1 Joab son of Zeruiah observed that the king’s mind was on Absalom.
2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to bring a clever woman from there. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don’t put on any oil. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time.
3 Go to the king and speak these words to him.” Then Joab told her exactly what to say.
4 When the woman from Tekoa came to the king, she fell with her face to the ground in homage and said, “Help me, my king! ”
5 “What’s the matter? ” the king asked her.“To tell the truth, I am a widow; my husband died,” she said.
6 “Your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.