¹⁴ Like water^(A) spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die.^(B) But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person^(C) does not remain banished from him.

² So Joab sent someone to Tekoa^(A) and had a wise woman^(B) brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions.^(C) Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead.