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King David asked her, “What is the matter?”

The woman said, “I am a widow. My husband is dead. I had two sons. They were out in the field fighting. No one was there to stop them. So one son killed the other son. Now all the family group is against me. They said to me, ‘Bring the son who killed his brother. Then we will kill him for killing his brother. That way we will also get rid of the one who would receive what belonged to his father.’ My son is like the last spark of a fire. He is all I have left. If they kill him, my husband’s name and property will be gone from the earth.”

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Then the king said to her, “What troubles you?”

And she answered, (A)“Indeed I am a widow, my husband is dead. Now your maidservant had two sons; and the two fought with each other in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other and killed him. And now the whole family has risen up against your maidservant, and they said, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him (B)for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also.’ So they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the earth.”

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And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, (A)“Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would (B)destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor (C)remnant on the face of the earth.”

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