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13 A stupid child is ruin to a father,
    and a wife’s quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.(A)

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13 A foolish child is a father’s ruin,(A)
    and a quarrelsome wife is like
    the constant dripping of a leaky roof.(B)

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15 A continual dripping on a rainy day
    and a contentious wife are alike;(A)

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15 A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping(A)
    of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;

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It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a contentious wife.(A)

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Better to live on a corner of the roof
    than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.(A)

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Wise Sayings of Solomon

10 The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise child makes a glad father,
    but a foolish child is a mother’s grief.(A)

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Proverbs of Solomon

10 The proverbs(A) of Solomon:(B)

A wise son brings joy to his father,(C)
    but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

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24 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a contentious wife.(A)

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24 Better to live on a corner of the roof
    than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.(A)

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19 It is better to live in a desert land
    than with a contentious and fretful wife.

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19 Better to live in a desert
    than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.(A)

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25 Foolish children are a grief to their father
    and bitterness to her who bore them.(A)

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25 A foolish son brings grief to his father
    and bitterness to the mother who bore him.(A)

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21 The one who fathers a fool gets trouble;
    the parent of a fool has no joy.(A)

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21 To have a fool for a child brings grief;
    there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.(A)

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19 the waters wear away the stones;
    the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
    so you destroy the hope of mortals.

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19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents(A) wash away the soil,(B)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.(C)

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18 I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to my successor,(A) 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

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18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.(A) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(B) Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.

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20 A wise child makes a glad father,
    but the foolish despise their mothers.(A)

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20 A wise son brings joy to his father,(A)
    but a foolish man despises his mother.

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Amnon and Tamar

13 Some time passed. David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and David’s son Amnon fell in love with her.(A) 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. But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, and Jonadab was a very crafty man.(B) 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 Absalom’s sister.” Jonadab 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 something to eat and prepare the food in my sight, so that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’ ” So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill, and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.”(C)

Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare food for him.” So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, where he was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes. Then she took the pan and set them before him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, “Send out everyone from me.” So everyone went out from him.(D) 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber so that I may eat from your hand.” So 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.”(E) 12 She answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do anything so vile!(F) 13 As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the scoundrels in Israel. Now therefore, I beg you, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”(G) 14 But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he forced her and lay with her.(H)

15 Then Amnon was seized with a very great loathing for her; indeed, his loathing was even greater than the lust he had felt for her. Amnon said to her, “Get out!” 16 But she said to him, “No, my brother,[a] for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me.” 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 an ornamented[b] robe with sleeves, for this is how the virgin daughters of the king were clothed in earlier times.[c]) So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 13.16 Cn Compare Gk Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 13.18 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 13.18 Cn: Heb were clothed in robes

Amnon and Tamar

13 In the course of time, Amnon(A) son of David fell in love with Tamar,(B) the beautiful sister of Absalom(C) son of David.

Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

Now Amnon had an adviser named Jonadab son of Shimeah,(D) David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. 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.”

“Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’”

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”

David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.

“Send everyone out of here,”(E) Amnon said. So everyone left him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11 But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed(F) her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”(G)

12 “No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel!(H) Don’t do this wicked thing.(I) 13 What about me?(J) Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.(K)

15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

16 “No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.”

But he refused to listen to her. 17 He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.” 18 So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate[a] robe,(L) for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 13:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verse 19.