2 Samuel 12–13

¹And Jehovah sendeth Nathan unto David, and he cometh unto him, and saith to him: ‘Two men have been in one city; One rich and one poor; ²The rich hath flocks and herds very many; ³And the poor one hath nothing, Except one little ewe-lamb, Which he hath bought, and keepeth alive, And it groweth up with him, And with his sons together; Of his morsel it eateth, And from his cup it drinketh, And in his bosom it lieth, And it is to him as a daughter; ⁴And there cometh a traveller to the rich man, And he spareth to take Of his own flock, and of his own herd, To prepare for the traveller Who hath come to him, And he taketh the ewe-lamb of the poor man, And prepareth it for the man Who hath come unto him.’ ⁵And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, ‘Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death is the man who is doing this, ⁶and the ewe-lamb he doth repay fourfold, because that he hath done this thing, and because that he had no pity.’ ⁷And Nathan saith unto David, ‘Thou art the man! Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I anointed thee for king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸and I give to thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord, into thy bosom, and I give to thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if little, then I add to thee such and such things.

⁹‘Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do the evil thing in His eyes? Uriah the Hittite thou hast smitten by the sword, and his wife thou hast taken to thee for a wife, and him thou hast slain by the sword of the Bene-Ammon.

¹⁰‘And now, the sword doth not turn aside from thy house unto the age, because thou hast despised Me, and dost take the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be to thee for a wife; ¹¹thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am raising up against thee evil, out of thy house, and have taken thy wives before thine eyes, and given to thy neighbour, and he hath lain with thy wives before the eyes of this sun; ¹²for thou hast done it in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ ¹³And David saith unto Nathan, ‘I have sinned against Jehovah.’ And Nathan saith unto David, ‘Also—Jehovah hath caused thy sin to pass away; thou dost not die; ¹⁴only, because thou hast caused the enemies of Jehovah greatly to despise by this thing, also the son who is born to thee doth surely die.’

¹⁵And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable; ¹⁶and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth. ¹⁷And the elders of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he hath not been willing, nor hath he eaten with them bread; ¹⁸and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the lad dieth, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the lad is dead, for they said, ‘Lo, in the lad being alive we spake unto him, and he did not hearken to our voice; and how do we say unto him, The lad is dead?—then he hath done evil.’ ¹⁹And David seeth that his servants are whispering, and David understandeth that the lad is dead, and David saith unto his servants, ‘Is the lad dead?’ and they say, ‘Dead.’ ²⁰And David riseth from the earth, and doth bathe and anoint himself, and changeth his raiment, and cometh in to the house of Jehovah, and boweth himself, and cometh unto his house, and asketh and they place for him bread, and he eateth. ²¹And his servants say unto him, ‘What is this thing thou hast done? because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.’ ²²And he saith, ‘While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth?—Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived; ²³and now, he hath died, why is this—I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.’ ²⁴And David comforteth Bath-Sheba his wife, and goeth in unto her, and lieth with her, and she beareth a son, and he calleth his name Solomon; and Jehovah hath loved him, ²⁵and sendeth by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calleth his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah.

²⁶And Joab fighteth against Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and captureth the royal city, ²⁷and Joab sendeth messengers unto David, and saith, ‘I have fought against Rabbah—also I have captured the city of waters; ²⁸and now, gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and capture it, lest I capture the city, and my name hath been called upon it.’ ²⁹And David gathereth all the people, and goeth to Rabbah, and fighteth against it, and captureth it; ³⁰and he taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and its weight is a talent of gold, and precious stones, and it is on the head of David; and the spoil of the city he hath brought out, very much; ³¹and the people who are in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron, and hath caused them to pass over into the brick-kiln; and so he doth to all the cities of the Bene-Ammon; and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.

Chapter 13

¹And it cometh to pass afterwards that Absalom son of David hath a fair sister, and her name is Tamar, and Amnon son of David loveth her. ²And Amnon hath distress—even to become sick, because of Tamar his sister, for she is a virgin, and it is hard in the eyes of Amnon to do anything to her. ³And Amnon hath a friend, and his name is Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David’s brother, and Jonadab is a very wise man, ⁴and saith to him, ‘Wherefore art thou thus lean, O king’s son, morning by morning? dost thou not declare to me?’ And Amnon saith to him, ‘Tamar—sister of Absalom my brother—I am loving.’ ⁵And Jonadab saith to him, ‘Lie down on thy couch, and feign thyself sick, and thy father hath come in to see thee, and thou hast said unto him, ‘Let, I pray thee, Tamar my sister come in and give me bread to eat; and she hath made the food before mine eyes so that I see it, and have eaten from her hand.’ ⁶And Amnon lieth down, and feigneth himself sick, and the king cometh in to see him, and Amnon saith unto the king, ‘Let, I pray thee, Tamar my sister come, and she maketh before mine eyes two cakes, and I eat from her hand.’ ⁷And David sendeth unto Tamar, to the house, saying, ‘Go, I pray thee, to the house of Amnon thy brother, and make for him food.’ ⁸And Tamar goeth to the house of Amnon her brother, and he is lying down, and she taketh the dough, and kneadeth, and maketh cakes before his eyes, and cooketh the cakes, ⁹and taketh the frying-pan, and poureth out before him, and he refuseth to eat, and Amnon saith, ‘Take ye out every one from me;’ and they go out every one from him. ¹⁰And Amnon saith unto Tamar, ‘Bring the food into the inner chamber, and I eat from thy hand;’ and Tamar taketh the cakes that she hath made, and bringeth in to Amnon her brother, into the inner chamber, ¹¹and she bringeth nigh unto him to eat, and he layeth hold on her, and saith to her, ‘Come, lie with me, my sister.’ ¹²And she saith to him, ‘Nay, my brother, do not humble me, for it is not done so in Israel; do not this folly. ¹³And I—whither do I cause my reproach to go? and thou—thou art as one of the fools in Israel; and now, speak, I pray thee, unto the king; for he doth not withhold me from thee.’ ¹⁴And he hath not been willing to hearken to her voice, and is stronger than she, and humbleth her, and lieth with her. ¹⁵And Amnon hateth her—a very great hatred—that greater is the hatred with which he hath hated her than the love with which he loved her, and Amnon saith to her, ‘Rise, go.’ ¹⁶And she saith to him, ‘Because of the circumstances this evil is greater than the other that thou hast done with me—to send me away;’ and he hath not been willing to hearken to her, ¹⁷and calleth his young man, his servant, and saith, ‘Send away, I pray thee, this one from me without, and bolt the door after her;’ ¹⁸—and upon her is a long coat, for such upper robes do daughters of the king who are virgins put on,—and his servant taketh her out without, and hath bolted the door after her. ¹⁹And Tamar taketh ashes for her head, and the long coat that is on her she hath rent, and putteth her hand on her head, and goeth, going on and crying; ²⁰and Absalom her brother saith unto her, ‘Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? and now, my sister, keep silent, he is thy brother; set not thy heart to this thing;’ and Tamar dwelleth—but desolate—in the house of Absalom her brother.

²¹And king David hath heard all these things, and it is very displeasing to him; ²²and Absalom hath not spoken with Amnon either evil or good, for Absalom is hating Amnon, because that he humbled Tamar his sister. ²³And it cometh to pass, after two years of days, that Absalom hath shearers in Baal-Hazor, which is with Ephraim, and Absalom calleth for all the sons of the king. ²⁴And Absalom cometh unto the king, and saith, ‘Lo, I pray thee, thy servant hath shearers, let the king go, I pray thee, and his servants, with thy servant.’ ²⁵And the king saith unto Absalom, ‘Nay, my son, let us not all go, I pray thee, and we are not too heavy on thee;’ and he presseth on him, and he hath not been willing to go, and he blesseth him. ²⁶And Absalom saith, ‘If not—let, I pray thee, Amnon my brother go with us;’ and the king saith to him, ‘Why doth he go with thee?’ ²⁷and Absalom urgeth on him, and he sendeth with him Amnon, and all the sons of the king. ²⁸And Absalom commandeth his young men, saying, ‘See, I pray thee, when the heart of Amnon is glad with wine, and I have said unto you, Smite Amnon, that ye have put him to death; fear not; is it not because I have commanded you? be strong, yea, become sons of valour.’ ²⁹And the young men of Absalom do to Amnon as Absalom commanded, and rise do all the sons of the king, and they ride, each on his mule, and flee.

³⁰And it cometh to pass—they are in the way—and the report hath come…