1. And Joab the son of Sarvia, understanding that the king's heart was turned to Absalom,
2. Sent to Thecua, and fetched from thence a wise woman: and said to her: Feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, and be not anointed with oil, that thou mayest be as a woman that had a long time been mourning for one dead.
3. And thou shalt go in to the king, and shalt speak to him in this manner. And Joab put the words in her mouth.
4. And when the woman of Thecua was come in to the king, she fell before him upon the ground, and worshipped, and said: Save me, O king.
5. And the king said to her: What is the matter with thee? She answered: Alas, I am a widow woman: for my husband is dead.
6. And thy handmaid had two sons: and they quarrelled with each other in the field, and there was none to part them: and the one struck the other, and slew him.
7. And behold the whole kindred rising against thy handmaid, saith: Deliver him that hath slain his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother, whom he slew, and that we may destroy the heir: and they seek to quench my spark which is left, and will leave my husband no name, nor remainder upon the earth.
8. And the king said to the woman: Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee.