18. The king answered the woman, "I must ask you something—don’t hide anything from me!"The woman said, "Please, my master and king, speak."
19. So the king said, "Has Joab put you up to this?"The woman answered, "As surely as you live, my master and king, no one can deviate a bit from whatever my master and king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who directed me, and it was Joab who told your female servant to say all these things.
20. Your servant Joab did this to change the way things look. But my master’s wisdom is like the wisdom of one of God’s own messengers—he knows everything that takes place in the land."
21. So the king said to Joab, "All right then. I will do it. Go and bring back my boy Absalom."
22. Joab fell facedown, bowing low out of respect, and he blessed the king."Today your servant knows that you think well of me, my master and king," Joab said, "because the king has followed up on his servant’s recommendation."
23. So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.
24. The king said, "He must go straight to his own house. He must not see my face." So Absalom went straight to his own house and did not see the king.
25. No man throughout Israel was as praised for his good looks as Absalom. From the soles of his feet to the crown of his head there was nothing wrong with him.
26. When he shaved his head—he had to shave his head at the end of each year because his hair was so heavy that he had to shave it—the weight of the hair from his head was two hundred shekels by the royal weight.
27. Absalom had three sons and one daughter. The daughter’s name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman.
28. Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without ever seeing the king’s face.
29. Absalom called for Joab in order to send Joab to the king, but Joab refused to come. Absalom called for Joab a second time, but he still wouldn’t come.
30. So Absalom said to his servants, "Look, Joab’s property is next to mine. He has barley there. Go and set it on fire." So Absalom’s servants set the property on fire. Then Joab’s servants went to Joab with their clothes torn. "Absalom’s servants set the property on fire," they said.
31. So Joab went straight to Absalom’s house and said to him, "Why have your servants set my property on fire?"