2 Samuel 13

1 And 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.

David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. Another of David’s sons, Amnon, was attracted to Tamar.

2 And 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.

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].

3 And Amnon hath a friend, and his name [is] Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David's brother, and Jonadab [is] a very wise man,

But Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, who was the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty/shrewd man.

4 and 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.'

[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.”

5 And 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.'

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.’”

6 And 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.'

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.”

7 And David sendeth unto Tamar, to the house, saying, 'Go, I pray thee, to the house of Amnon thy brother, and make for him food.'

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.”

8 And 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,

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.

9 and 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.

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].

10 And 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,

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.

11 and she bringeth nigh unto him to eat, and he layeth hold on her, and saith to her, 'Come, lie with me, my sister.'

But when she brought them close for him to eat them, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come to bed with me!”

12 And she saith to him, 'Nay, my brother, do not humble me, for it is not done so in Israel; do not this folly.

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!

13 And 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.'

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.”

14 And he hath not been willing to hearken to her voice, and is stronger than she, and humbleth her, and lieth with her.

But he would not listen to her. He was stronger than she was, so he forced her to have sex with him.

15 And 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.'

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!”

16 And 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,

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.

17 and calleth his young man, his servant, and saith, 'Send away, I pray thee, this one from me without, and bolt the door after her;'

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]!”

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.

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.

19 And 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;

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.

20 and 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.

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.

21 And king David hath heard all these things, and it is very displeasing to him;

When King David heard about all that, he became very angry.

22 and Absalom hath not spoken with Amnon either evil or good, for Absalom is hating Amnon, because that he humbled Tamar his sister.

And Absalom hated Amnon, because he had raped his sister, so he would not speak to Amnon about anything.

23 And 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.

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].

24 And 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.'

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!”

25 And 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.

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].

26 And 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?'

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?”

27 and Absalom urgeth on him, and he sendeth with him Amnon, and all the sons of the king.

But Absalom continued to insist, so finally the king permitted Amnon and all David’s other sons to go with Absalom.

28 And 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.'

[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!”

29 And 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.

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.

30 And it cometh to pass — they [are] in the way — and the report hath come unto David, saying, 'Absalom hath smitten all the sons of the king, and there is not left of them one;'

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!”

31 and the king riseth, and rendeth his garments, and lieth on the earth, and all his servants are standing by [with] rent garments.

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.

32 And Jonadab son of Shimeah, David's brother, answereth and saith, 'Let not my lord say, The whole of the young men, the sons of the king, they have put to death; for Amnon alone [is] dead, for by the command of Absalom it hath been appointed from the day of his humbling Tamar his sister;

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.

33 and now, let not my lord the king lay unto his heart the word, saying, All the sons of the king have died, for Amnon alone [is] dead.'

So, your majesty, do not believe the report that all your sons are dead. [I am sure that] only Amnon is dead.”

34 And Absalom fleeth, and the young man who is watching lifteth up his eyes and looketh, and lo, much people are coming by the way behind him, on the side of the hill.

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].

35 And Jonadab saith unto the king, 'Lo, the sons of the king have come; as the word of thy servant, so it hath been.'

Jonadab said to the king, “Aha! What I told you is true. Your other sons [are alive and] have come!”

36 And it cometh to pass at his finishing to speak, that lo, the sons of the king have come, and they lift up their voice, and weep, and also the king and all his servants have wept — a very great weeping.

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.

37 And Absalom hath fled, and goeth unto Talmai, son of Ammihud, king of Geshur, and [David] mourneth for his son all the days.

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,

38 And Absalom hath fled, and goeth to Geshur, and is there three years;

39 and [the soul of] king David determineth to go out unto Absalom, for he hath been comforted for Amnon, for [he is] dead.

but after that, he desired very much to see Absalom, because he was no longer grieving about Amnon being dead.