³⁶ Now while they were talking about this, Jesus Himself took His stand among them and said to them, Peace (^[a]freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin) be to you!

³⁷ But they were so startled and terrified that they thought they saw a spirit.

³⁸ And He said to them, Why are you disturbed and troubled, and why do such doubts and questionings arise in your hearts?

³⁹ See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself! Feel and handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.

⁴⁰ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

⁴¹ And while [since] they still could not believe it for sheer joy and marveled, He said to them, Have you anything here to eat?

⁴² They gave Him a piece of broiled fish,

⁴³ And He took [it] and ate [it] before them.

⁴⁴ Then He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you: everything which is written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

⁴⁵ Then He [thoroughly] opened up their minds to understand the Scriptures,

⁴⁶ And said to them, Thus it is written that the Christ (the Messiah) should suffer and on the third day rise from (^[b] among) the dead,^(A)

⁴⁷ And that repentance [with a view to and as the condition of] forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.

⁴⁹ And behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high.

⁵⁰ Then He conducted them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up His hands, He invoked a blessing on them.

⁵¹ And it occurred that while He was blessing them, He parted from them and was taken up into heaven.

⁵² And they, worshiping Him, went back to Jerusalem with great joy;

⁵³ And they were continually in the temple celebrating with praises and blessing and extolling God. Amen (so be it).

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12 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came and said to him, There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor.

² The rich man had very many flocks and herds,

³ But the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb which he had bought and brought up, and it grew up with him and his children. It ate of his own morsel, drank from his own cup, lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him.

⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man, and to avoid taking one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.

⁵ Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is a son [worthy] of death.

⁶ He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no pity.

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king of Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.

⁸ And I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added that much again.

⁹ Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, doing evil in His sight? You have slain Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife. You have murdered him with the sword of the Ammonites.^(A)

¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because [you have not only despised My command, but] you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

¹¹ Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your ^[a]own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

¹² For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. [Fulfilled in II Sam. 16:21, 22.]

¹³ And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.^(B)

¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord and given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born to you shall surely die.

¹⁵ Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, and he was very sick.

¹⁶ David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted and went in and lay all night [repeatedly] on the floor.

¹⁷ His older house servants arose [in the night] and went to him to raise him up from the floor, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

¹⁸ And on the seventh day the child died. David’s servants feared to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, While the child was yet alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voices; will he then harm himself if we tell him the child is dead?

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants whispered, he perceived that the child was dead. So he said to them, Is the child dead? And they said, He is.

²⁰ Then David arose from the floor, washed, anointed himself, changed his apparel, and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.

²¹ Then his servants said to him, What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept while the child was alive, but when the child was dead, you arose and ate food.

²² David said, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live?

²³ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

²⁴ David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went to her and lay with her; and she bore a son, and she called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved [the child];

²⁵ He sent [a message] by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and [Nathan] called the boy’s [special] name Jedidiah [beloved of the Lord], because the Lord [loved the child].

²⁶ Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city.

²⁷ And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.

²⁸ Now therefore assemble the rest of the men, encamp against the city, and take it, lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.

²⁹ So David gathered all the men, went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it.

³⁰ And he took the crown of their king [of Malcham] from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth exceedingly much spoil from the city.

³¹ And he brought forth the people who were there, and put them to [work with] saws and iron threshing sledges and axes, and made them labor at the brickkiln. And he did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then [he] and all the men returned to Jerusalem.

13 Absalom son of David had a fair sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon [her half brother] son of David loved her.

² And Amnon was so troubled that he fell sick for his [half] sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her.

³ But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very crafty man.

⁴ He said to Amnon, Why are you, the king’s son, so lean and weak-looking from day to day? Will you not tell me? And Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my [half] brother Absalom’s sister.

⁵ Jonadab said to him, Go to bed and pretend you are sick; and when your father David comes to see you, say to him, Let my sister Tamar come and give me food and prepare it in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.

⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, I pray you, let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.

⁷ Then David sent home and told Tamar, Go now to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare food for him.

⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was in bed. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked them.

⁹ She took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Send everyone out from me. So everyone went out from him.

¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food here into the bedroom, so I may eat from your hand. So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the room to Amnon her brother.

¹¹ And when she brought them to him, he took hold of her and said, Come lie with me, my sister.

¹² She replied, No, my brother! Do not force and humble me, for no such thing should be done in Israel! Do not do this foolhardy, scandalous thing!^(C)

¹³ And I, how could I rid myself of my shame? And you, you will be [considered] one of the stupid 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 exceedingly, so that his hatred for her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, Get up and get out!

¹⁶ But she said, No! This great evil of sending me away is worse than what you did to me. But he would not listen to her.

¹⁷ He called the servant who served him and said, Put this woman out of my presence now, and bolt the door after her!

¹⁸ Now [Tamar] was wearing a long robe with sleeves and of various colors, for in such robes were the king’s virgin daughters clad of old. Then Amnon’s servant brought her out and bolted the door after her.

¹⁹ And [she] put ashes on her head and tore the long, sleeved robe which she wore, and she laid her hand on her head and went away shrieking and wailing.

²⁰ And Absalom her brother said to her, Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet now, my sister. He is your brother; take not this matter to heart. So Tamar dwelt in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.

²¹ But when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.

²² And Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had humbled his sister Tamar.

²³ After two full years Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

²⁴ Absalom came to the king and said, Behold, your servant has sheepshearers; I pray you, let the king and his servants go with your servant.

²⁵ And the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you. Absalom urged David; still he would not go, but he blessed him.

²⁶ Then said Absalom, If not, I pray you, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Why should he go with you?

²⁷ But Absalom urged him, and he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

²⁸ Now Absalom commanded his servants, Notice now, 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 brave.

²⁹ And the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose and every man mounted his mule and fled.

³⁰ While they were on the way, the word came to David, Absalom has killed all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.

³¹ Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the floor; and all his servants standing by tore their clothes.

³² But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, Let not my lord suppose they have killed all the king’s sons; for Amnon only is dead. This purpose has shown itself on Absalom’s determined mouth ever since the day Amnon humiliated his sister Tamar.

³³ So let not my lord the king take the thing to heart and think all the king’s sons are dead; for Amnon only is dead.

³⁴ But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch looked up, and behold, many people were coming by the way of the hillside behind him.

³⁵ And Jonadab said to the king, See, the king’s sons are coming. It is as your servant said.

³⁶ And as he finished speaking, the king’s sons came and lifted up their voices and wept; and the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.

³⁷ But Absalom fled and went to [his mother’s father] Talmai son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son [Amnon] every day.

³⁸ So Absalom fled to Geshur and was there three years.

³⁹ And the spirit of King David longed to go forth to Absalom, for he was comforted about Amnon, seeing that he was dead.

14 Now Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart was toward Absalom.

² And Joab sent to Tekoah and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, Pretend to be a mourner; put on mourning apparel, do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has long been mourning for the dead.

³ And go to the king and speak thus to him. And Joab told her what to say.

⁴ When the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king!

⁵ The king asked her, What troubles you? She said, I am a widow; my husband is dead.

⁶ And your handmaid had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

⁷ And behold, our whole family has risen against your handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who slew his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew; and so they would destroy the heir also. And so quenching my coal which is left, they would leave to my husband neither name nor remnant upon the earth.

⁸ David said to the woman, Go home, and I will give orders concerning you.

⁹ And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, My lord, O king, let the guilt be on me and on my father’s house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.

¹⁰ The king said, If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you again.

¹¹ Then she said, I pray you, let the king remember the Lord your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. And David said, As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.

¹² Then the woman said, Let your handmaid, I pray you, speak one word to my lord the king. He said, Say on.

¹³ [She] said, Why then have you planned such a thing against God’s people? For in speaking this word the king is like one who is guilty, in that [he] does not bring home his banished one.

¹⁴ We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. And God does not take away life, but devises means so that he who is banished may not be an utter outcast from Him.

¹⁵ And now I have come to speak of this thing to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. And I thought, I will speak to the king; it may be that he will perform the request of his servant.

¹⁶ For the king will hear to deliver his handmaid from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from [Israel] the inheritance of God.

¹⁷ And the woman said, The word of my lord the king will now give me rest and security, for as an angel of God is my lord the king to hear and discern good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you!

¹⁸ Then the king said to the woman, Hide not from me anything I ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king speak.

¹⁹ The king said, Is the hand of Joab with you in all this? And the woman answered, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who directed me; he put all these words in my mouth.

²⁰ In order to change the course of matters [between Absalom and his father] your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God—to know all things that are on the earth.

²¹ Then the king said to Joab, Behold now, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.

²² And Joab fell to the ground on his face and did obeisance and thanked the king. And Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, O king, in that the king has performed the request of his servant.

²³ So Joab arose, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴ And the king said, Let him go to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the king’s face.

²⁵ But in all Israel there was none so much to be praised for his beauty as Absalom; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

²⁶ And when he cut the hair of his head, he weighed it—for at each year’s end he cut it, because its weight was a burden to him—and it weighed 200 shekels by the king’s weight.

²⁷ There were born to Absalom three sons and one daughter whose name was Tamar; she was a beautiful woman.

²⁸ Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem and did not see the king’s face.

²⁹ So Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but he would not come to him; even when he sent again the second time, he would not come.

³⁰ Therefore Absalom said to his servants, See, Joab’s field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. So Absalom’s servants set the field afire.

³¹ Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?

³² Absalom answered Joab, I sent to you, saying, Come here, that I may send you to the king to ask, Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still. Now therefore [Joab], let me see the king, and if there is iniquity and guilt in me, let him kill me.

³³ So Joab came to the king and told him. And when David had called for Absalom, he came to him and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king; and [David] kissed Absalom.