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¹ Ioab the sonne of Ieru Ia perceaued yt the kynges hert was agaynst Absalom,² and sent vnto Thecoa, and caused to fetch from thence a prudent woman and saide vnto her: Make lametacion, and weere mournynge garmentes, & anoynte the not with oyle: but fayne thy selfe as a woman which hath mourned longe ouer a deed,³ and thou shalt go in to the kynge, and speake for so vnto him. And Ioab tolde her what she shulde saye.⁴ And whan the woman of Thecoa wolde speake with the kynge, she fell vpon hir face to the grounde, and worshipped, and sayde: Helpe me O kynge.⁵ The kynge sayde vnto her: What ayleth the? She sayde: I am a wedowe, a woman that mourneth, and my hußbade is deed.⁶ And thy handmayde had two sonnes, which stroue together in the felde: and whyle there was noman to parte the a sunder, the one smote the other, and slewe him.⁷ And beholde, all the whole kynred ryseth vp agaynst thy handmayden, and saye: Delyuer him which hath smytten his brother, that we maye kyll him, for the soule of his brother whom he hath slayne, and that we maye destroye the heyre also. And thus are they mynded to put out my sparke, which yet is lefte, that there shulde no name ner eny thinge els remayne ouer vnto my hußbade vpon earth.⁸ The kynge sayde vnto the woman: Go ye waye home, I wil geue a comaudemet for ye.⁹ And the woman of Thecoa saide vnto ye kynge: The trespace be vpon me (my lorde ye kynge) and vpon my fathers house: but the kynge and his seate be vngiltye.¹⁰ The kynge sayde: He that speaketh agaynst the, brynge him vnto me, so shall he touch the nomore.¹¹ She sayde: Let the kynge thynke vpon the LORDE his God, that there be not to many auengers of bloude to destroye, and that they brynge not my sonne to naught. He sayde: As truly as the LORDE lyueth, there shall not one heer of thy sonne fall vpon the earth.¹² And the woman sayde: Let thy handmayde speake somwhat to my lorde the kynge. He sayde: speake on.¹³ The woman sayde: Wherfore hast thou deuised soch a thinge agaynst the people of God? And how happeneth it that the kynge speaketh soch, to make himselfe giltie, and causeth not his outlawe to be broughte agayne?¹⁴ For we all dye the death, and as the water that sinketh in to the earth, which is not taken vp. And God will not take awaye the lyfe, but vnbethynketh himselfe, yt euen the very outlawe be not cleane thrust out from him.¹⁵ Thus am I come also to speake this to my lorde the kynge in the presence of the people, for thy handmayden thoughte: I wyll speake to the kynge, peraduenture he shall do that his handmayden sayeth,¹⁶ for he shall heare his handmayden, to delyuer me from the hande of all them, that wolde destroye me with my sonne from the enheritaunce of God.¹⁷ And thy handmayden thoughte, ye worde of my lorde the kynge shall be as a meatofferynge, for my lorde the kinge is as an angell of God, so that he can heare good and euell, therfore shall the LORDE thy God be with the.¹⁸ The kynge answered and sayde vnto the woman: Kepe nothynge fro me that I axe the. The woman sayde: Let my lorde the kinge speake on.¹⁹ The kynge sayde: Is not the hande of Ioab with the in all this? The woman answered and sayde: As truly as thy soule lyueth (my lorde O kynge,) there is els noman nether at the righte hande ner at ye lefte, but euen as my LORDE the kynge hath sayde, for thy seruaunt Ioab hath commaunded me, and he himselfe hath taughte thy handmayden all these wordes,²⁰ that I shulde turne this matter of this faßshio, this hath Ioab thy seruaunt done. But my lorde is wyse, as the wyßdome of an angell of God, so that he knoweth all thynges vpon earth.

²¹ Then sayde the kynge vnto Ioab: Beholde, I haue done this: go thy waye therfore and brynge the childe Absalom agayne.²² Then fell Ioab vpon his face vnto the grounde, and worshipped, and thanked the kynge, and sayde: This daye doth thy seruaunt perceaue, that I haue founde grace in thy syghte my lorde the kynge, in that the kynge doth as his seruaunt hath sayde.²³ So Ioab gat him vp, and wente vnto Gesur, and broughte Absalom to Ierusalem.²⁴ But the kinge sayde: Let him go againe in to his house, and not se my face. Thus Absalom came agayne to his house, and sawe not ye kynges face.²⁵ But in all Israel there was not so fayre, and so maruelous goodly a man, as Absalom. From the sole of his fote vnto the toppe of his heade there was not one blemysh in him.²⁶ And whan his heade was rounded (that was comonly euery yeare, for it was to heuy for him, so that it must nedes haue bene rounded) the heer of his heade weyed two hudreth Sicles after ye kynges weight.²⁷ And vnto Absalom there were borne thre sonnes and one doughter, whose name was Thamar, and she was a woman of a fayre bewtye:

²⁸ So Absalom abode two yeare at Ierusalem, and sawe not the kynges face.²⁹ And Absalom sent for Ioab, that he mighte sende him to the kynge. And he wolde not come to him. But he sent the seconde tyme, yet wolde he not come.³⁰ Then sayde he vnto his seruauntes: Ye knowe Ioabs pece of londe that lyeth by myne, and he hath barlye theron: go youre waye therfore and set fyre vpon it. So Absaloms seruauntes sett fyre vpon Ioabs pece of londe.³¹ Then Ioab gat him vp, and came to Absalom in to the house, and sayde vnto him: Wherfore haue thy seruauntes set fire vpon my pece of londe?³² Absalo sayde vnto Ioab: Beholde, I sent for the, and caused to saye vnto the: Come hither, that I maye sende the to the kynge, and to saye: Wherfore came I from Gesur? It were better for me that I were there yet. Let me therfore se the kynges face. But yf there be eny trespace in me, then put me to death.³³ And Ioab wente in to the kynge, and tolde him. And he called Absalom, to come in to the kynge, and he worshipped vpon his face to the grounge before the kynge. And the kynge kyssed Absalom.