⁴ He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”

Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

³² “Do not be afraid,^(A) little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.^(B)

¹³ But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.^(A)”

¹⁴ His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits,^[a](B) and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled^(C) on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.

¹⁷ “‘If a man marries his sister^(A), the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed^(B) from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.^(C)

⁹ “‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister,^(A) either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.^(B)

⁷ Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard^(A) of Naboth the Jezreelite.”