2 Samuel 12–13

Chapter 12

¹And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ²The rich had very many flocks and herds; ³but the poor man had nothing at all, but one little ewe lamb which he had bought, and was nourishing; and it grew up with him, and together with his children: it ate of his morsel, and drank of his own cup, and slept in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter. ⁴And there came a traveller to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that had come to him; and he took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him. ⁵Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this thing is worthy of death; ⁶and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. ⁷And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man! Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. ⁹Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah to do evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Urijah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. ¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urijah the Hittite to be thy wife. ¹¹Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. ¹²For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. ¹³And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said to David, Jehovah has also put away thy sin: thou shalt not die. ¹⁴Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, even the child that is born to thee shall certainly die.

¹⁵And Nathan departed to his house. And Jehovah smote the child that Urijah’s wife bore to David, and it became very sick. ¹⁶And David besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the earth. ¹⁷And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, and he ate no bread with them. ¹⁸And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice; and how shall we say to him, The child is dead? he may do some harm. ¹⁹But David saw that his servants whispered, and David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. ²⁰Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing, and entered into the house of Jehovah and worshipped; then he came to his own house and required them to set bread before him, and he ate. ²¹And his servants said to him, What thing is this which thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child alive; but as soon as the child is dead, thou dost rise and eat bread. ²²And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, Who knows? perhaps Jehovah will be gracious to me, that the child may live. ²³But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. ²⁴And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her; and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon; and Jehovah loved him. ²⁵And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah’s sake.

²⁶And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. ²⁷And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. ²⁸And now gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city and take it: lest I take the city and it be called by my name. ²⁹And David gathered all the people, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it and took it. ³⁰And he took the crown of their king from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold with the precious stones; and it was set on David’s head; and he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance. ³¹And he brought out the people that were in it, and put them under the saw, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkilns. And so did he to all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Chapter 13

¹And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David having a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar, Amnon the son of David loved her. ²And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed difficult for Amnon to do the least thing to her. ³And Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd man. ⁴And he said to him, Why dost thou, the king’s son, get thinner from morning to morning? Wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister. ⁵And Jonadab said to him, Lay thee down on thy bed and feign thyself sick; and when thy father comes to see thee, say to him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me food, and dress the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it from her hand. ⁶So Amnon lay down and feigned himself sick; and the king came to see him, and Amnon said to the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand. ⁷And David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go, I pray thee, to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him food. ⁸And Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he had lain down. And she took flour and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes. ⁹And she took the pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Put every man out from me. And they went out every man from him. ¹⁰And Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the dish into the chamber, that I may eat of thy hand. And Tamar took the cakes that she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. ¹¹And she presented them to him to eat; and he took hold of her, and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister. ¹²And she said to him, No, my brother, do not humble me; for no such thing is done in Israel: do not this infamy. ¹³And I, whither shall I carry my reproach? and thou wouldest be as one of the infamous in Israel. And now, I pray thee, speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from thee. ¹⁴But he would not hearken to her voice, and was stronger than she, and humbled her and lay with her. ¹⁵And Amnon hated her with an exceeding great hatred, for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, Arise, be gone. ¹⁶And she said to him, There is no cause for this evil in sending me away, which is greater than the other that thou didst to me. But he would not hearken to her. ¹⁷Then he called his young man that attended upon him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her. ¹⁸Now she had a vest of many colours upon her; for so were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. And his attendant brought her out, and bolted the door after her. ¹⁹And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her vest of many colours which was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went away, crying out as she went. ²⁰And Absalom her brother said to her, Has Amnon thy brother been with thee? and now, my sister, be still: he is thy brother; take not this thing to heart. And Tamar remained, and that desolate, in her brother Absalom’s house.

²¹And king David heard of all these things, and he was very angry. ²²And Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had humbled his sister Tamar. ²³And it came to pass after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-Hazor, which is beside Ephraim; and Absalom invited all the king’s sons. ²⁴And Absalom came to the king, and said, Behold, now, thy servant has sheepshearers; let the king, I pray thee, and his servants go with thy servant. ²⁵And the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to thee. And he urged him, but he would not go; and he blessed him. ²⁶And Absalom said, If not, I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Why should he go with thee? ²⁷But Absalom pressed him; and he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him. ²⁸And Absalom commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, Smite Amnon; then slay him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant. ²⁹And the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and they rode each upon his mule and fled.

³⁰And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom has smitten all the king’s sons, and there is not one of them left. ³¹Then the king arose, and rent his garments, and lay on the earth; and all his servants stood by with their garments rent. ³²And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men the king’s sons; for Amnon only is dead; for by the…