] the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.

21 Entonces el rey dijo á Joab: He aquí yo hago esto: ve, y haz volver al mozo Absalom.

And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done to you according to this your word: go, bring back the young man Abessalom.

22 Y Joab se postró en tierra sobre su rostro, é hizo reverencia, y después que bendijo al rey, dijo: Hoy ha entendido tu siervo que he hallado gracia en tus ojos, rey señor mío; pues que ha hecho el rey lo que su siervo ha dicho.

And Joab fell on his face to the ground, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, To-day your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, for my lord the king has performed the request of his servant.

23 Levantóse luego Joab, y fué á Gessur, y volvió á Absalom á Jerusalem.

And Joab arose, and went to Gedsur, and brought Abessalom to Jerusalem.

24 Mas el rey dijo: Váyase á su casa, y no vea mi rostro. Y volvióse Absalom á su casa, y no vió el rostro del rey.

And the king said, Let him return to his house, and not see my face. And Abessalom returned to his house, and saw not the king's face.

25 Y no había en todo Israel hombre tan hermoso como Absalom, de alabar en gran manera: desde la planta de su pie hasta la mollera no había en él defecto.

And there was not a man in Israel so very comely as Abessalom: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

26 Y cuando se cortaba el cabello, (lo cual hacía al fin de cada año, pues le causaba molestia, y por eso se lo cortaba), pesaba el cabello de su cabeza doscientos siclos de peso real.

And when he polled his head, (and it was at the beginning of every year that he polled it, because it grew, heavy upon him, ) even when he polled it, he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels according to the royal shekel.

27 Y Naciéronle á Absalom tres hijos, y una hija que se llamó Thamar, la cual era hermosa de ver.

And there were born to Abessalom three sons and one daughter, and her name was Themar: she was a very beautiful woman, and she becomes the wife of Roboam son of Solomon, and she bears to him Abia.

28 Y estuvo Absalom por espacio de dos años en Jerusalem, y no vió la cara del rey.

And Abessalom remained in Jerusalem two full years, and he saw not the king's face.

29 Y mandó Absalom por Joab, para enviarlo al rey; mas no quiso venir á él; ni aunque envió por segunda vez, quiso él venir.

And Abessalom sent to Joab to bring him in to the king, and he would not come to him: and he sent to him the second time, and he would not come.

30 Entonces dijo á sus siervos: Bien sabéis las tierras de Joab junto á mi lugar, donde tiene sus cebadas; id, y pegadles fuego; y los siervos de Absalom pegaron fuego á las tierras.

And Abessalom said to his servants, Behold, Joab's portion in the field [is] next to mine, and he has in it barley; go and set it on fire. And the servants of Abessalom set the field on fire: and the servants of Joab come to him with their clothes tore, and they said to him, The servants of Abessalom have set the field on fire.

31 Levantóse por tanto Joab, y vino á Absalom á su casa, y díjole: ¿Por qué han puesto fuego tus siervos á mis tierras?

And Joab arose, and came to Abessalom into the house, and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?

32 Y Absalom respondió á Joab: He aquí, yo he enviado por ti, diciendo que vinieses acá, á fin de enviarte yo al rey á que le dijeses: ¿Para qué vine de Gessur? mejor me fuera estar aún allá. Vea yo ahora la cara del rey; y si hay en mí pecado, máteme.

And Abessalom said to Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come hither, and I will send you to the king, saying, Why did I come out of Gedsur? it would have been better for me to have remained there: and now, behold, I have not seen the face of the king; but if there is iniquity in me, then put me to death.

33 Vino pues Joab al rey, é hízoselo saber. Entonces llamó á Absalom, el cual vino al rey, é inclinó su rostro á tierra delante del rey: y el rey besó á Absalom.

And Joab went in to the king, and brought him word: and he called Abessalom, and he went in to the king, and did him obeisance, and fell upon his face to the ground, even in the presence of the king; and the king kissed Abessalom.