Amnon and Tamar

13 It happened afterwards that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon [her half brother] the son of David was in love with her. ² Amnon was so frustrated because of his [half-] sister Tamar that he made himself sick, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her. ³ But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd (cunning) man. ⁴ He said to Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” And Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, my [half-] brother Absalom’s sister.” ⁵ Jonadab said to him, “Go to bed and pretend you are sick; and when your father [David] comes to see you, say to him, ‘Just let my sister Tamar come and serve me food, and let her prepare it in my sight, so that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” ⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.”

⁷ Then David sent word to the house for Tamar, saying, “Go now to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare some food for him.” ⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was in bed. And she took dough and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked them. ⁹ She took the pan and dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Have everyone leave me.” So everyone left him [except Tamar]. ¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her [half-] brother Amnon. ¹¹ When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” ¹² She replied, “No, my brother! Do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this disgraceful thing!^{(A) 13} As for me, how could I get rid of my shame and disgrace? And you, you will be considered one of the fools in Israel. So now, just speak to the king [about taking me as your wife], for he will not withhold me from you.” ¹⁴ But he would not listen to her; and since he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.

¹⁵ Then Amnon became extremely hateful toward her, for his hatred toward her was greater than the love which he had for her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!” ¹⁶ But she said, “No, because this wrong of ^[a]sending me away is worse than the other that you have done to me!” But he would not listen to her. ¹⁷ Instead, he called his young man who was his personal servant and said, “Now throw this woman out of my presence and bolt the door behind her.” ¹⁸ Now Tamar was wearing ^[b]a [long-sleeved] robe of various colors; for that is how the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves in robes. Then Amnon’s personal servant took her out and bolted the door behind her. ¹⁹ So ^[c]Tamar put dust on her head [in grief] and tore the long-sleeved robe which she had on, and she put her hand on her head and went away crying out [for help].

²⁰ So her brother Absalom said to her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? But now keep silent, my sister; he is your brother; ^[d]do not take this matter to heart.” So Tamar remained secluded in her brother Absalom’s house. ²¹ Now when King David heard about all these things, he was very angry [but failed to take any ^[e]action]. ²² But Absalom did not speak to Amnon either good or bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar.

²³ Now it came about after two full years that Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons [to a party].

Absalom Avenges Tamar

²⁴ Absalom came to [his father] the king and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant.” ²⁵ But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be a burden to you.” Although Absalom [strongly] urged David, still he would not go, but he gave him his blessing. ²⁶ Then Absalom said, “If not, then at least let my brother ^[f]Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” ²⁷ But Absalom urged him [again], and he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

²⁸ Now Absalom commanded his servants, “Notice carefully, when Amnon’s heart is joyous with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not be afraid; have I not commanded you myself [and in doing so have I not taken full responsibility for his death]? Be courageous and brave.” ²⁹ So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons got up, and every man mounted his mule and fled.

³⁰ Now it happened while they were on the way [back home], that the [exaggerated] report came to David, “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.” ³¹ Then the king stood and tore his clothes and lay on the ground [in mourning]; and all his servants were standing by with their clothes torn. ³² But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, responded, “Do not let my lord assume that all the king’s sons have been put to death; for only Amnon is dead. This act of revenge has been on Absalom’s mind since the day Amnon violated his sister Tamar. ³³ So now, do not let my lord the king take the report to heart that all the king’s sons are dead; for Amnon alone is dead.”

³⁴ Now Absalom fled. And the young man who kept watch looked up, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain. ³⁵ And Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the king’s sons are coming. It has turned out just as your servant said.” ³⁶ And when he finished speaking, the king’s sons came, and they raised their voices and wept; and the king and all his servants also wept very bitterly.

³⁷ But Absalom fled and went to [his mother’s father] Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David ^[g]mourned for his son every day. ³⁸ So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there for three years. ³⁹ And the heart of King David longed to go to Absalom; for he was comforted regarding Amnon, since he was dead.

The Woman of Tekoa

14 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. ² So Joab sent word to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there and told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has for many days been in mourning for the dead. ³ Then go to the king and speak to him in this way.” So Joab ^[h]told her what to say.

⁴ When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she bowed with her face to the ground and lay herself down, and said, “Help, O king.” ⁵ The king asked her, “^[i]What is the matter?” She said, “Truly I am a widow; my husband is dead. ⁶ Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of them struggled and fought in the field. There was no one to separate them, so one struck the other and killed him. ⁷ Now behold, the entire family has risen against your maidservant, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother, so that we may ^[j]put him to death [to pay] for the life of his brother whom he killed and destroy the heir also.’ By doing this they will extinguish my coal that is left, leaving my husband without a name or a remnant (heir) on the face of the earth.”

⁸ Then David said to the woman, “Go to your home, and I will give orders concerning you.” ⁹ The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, the guilt is on me and on my father’s house, but the king and his throne are guiltless.” ¹⁰ The king said, “If anyone speaks to you [about this matter], bring him to me [for judgment], and he will not touch you again.” ¹¹ Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not continue to destroy, otherwise they will destroy my son.” And David said, “As the Lord lives, not a single hair [from the head] of your son shall fall to the ground.”

¹² Then the woman said, “Please let your maidservant speak one more word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.” ¹³ The woman said, “Now why have you planned such a thing against God’s people? For in speaking this word the king is like a guilty man, in that the king does not bring back his banished one. ¹⁴ For we will certainly die and are like water that is spilled on the ground and cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not [simply] take away life, but devises plans so that the one who is banished is not driven away from Him. ¹⁵ Now I came to speak of this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. So your maidservant thought, ‘I will just speak to the king; perhaps the king will do what his maidservant requests. ¹⁶ For the king will hear and save his maidservant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.’ ¹⁷ Then your maidservant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king be comforting, for my lord the king is as the angel of God to discern good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”

¹⁸ Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Do not hide from me anything that I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king please speak.” ¹⁹ The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all of this?” And the woman answered, “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 said. Indeed, it was your servant Joab who commanded me; he put all these words in the mouth of your maidservant. ²⁰ In order to change the appearance of things [between Absalom and you, his father] your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that is in the earth.”

Absalom Is Recalled

²¹ Then the king said to Joab, “Listen, I will most certainly do this thing; now go, bring back the young man Absalom.” ²² Joab bowed his face toward the ground and lay himself down and blessed the king. Then Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has done the request of his servant.” ²³ So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴ However, the king said, “Let him go to his own house, and do not let him see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the king’s face.

²⁵ Now in all Israel there was no man as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised [for that]; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. ²⁶ When he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of each year he cut it, because its weight was heavy on him) he weighed the hair of his head at ^[k]200 shekels by the king’s weight. ²⁷ To Absalom were born three sons and one daughter whose name was ^[l]Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.

²⁸ Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without seeing the king’s face. ²⁹ So Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he would not come to him; even when he sent again a second time, he [still] would not come. ³⁰ Therefore Absalom said to his servants, “See, Joab’s property is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. ³¹ Then Joab ^[m]took action and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?” ³² Absalom answered Joab, “I sent for you, saying, ‘Come here, so that I may send you to the king to ask, “Why have I come [back] from Geshur? It would be better for me to still be there.”’ Now then, let me see the king’s face, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.” ³³ So Joab came to the king and told him. Then David called for Absalom, and he came to the king and bowed his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.