2 Samuel 13–18

Chapter 13

Amnon and Tamar

¹Now it was after this that ^aAbsalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was ^bTamar, and ^cAmnon the son of David loved her.

²Amnon was so frustrated because of his sister Tamar that he made himself ill, for she was a virgin, and it seemed ¹hard to Amnon to do anything to her.

³But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of ^1aShimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd man.

⁴He said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Then Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.”

⁵Jonadab then said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill; when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me some food to eat, and let her prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat from her hand.’ ”

⁶So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and ^amake me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”

⁷Then David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, “Go now to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.”

⁸So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was lying down. And she took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.

⁹She took the pan and ¹dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “^aHave everyone go out from me.” So everyone went out from him.

¹⁰Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the ¹bedroom, that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her brother Amnon.

¹¹When she brought them to him to eat, he ^atook hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”

¹²But she answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for ^asuch a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this ^bdisgraceful thing!

¹³“As for me, where could I ¹get rid of my reproach? And as for you, you will be like one of the ²fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for ^ahe will not withhold me from you.”

¹⁴However, he would not listen to ¹her; since he was stronger than she, he ^aviolated her and lay with her.

¹⁵Then Amnon hated her with a very 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, “Get up, go away!”

¹⁶But she said to him, “No, because this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you have done to me!” Yet he would not listen to her.

¹⁷Then he called his young man who attended him and said, “Now throw this woman out of my presence, and lock the door behind her.”

¹⁸Now she had on ^aa ¹long-sleeved garment; for in this manner the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves in robes. Then his attendant took her out and locked the door behind her.

^19aTamar put ¹ashes on her head and ^btore her ²long-sleeved garment which was on her; and ^cshe put her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.

²⁰Then Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now keep silent, my sister, he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart.” So Tamar remained and was desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.

²¹Now when King David heard of all these matters, he was very angry.

²²But Absalom did not speak to Amnon ^aeither good or bad; for ^bAbsalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar.

²³Now it came about after two full years that Absalom ^ahad sheepshearers in Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

Absalom Avenges Tamar

²⁴Absalom came to the king and said, “Behold now, your servant has sheepshearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant.”

²⁵But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be burdensome to you.” Although he ¹urged him, he would not go, but blessed him.

²⁶Then ^aAbsalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”

²⁷But when Absalom ¹urged him, he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

²⁸Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “See now, ^awhen Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then put him to death. Do not fear; have not I myself commanded you? Be courageous and be ¹valiant.”

²⁹The servants of Absalom did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose and each mounted ^ahis mule and fled.

³⁰Now it was while they were on the way that the report came to David, saying, “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.”

³¹Then the king arose, ^atore his clothes and ^blay on the ground; and all his servants were standing by with clothes torn.

^32aJonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, ¹responded, “Do not let my lord ²suppose they have put to death all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon alone is dead; because by the ³intent of Absalom this has been determined since the day that he violated his sister Tamar.

³³“Now therefore, do not let my lord the king ^atake the report to ¹heart, namely, ‘all the king’s sons are dead,’ for only Amnon is dead.”

³⁴Now ^aAbsalom had fled. And ^bthe young man who was the watchman raised his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain.

³⁵Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king’s sons have come; according to your servant’s word, so it happened.”

³⁶As soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king’s sons came and lifted their voices and wept; and also the king and all his servants wept ¹very bitterly.

³⁷Now ^aAbsalom fled and went to ^bTalmai the son of Ammihud, the king of ^cGeshur. And David mourned for his son every day.

^38aSo Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, and was there three years.

³⁹The heart of King David longed to go out to Absalom; for ^ahe was comforted concerning Amnon, since he was dead.

Chapter 14

The Woman of Tekoa

¹Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that ^athe king’s heart was inclined toward Absalom.

²So Joab sent to ^aTekoa and ¹brought a wise woman from there and said to her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments now, and do not ^banoint yourself with oil, but be like a woman who has been mourning for the dead many days;

³then go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” So Joab put ^athe words in her mouth.

⁴Now when the woman of Tekoa ¹spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and ^aprostrated herself and said, “^bHelp, O king.”

⁵The king said to her, “What is your trouble?” And she ¹answered, “Truly I am a widow, for my husband is dead.

⁶“Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of them struggled together in the field, and there was no ¹one to separate them, so one struck the other and killed him.

⁷“Now behold, ^athe whole family has risen against your maidservant, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, ^band destroy the heir also.’ Thus they will extinguish my coal which is left, so as to ¹leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.”

⁸Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.”

⁹The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “O my lord, the king, ^athe iniquity is on me and my father’s house, but ^bthe king and his throne are guiltless.”

¹⁰So the king said, “Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you anymore.”

¹¹Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, ^aso that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son.” And he said, “^bAs the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

¹²Then the woman said, “Please let your maidservant speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.”

¹³The woman said, “^aWhy then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back ^bhis banished one.

¹⁴“For ^awe will surely die and are ^blike water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but plans ¹ways so that ^cthe banished one will not be cast out from him.

¹⁵“Now ¹the reason I have come to speak this word to my lord the king is that the people have made me afraid; so your maidservant said, ‘Let me now speak to the king, perhaps the king will perform the ²request of his maidservant.

¹⁶‘For the king will hear ¹and deliver his maidservant from the ²hand of the man who would destroy ³both me and my son from ^athe inheritance of God.’

¹⁷“Then your maidservant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king be ¹comforting, for as ^athe angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and evil. And may the Lord your God be with you.’ ”

¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide anything from me that I am about to ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king please speak.”

¹⁹So the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman replied, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. Indeed, it was ^ayour servant Joab who commanded me, and it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant;

²⁰in order to change the appearance of things your servant Joab has done this thing. But my lord is wise, ^alike the wisdom of the angel of God, to know all that is in the earth.”

Absalom Is Recalled

²¹Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, ^aI will surely do this thing; go therefore, bring back the young man Absalom.”

²²Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrated himself and blessed the king; then Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, O my lord, the king, in that the king has performed the ¹…