10. King David said, “Bring me anyone who says anything bad to you. Then he won’t bother you again.”
11. The woman said, “Please promise in the name of the Lord your God. Then my relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer won’t add to the destruction. And he won’t kill my son.”David said, “As surely as the Lord lives, no one will hurt your son. Not even one hair from your son’s head will fall to the ground.”
12. The woman said, “Let me say something to you, my master and king.”The king said, “Speak.”
13. Then the woman said, “Why have you planned this? It is against the people of God. When you say this, you show that you are guilty. You have not brought back your son whom you forced to leave home.
14. We will all die some day. We’re like water spilled on the ground. No one can gather it back. But God doesn’t take away life. Instead, he plans ways that those who have been sent away will not have to stay away from him!
15. My master and king, I came to say this to you because the people have made me afraid! I thought, ‘Let me talk to the king. Maybe he will do what I ask.
16. Maybe he will listen. Perhaps he will save me from the man who wants to kill both me and my son. That man is trying to keep us from getting what God gave us.’
17. “Now I say, ‘May the words of my master the king give me rest. Like an angel of God, you know what is good and what is bad. May the Lord your God be with you!’”