1. Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was toward Absalom.
2. Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, “Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and don’t anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead.
3. Go in to the king, and speak like this to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth.
4. When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, showed respect, and said, “Help, O king!”
5. The king said to her, “What ails you?” She answered, “Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead.