Amnon and Tamar

13 ^[a]Now Ab′salom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her. ² And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. ³ But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jon′adab, the son of Shim′e-ah, David’s brother; and Jon′adab was a very crafty man. ⁴ And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Ab′salom’s sister.” ⁵ Jon′adab said to him, “Lie down on your bed, and pretend to be ill; and when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it from her hand.’” ⁶ So Amnon lay down, and pretended to be ill; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Pray let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”

⁷ Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.” ⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, where he was lying down. And she took dough, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes. ⁹ And she took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Send out every one from me.” So every one went out from him. ¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. ¹¹ But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her, and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” ¹² She answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me; for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this wanton folly. ¹³ As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the wanton fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray you, speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.” ¹⁴ But he would not listen to her; and being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her.

¹⁵ Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred; so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Arise, be gone.” ¹⁶ But she said to him, “No, my brother; for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other which you did to me.”^[b] But he would not listen to her. ¹⁷ He called the young man who served him and said, “Put this woman out of my presence, and bolt the door after her.” ¹⁸ Now she was wearing a long robe with sleeves; for thus were the virgin daughters of the king clad of old.^[c] So his servant put her out, and bolted the door after her. ¹⁹ And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent the long robe which she wore; and she laid her hand on her head, and went away, crying aloud as she went.

²⁰ And her brother Ab′salom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now hold your peace, my sister; he is your brother; do not take this to heart.” So Tamar dwelt, a desolate woman, in her brother Ab′salom’s house. ²¹ When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. ²² But Ab′salom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Ab′salom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.

Absalom Avenges the Violation of His Sister

²³ After two full years Ab′salom had sheepshearers at Ba′al-ha′zor, which is near E′phraim, and Ab′salom invited all the king’s sons. ²⁴ And Ab′salom came to the king, and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers; pray let the king and his servants go with your servant.” ²⁵ But the king said to Ab′salom, “No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing. ²⁶ Then Ab′salom said, “If not, pray let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” ²⁷ But Ab′salom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him. ²⁸ Then Ab′salom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Fear not; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” ²⁹ So the servants of Ab′salom did to Amnon as Ab′salom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.

³⁰ While they were on the way, tidings came to David, “Ab′salom has slain all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.” ³¹ Then the king arose, and rent his garments, and lay on the earth; and all his servants who were standing by rent their garments. ³² But Jon′adab the son of Shim′e-ah, David’s brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men the king’s sons, for Amnon alone is dead, for by the command of Ab′salom this has been determined from the day he forced his sister Tamar. ³³ Now therefore let not my lord the king so take it to heart as to suppose that all the king’s sons are dead; for Amnon alone is dead.”

³⁴ But Ab′salom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the Horona′im road^[d] by the side of the mountain. ³⁵ And Jon′adab said to the king, “Behold, the king’s sons have come; as your servant said, so it has come about.” ³⁶ And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king’s sons came, and lifted up their voice and wept; and the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.

³⁷ But Ab′salom fled, and went to Talmai the son of Ammi′hud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day. ³⁸ So Ab′salom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years. ³⁹ And the spirit^[e] of the king longed to go forth to Ab′salom; for he was comforted about Amnon, seeing he was dead.

God’s Covenant with David

17 Now when David dwelt in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.” ² And Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, ⁴ “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: You shall not build me a house to dwell in. ⁵ For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I led up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling. ⁶ In all places where I have moved with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ ⁷ Now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel; ⁸ and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. ⁹ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly, ¹⁰ from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house. ¹¹ When your days are fulfilled to go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne for ever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he shall be my son; I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, ¹⁴ but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom for ever and his throne shall be established for ever.’” ¹⁵ In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁶ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? ¹⁷ And this was a small thing in thy eyes, O God; thou hast also spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast shown me future generations,^[a] O Lord God! ¹⁸ And what more can David say to thee for honoring thy servant? For thou knowest thy servant. ¹⁹ For thy servant’s sake, O Lord, and according to thy own heart, thou hast wrought all this greatness, in making known all these great things. ²⁰ There is none like thee, O Lord, and there is no God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²¹ What other^[b] nation on earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for thyself a name for great and terrible things, in driving out nations before thy people whom thou didst redeem from Egypt? ²² And thou didst make thy people Israel to be thy people for ever; and thou, O Lord, didst become their God. ²³ And now, O Lord, let the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast spoken; ²⁴ and thy name will be established and magnified for ever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God,’ and the house of thy servant David will be established before thee. ²⁵ For thou, my God, hast revealed to thy servant that thou wilt build a house for him; therefore thy servant has found courage to pray before thee. ²⁶ And now, O Lord, thou art God, and thou hast promised this good thing to thy servant; ²⁷ now therefore may it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for what thou, O Lord, hast blessed is blessed for ever.”

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

A Psalm of David.