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The Rape of Tamar
13 After this, David’s son Amnon fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of David’s son Absalom. 2 Amnon was so obsessed with his half sister Tamar that he made himself sick. It seemed impossible for him to be alone with her because she was a virgin.
3 Amnon had a friend by the name of Jonadab, a son of David’s brother Shimea. Jonadab was a very clever man. 4 He asked Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so worn out morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”
“I’m in love with Absalom’s sister Tamar,” he answered.
5 Then Jonadab told him, “Lie down on your bed. Act sick, and when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come to feed me. She can prepare a meal in front of me as I watch her, and she can feed me.’ ”
6 So Amnon lay down and acted sick, and the king came to see him. Amnon asked the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make some bread in front of me, and she can feed me.”
7 David sent for Tamar at the palace. “Please go to your brother Amnon’s home,” he said, “and prepare some food for him.”
8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s home. He was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made flat bread in front of him, and cooked it. 9 Then she took the pan and served him ⌞the bread⌟. But he refused to eat.
“Have everyone leave me,” he said. So everyone left him.
10 Amnon told Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom so that you can feed me.”
Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in the bedroom. 11 When she handed it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, Tamar!”
12 “No,” she told him, “don’t rape me! That shouldn’t be done in Israel. Don’t do this godless act! 13 Where could I go in my disgrace? And you will be considered one of the godless fools in Israel! Speak to the king. He won’t refuse your request to marry me.”
14 But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her. He grabbed his sister and raped her.
15 Now, Amnon developed an intense hatred for her. His hatred for her was greater than the lust he had felt for her. “Get out of here,” he told her.
16 She said to him, “No, sending me away is a greater wrong than the other thing you did to me!” But he wouldn’t listen to her.
17 Then he called his personal servant and said, “Get rid of her. Put her out, and bolt the door behind her.” 18 (She was wearing a long-sleeved gown. The king’s virgin daughters wore this kind of robe.) So his servant took her out and bolted the door behind her. 19 Tamar put ashes on her head, tore the long-sleeved gown she had on, put her hands on her head, and went away crying.
20 Her brother Absalom asked her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Sister, be quiet for now. He’s your brother. Don’t dwell on this matter.” So Tamar stayed there at the home of her brother Absalom and was depressed.
21 When King David heard about this, he became very angry. But David didn’t punish his son Amnon. He favored Amnon because he was his firstborn son.[a] 22 Absalom wouldn’t speak at all to Amnon. He hated Amnon for raping his sister Tamar.
The Murder of Amnon
23 Two years later Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal Hazor near Ephraim. He invited all the king’s sons.[b] 24 Absalom went to the king and said, “Since I have sheepshearers, Your Majesty and your officials are invited ⌞to feast⌟ with me.”
25 “No, Son,” the king answered Absalom. “If we all go, we’ll be a burden to you.” Even when Absalom continued to urge [c] him, David did not want to go, though he did give Absalom his blessing.
26 So Absalom said, “If you won’t go, then please let my brother Amnon go with us.”
“Why should he go with you?” the king asked him. 27 But when Absalom urged him, he let Amnon and all ⌞the rest of⌟ the king’s sons go with him.
28 Then Absalom gave an order to his servants. “Watch now,” he said. “When Amnon begins to feel good from drinking ⌞too much⌟ wine, I’ll tell you, ‘Attack Amnon.’ Then kill him. Don’t be afraid. I’ve given you the order, haven’t I? Be strong and courageous.”
29 Absalom’s servants did to Amnon as Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules, and fled. 30 While they were on their way, David heard this rumor: “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons, and not a single one is left.” 31 The king stood up, tore his clothes, and lay down on the ground. All his servants were standing beside him with their clothes torn ⌞to show their grief⌟.
32 Then Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimea, said, “Sir, don’t think that all the young men, all the king’s sons, have been killed. Only Amnon is dead. Absalom decided to do this the day his half brother raped his sister Tamar. 33 You shouldn’t burden your heart with the idea that all the king’s sons are dead, Your Majesty. Only Amnon is dead. 34 Absalom has fled.”
When the servant who kept watch looked up, he saw many people coming down the road beside the mountain west of him. 35 Then Jonadab told the king, “The king’s sons have come. It’s just as I said.” 36 When he finished speaking, the king’s sons arrived and cried loudly. The king and all his men also cried very bitterly.
37 Absalom, however, fled to Geshur’s King Talmai, Ammihud’s son. But the king mourned for his son Amnon every day. 38 Absalom, having fled to Geshur, stayed there three years. 39 King David began to long for Absalom once people had consoled him over Amnon’s death.
Jesus Prays for Himself, His Disciples, and His Church
17 After saying this, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time is here. Give your Son glory so that your Son can give you glory. 2 After all, you’ve given him authority over all humanity so that he can give eternal life to all those you gave to him. 3 This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4 On earth I have given you glory by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, give me glory in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I made your name known to the people you gave me. They are from this world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They did what you told them. 7 Now they know that everything you gave me comes from you, 8 because I gave them the message that you gave me. They have accepted this message, and they know for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
9 “I pray for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. 10 Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine. I have been given glory by the people you have given me. 11 I won’t be in the world much longer, but they are in the world, and I’m coming back to you. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me, so that their unity may be like ours. 12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me. I watched over them, and none of them, except one person, became lost. So Scripture came true.
13 “But now, ⌞Father,⌟ I’m coming back to you. I say these things while I’m still in the world so that they will have the same joy that I have. 14 I have given them your message. But the world has hated them because they don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one. 16 They don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
17 “Use the truth to make them holy. Your words are truth. 18 I have sent them into the world the same way you sent me into the world. 19 I’m dedicating myself to this holy work I’m doing for them so that they, too, will use the truth to be holy.
20 “I’m not praying only for them. I’m also praying for those who will believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that all of these people continue to have unity in the way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they may be united with us so that the world will believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me. I did this so that they are united in the same way we are. 23 I am in them, and you are in me. So they are completely united. In this way the world knows that you have sent me and that you have loved them in the same way you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given to me to be with me, to be where I am. I want them to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the world was made. 25 Father, you have done what is right and the world didn’t know you. Yet, I knew you, and these ⌞disciples⌟ have known that you sent me. 26 I have made your name known to them, and I will make it known so that the love you have for me will be in them and I will be in them.”
81 My soul is weak from waiting for you to save me.
My hope is based on your word.
82 My eyes have become strained from looking for your promise.
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Although I have become like a shriveled and dried out wineskin,
I have not forgotten your laws.
84 What is left of my life?
When will you bring those who persecute me to justice?
85 Arrogant people have dug pits to trap me
in defiance of your teachings.
86 (All your commandments are reliable.)
Those people persecute me with lies. Help me!
87 They almost wiped me off ⌞the face of⌟ the earth.
But I did not abandon your guiding principles.
88 Give me a new life through your mercy
so that I may obey the written instructions,
⌞which came⌟ from your mouth.
89 O Lord, your word is established in heaven forever.
90 Your faithfulness endures throughout every generation.
You set the earth in place, and it continues to stand.
91 All things continue to stand today because of your regulations,
since they are all your servants.
92 If your teachings had not made me happy,
then I would have died in my misery.
93 I will never forget your guiding principles,
because you gave me a new life through them.
94 I am yours.
Save me, because I have searched for your guiding principles.
95 The wicked people have waited for me in order to destroy me,
⌞yet⌟ I want to understand your written instructions.
96 I have seen a limit to everything else,
⌞but⌟ your commandments have no limit.
6 By mercy and faithfulness, peace is made with the Lord.
By the fear of the Lord, evil is avoided.
7 When a person’s ways are pleasing to the Lord,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
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