17 and thy maid-servant saith, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be for ease; for as a messenger of God so [is] my lord the king, to understand the good and the evil; and Jehovah thy God is with thee.'
18 And the king answereth and saith unto the woman, `Do not, I pray thee, hide from me the thing that I am asking thee;' and the woman saith, `Let, I pray thee, my lord the king speak.'
19 And the king saith, `Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this?' And the woman answereth and saith, `Thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, none [doth turn] to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king hath spoken; for thy servantJoab he commanded me, and he put in the mouth of thy maid-servant all these words;
20 in order to bring round the appearance of the thing hath thy servant Joab done this thing, and my lord [is] wise, according to the wisdom of a messenger of God, to know all that [is] in the land.'
21 And the king saith unto Joab, `Lo, I pray thee, thou hast done this thing; and go, bring back the young man Absalom.'
22 And Joab falleth on his face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and blesseth the king, and Joab saith, `To-day hath thy servant known that I have found grace in thine eyes, my lord, O king, in that the king hath done the word of his servant.'
23 And Joab riseth and goeth to Geshur, and bringeth in Absalom to Jerusalem,