2 Samuel 13:1-22

New Century Version

Amnon and Tamar

13 David had a son named Absalom and a son named Amnon. Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and Amnon loved her. ² Tamar was a virgin. Amnon made himself sick just thinking about her, because he could not find any chance to be alone with her.

³ Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very clever man. ⁴ He asked Amnon, “Son of the king, why do you look so sad day after day? Tell me what’s wrong!”

Amnon told him, “I love Tamar, the sister of my half-brother Absalom.”

⁵ Jonadab said to Amnon, “Go to bed and act as if you are sick. Then your father will come to see you. Tell him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in and give me food to eat. Let her make the food in front of me so I can watch and eat it from her hand.’”

⁶ So Amnon went to bed and acted sick. When King David came in to see him, Amnon said to him, “Please let my sister Tamar come in. Let her make two of her special cakes for me while I watch. Then I will eat them from her hands.”

⁷ David sent for Tamar in the palace, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon’s house and make some food for him.” ⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was in bed. Tamar took some dough and pressed it together with her hands. She made some special cakes while Amnon watched. Then she baked them. ⁹ Next she took the pan and served him, but he refused to eat.

He said to his servants, “All of you, leave me alone!” So they all left him alone. ¹⁰ Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom so I may eat from your hand.”

Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them to her brother Amnon in the bedroom. ¹¹ She went to him so he could eat from her hands, but Amnon grabbed her. He said, “Sister, come and have sexual relations with me.”

¹² Tamar said to him, “No, brother! Don’t force me! This should never be done in Israel! Don’t do this shameful thing! ¹³ I could never get rid of my shame! And you will be like the shameful fools in Israel! Please talk with the king, and he will let you marry me.”

¹⁴ But Amnon refused to listen to her. He was stronger than she was, so he forced her to have sexual relations with him. ¹⁵ After that, Amnon hated Tamar. He hated her more than he had loved her before. Amnon said to her, “Get up and leave!”

¹⁶ Tamar said to him, “No! Sending me away would be worse than what you’ve already done!”

But he refused to listen to her. ¹⁷ He called his young servant back in and said, “Get this woman out of here and away from me! Lock the door after her.” ¹⁸ So his servant led her out of the room and bolted the door after her.

Tamar was wearing a special robe with long sleeves, because the king’s virgin daughters wore this kind of robe. ¹⁹ To show how upset she was, Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her special robe and put her hand on her head. Then she went away, crying loudly.

²⁰ Absalom, Tamar’s brother, said to her, “Has Amnon, your brother, forced you to have sexual relations with him? For now, sister, be quiet. He is your half-brother. Don’t let this upset you so much!” So Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house and was sad and lonely.

²¹ When King David heard the news, he was very angry. ²² Absalom did not say a word, good or bad, to Amnon. But he hated Amnon for disgracing his sister Tamar.