2 Samuel 13:23-39
Evangelical Heritage Version
David and Absalom
23 Two years passed. Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim. Absalom invited all the king’s sons. 24 Absalom also came to the king and said, “Look! The sheepshearers are now at work for your servant. Will the king and his servants join your servant, please?”
25 The king said to Absalom, “No, my son. Not all of us will go. We do not want to be a burden to you.”
Absalom pressured him, but David was not willing to go, though he did give Absalom a blessing. 26 So Absalom said, “If not, can Amnon my brother join us, please?” The king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom kept pressuring him, so David sent Amnon and all the sons of the king with him.[a]
28 Absalom commanded his servants, “Pay attention to me, and when Amnon is feeling good because of the wine, I will say to you, ‘Strike Amnon.’ Then you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. I am the one who has given you the order. Be strong. Be brave.”
29 Absalom’s servants did to Amnon exactly what Absalom had commanded. Then all the sons of the king got up. Each of them got on his mule and fled.
30 While they were on the way, news reached David: “Absalom has killed all the king’s sons. There is not one of them left.” 31 The king got up, ripped his clothing, and lay down on the ground. All his servants who were standing nearby also ripped their clothing.
32 Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, responded, “My lord should not say they have killed all the young men who are sons of the king, for only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has been planning from the day Amnon raped Tamar, his sister. 33 Now my lord the king should pay no attention to the report that says, ‘All the king’s sons are dead,’ because only Amnon is dead.”
34 Absalom fled.
The young man who was serving as the watchman looked up and saw many people coming down the road west of him,[b] along the side of the mountain. ⎣The watchman came and reported to the king, “I see men on the Horonaim road, along the side of the mountain.”⎦[c]
35 Jonadab said to the king, “Look. The king’s sons have come. It is just as your servant said.”
36 When he was finished speaking, the king’s sons arrived. They raised their voices and wept loudly. The king and all his servants also wept very bitterly.
37 Absalom fled. He went to Talmai son of Ammihud,[d] the king of Geshur. King David mourned every day because of his son.
38 Absalom fled and went to Geshur. He stayed there for three years. 39 King David longed to reach out to Absalom, because he was no longer mourning for his deceased son Amnon.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Samuel 13:27 The Greek text adds the words: and Absalom prepared a feast like a royal feast.
- 2 Samuel 13:34 Or behind him
- 2 Samuel 13:34 The sentence in half-brackets is present in the Greek text, but not in the Hebrew text. An omission from the Hebrew text may have occurred when the Hebrew copyist’s eye jumped from the first occurrence of along the side of the mountain to the second occurrence.
- 2 Samuel 13:37 Ammihud is the reading of many Hebrew manuscripts. The main Hebrew text has Ammihur. The Hebrew equivalents of d and r look alike.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.