2 Samuel 13
1 David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. Another of David’s sons, Amnon, was attracted to Tamar.
And it happened after this that Abessalom the son of David had a very beautiful sister, and her name [was] Themar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.
2 He wanted [to have sex with] [EUP] his half-sister very much, with the result that he made himself sick [thinking about her all the time]. But it was not possible for Amnon to get her, because she was a virgin, [so they kept men away from her].
And Amnon was distressed even to sickness, because of Themar his sister; for she was a virgin, and it seemed very difficult for Amnon to do anything to her.
3 But Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, who was the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty/shrewd man.
And Amnon had a friend, and his name [was] Jonadab, the son of Samaa the brother of David: and Jonadab [was] a very cunning man.
4 [One day] Jonadab said to Amnon, “You are the king’s son, but every day I see that [RHQ] you seem very depressed/sad. What is your problem?” Amnon replied, “I (am in love/want to sleep) [EUP] with Tamar, my half-brother Absalom’s sister.”
And he said to him, What ails you that you are thus weak? O son of the king, morning by morning? will you not tell me? and Ammon said, I love Themar the sister of my brother Abessalom.
5 Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed, and pretend that you are sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Allow my half-sister Tamar to come and give me some food to eat. She can prepare the food while I am watching her. Then she can serve it to me herself.’”
And Jonadab said to him, Lie upon your bed, and make yourself sick, and your father shall come in to see you; and you shall say to him, Let, I pray you, Themar my sister come, and feed me with morsels, and let her prepare food before my eyes, that I may see and eat at her hands.
6 So Amnon lay down, and pretended that he was sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “[I am sick; ] please allow my half-sister Tamar to come and make a couple scones/dumplings for me while I am watching, and then she can serve them to me.”
So Ammon lay down, and made himself sick; and the king came in to see him: and Amnon said to the king, Let, I pray you, my sister Themar come to me, and make a couple of cakes in my sight, and I will eat them at her hand.
7 So David sent a message to Tamar in the palace, saying “Amnon [is sick and he wants you to] go to his house and prepare some food for him.”
And David sent to Themar to the house, saying, Go now to your brother's house, and dress him food.
8 So Tamar went to Amnon’s house, where he was lying in bed. She took some dough and kneaded it, and formed it into some scones/dumplings while he was watching her. Then she baked them.
And Themar went to the house of her brother Amnon, and he [was] lying down: and she took the dough and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.
9 She took them out of the pan and put them [on a plate] in front of him, but he refused to eat them. Then he said to everyone else in the room, “All the rest of you, leave me now!” So all the others left his [room].
And she took the frying pan and poured them out before him, but he would not eat. And Amnon said, Send out every man from about me. And they removed every man from about him.
10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into my room and serve it to me.” So Tamar took into his room the scones/dumplings that she had made.
And Amnon said to Themar, Bring in the food into the closet, and I will eat of your hand. And Themar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them to her brother Amnon into the chamber.
11 But when she brought them close for him to eat them, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come to bed with me!”
And she brought [them] to him to eat, and he caught hold of her, and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.
12 She replied, “No, do not force me to do such a disgraceful thing! We never do things like that in Israel! That would be awful/terrible!
And she said to him, Nay, my brother, do not humble me, for it ought not to be so done in Israel; do not this folly.
13 As for me, if I did that, I would not be able to [RHQ] endure being disgraced by having done that. And as for you, everyone in Israel would condemn you for having done such a disgraceful deed. So I plead with you, talk to the king. I am sure that he will allow me to marry you.”
And I, whither shall I remove my reproach? and you shall be as one of the fools in Israel. And now, speak, I pray you, to the king, for surely he will not keep me from you.
14 But he would not listen to her. He was stronger than she was, so he forced her to have sex with him.
But Amnon would not listen to her voice; and he prevailed against her, and humbled her, and lay with her.
15 Then Amnon hated her very much. He hated her much more than he had desired her. He said to her, “Get up and get out of here!”
Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her, for the last wickedness was greater than the first: and Amnon said to her, Rise, and be gone.
16 But she said to him, “No! It would be very wrong for you to send me away. It would be worse than what you just did to me!” But he would not listen to her.
And Themar spoke to him concerning this great mischief, greater, [said she], than the other that you did me, to send me away: but Amnon would not listen to her voice.
17 He summoned his personal servant and said to him, “Take this woman outside, away from me, and lock the door [so that she cannot come in again]!”
And he called his servant who had charge of the house, and said to him, Put now this [woman] out from me, and shut the door after her.
18 So the servant put her outside and locked the door. Tamar was wearing a long robe with long sleeves, which was the clothing that was usually worn by the unmarried daughters of the king at that time.
And she had on her a variegated robe, for so were the king's daughters that were virgins attired in their apparel: and his servant led her forth, and shut the door after her.
19 But Tamar tore the long robe that she was wearing, and put ashes on her head [to show that she was very sad]. Then she put her hands on her head [to show that she was grieving], and she went away, crying.
And Themar took ashes, and put them on her head; and she tore the variegated garment that was upon her: and she laid her hands on her head, and went crying continually.
20 Her brother Absalom [saw her and] said to her, “Has your half-brother Amnon [DOU] forced you to have sex with him [EUP]? Please, my sister, do not tell anyone, and do not become depressed/sad.” So Tamar went to live in Absalom’s house, and she was very sad and lonely.
And Abessalom her brother said to her, Has your brother Amnon been with you? now then, my sister, be silent, for he is your brother: be not careful to mention this matter. So Themar lived as a widow in the house of her brother Abessalom.
21 When King David heard about all that, he became very angry.
And king David heard of all these things, and was very angry; but he did not grieve the spirit of his son Amnon, because be loved him, for he was his firstborn.
22 And Absalom hated Amnon, because he had raped his sister, so he would not speak to Amnon about anything.
And Abessalom spoke not to Amnon, good or bad, because Abessalom hated Amnon, on account of his humbling his sister Themar.
23 Two years later, Absalom’s servants were shearing sheep at Baal-Hazor, which is near [a town named] Ephraim. [When they finished shearing the sheep, they celebrated], and Absalom invited all the king’s sons [to come and celebrate].
And it came to pass at the end of two whole years, that they were shearing [sheep] for Abessalom in Belasor near Ephraim: and Abessalom invited all the king's sons.
24 Absalom went to the king and said to him, “Sir, my servants have been shearing my sheep. Please come with your officials [to celebrate] with us!”
And Abessalom came to the king, and said, Behold, your servant has a sheep-shearing; let now the king and his servants go with your servant.
25 But the king replied, “No, my son, it would not be good for all of us to go, because it would cause you to do a lot of work and spend a lot of money for food.” Absalom continued urging him, but the king would not go. Instead, he said that he hoped/desired that God would bless them [while they celebrated].
And the king said to Abessalom, Nay, my son, let us not all go, and let us not be burdensome to you. And he pressed him; but he would not go, but blessed him.
26 Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, please allow my half-brother Amnon to go with us.” But the king replied, “Why [do you want] him to go with you?”
And Abessalom said to him, And if not, let I pray you, my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Why should he go with you?
27 But Absalom continued to insist, so finally the king permitted Amnon and all David’s other sons to go with Absalom.
And Abessalom pressed him, and he sent with him Amnon and all the king's sons; and Abessalom made a banquet like the banquet of the king.
28 [So they all went. And at the celebration], Absalom commanded his servants, “Notice when Amnon has become a bit drunk from the wine. Then when I signal to you, kill him. Do not be afraid; you will be doing this [only] because I told you [RHQ] to do it. So be courageous and do it!”
And Abessalom charged his servants, saying, Mark when the heart of Amnon shall be merry with wine, and I shall say to you, Strike Amnon, and kill him: fear not; for is it not I that command you? Be courageous, and be valiant.
29 So Absalom’s servants did what Absalom told them to do. [They killed Amnon]. All the rest of David’s sons [saw what happened and] fled, riding on their mules.
And the servants of Abessalom did to Amnon as Abessalom commanded them: and all the sons of the king rose up, and they mounted every man his mule, and fled.
30 While they were on their way home, someone [went quickly and] reported to David, “Absalom has killed all of your other sons; none of them is still alive!”
And it came to pass, when they were in the way, that a report came to David, saying, Abessalom has slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left.
31 The king stood up, tore his clothes [because he was extremely sad], and then he threw himself down on the ground. All the servants who were there also tore their clothes.
Then the king arose, and tore his garments, and lay upon the ground: and all his servants that were standing round him tore their garments.
32 But Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “Your Majesty, [I am sure that] they have not killed all your sons. [I am sure that] only Amnon is dead, because Absalom has determined to do this ever since the day that Amnon raped [EUP] his half-sister Tamar.
And Jonadab the son of Samaa brother of David, answered and said, Let not my Lord the king say that he has slain all the young men the sons of the king, for Amnon only of them all is dead; for he was appointed [to death] by the mouth of Abessalom from the day that he humbled his sister Themar.
33 So, your majesty, do not believe the report that all your sons are dead. [I am sure that] only Amnon is dead.”
And now let not my lord the king take the matter to heart, saying, All the king's sons are dead: for Amnon only of them is dead.
34 In the meantime, Absalom ran away. Just then, the soldier/sentry [who was standing on the city wall] saw a large crowd of people coming down the hill along the road from Horonaim. [He ran and told the king what he had seen].
And Abessalom escaped: and the young man the watchman, lifted up his eyes, and looked; and, behold, much people went in the way behind him from the side of the mountain in the descent: and the watchman came and told the king, and said, I have seen men by the way of Oronen, by the side of the mountain.
35 Jonadab said to the king, “Aha! What I told you is true. Your other sons [are alive and] have come!”
And Jonadab said to the king, Behold, the king's sons are present: according to the word of your servant, so has it happened.
36 And as soon as he said that, David’s sons came in. They all started crying, and David and all his officials also cried very much.
And it came to pass when he had finished speaking, that, behold, the king's sons came, and lifted up their voices and wept: and the king also and all his servants wept with a very great weeping.
37 But Absalom had fled. He went to stay with the king of [the] Geshur [region], who was Talmai the son of Ammihud. Absalom stayed there for three years. David mourned for his son Amnon for a long time,
But Abessalom fled, and went to Tholmi son of Emiud the king of Gedsur to the land of Chamaachad: and king David mourned for his son continually.
So Abessalom fled, and departed to Gedsur, and was there three years.
39 but after that, he desired very much to see Absalom, because he was no longer grieving about Amnon being dead.
And king David ceased to go out after Abessalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon, touching his death.
