2 Samuel 13:1–22

Amnon and Tamar

13After this ^aAbsalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name was ^bTamar; and ^cAmnon the son of David loved her. ²Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she was a virgin. And it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her. ³But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab ^dthe son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Now Jonadab was a very crafty man. ⁴And he said to him, “Why are you, the king’s son, becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me?”

Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

⁵So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’ ” ⁶Then Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let Tamar my sister come and ^emake a couple of cakes for me in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”

⁷And David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Now go 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. Then she took flour and kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes. ⁹And she took the pan and placed them out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, ^f“Have everyone go out from me.” And they all went out from him. ¹⁰Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them to Amnon her brother in the bedroom. ¹¹Now when she had brought them to him to eat, ^ghe took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”

¹²But she answered him, “No, my brother, do not ¹force me, for ^hno such thing should be done in Israel. Do not do this ⁱdisgraceful thing! ¹³And I, where could I take my shame? And as for you, you would be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; ^jfor he will not withhold me from you.” ¹⁴However, he would not heed her voice; and being stronger than she, he ^kforced her and lay with her.

¹⁵Then Amnon hated her ²exceedingly, so that 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!”

¹⁶So she said to him, “No, indeed! This evil of sending me away is worse than the other that you did to me.”

But he would not listen to her. ¹⁷Then he called his servant who attended him, and said, “Here! Put this woman out, away from me, and bolt the door behind her.” ¹⁸Now she had on ^la robe of many colors, for the king’s virgin daughters wore such apparel. And his servant put her out and bolted the door behind her.

¹⁹Then Tamar put ^mashes on her head, and tore her robe of many colors that was on her, and ⁿlaid her hand on her head and went away crying bitterly. ²⁰And Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this thing to heart.” So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.

²¹But when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. ²²And Absalom spoke to his brother Amnon ^oneither good nor bad. For Absalom ^phated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.