Beginning
Amnon and Tamar
13 David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. Some time after this, David’s son Amnon fell in love with her. 2 Amnon was so worked up that he made himself sick because of his sister Tamar. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for Amnon to do anything with her.
3 Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, who was a son of David’s brother Shimeah.[a] Jonadab was a very clever man. 4 Jonadab said to Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so tired every morning? Won’t you tell me?”
Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.”
5 Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick. Your father will come to see you. Then you are to say to him, ‘Please! Have my sister Tamar come and give me some food to eat. Have her prepare the food in my presence so that I can watch and eat it from her hand.’”
6 So Amnon went to bed and pretended to be sick, and the king came to see him. Amnon said to the king, “Please! Have my sister Tamar come and make special flatbread while I am watching. She should make two of them and let me eat them from her hand.”
7 So David sent a message to Tamar’s house: “Please, go to the house of your brother Amnon and make food for him.” 8 Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, where he was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made the flatbread as he was watching, and baked the loaves. 9 She took the pan and placed it before him, but he refused to eat.
Amnon said, “Send everyone away from me.” So everyone left.
10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom and let me eat from your hand.”
Tamar took the flatbread that she had made and brought it into the room to Amnon her brother. 11 She brought it to him so he could eat.
He grabbed her and said to her, “Come, lie down with me, my sister.”
12 She said to him, “No, my brother. Do not force me, for such a thing is not done in Israel. Do not do such a foolish thing. 13 And I—how will I get rid of my shame? And you will be like one of the fools in Israel. Now, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”
14 But he would not listen to her. He was stronger than she was, and he forced her to lie down with him.
15 Then Amnon’s hatred for her was even more intense than the love he had felt for her. Amnon said to her, “Get up. Get out.”
16 She said to him, “There is no excuse for that. To send me away is a greater wrong than what you already did to me.”
But he was not willing to listen to her. 17 He called the young man who was his servant and said, “Send this woman outside, away from me, and bolt the door behind her.”
18 She was wearing a special long robe that covered her arms and legs.[b] The virgin daughters of the king wore such robes. His servant put her outside and bolted the door after her. 19 Tamar put ashes on her head and ripped the robe that she was wearing. She placed her hand on her head, and she went away, weeping loudly as she walked.
20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now my sister, do not say anything. He is your brother. Do not take this matter to heart.”
So Tamar, a devastated woman, stayed in the house of her brother Absalom. 21 King David heard about all these things, and he was very angry.[c]
22 Absalom did not speak with Amnon at all, neither anything bad nor anything good. Absalom hated Amnon because he had raped Tamar, his sister.
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.[d]
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,[e] 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.”⎦[f]
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,[g] 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.
14 Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the heart of the king was attached to Absalom. 2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought a wise woman from there. He said to her, “Please act like a mourner and wear mourning clothes. Do not anoint yourself with lotion. Make it look as if you are a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. 3 Go to the king and tell him whatever I tell you to say.” Then Joab put the words in her mouth.
4 The woman from Tekoa spoke to the king. She fell down with her face to the ground. She bowed down and said, “Help me, O King.”
5 The king said to her, “What is wrong?”
She said, “It’s terrible. I am a widow. My husband is dead. 6 Your servant had two sons. The two of them had a fight out in the field, and there was no one there to separate them. The one struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant. They are saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so we can put him to death because of the life of his brother whom he killed. In this way we will destroy the heir also.’ They will put out the fire of the one burning coal that is left for me. My husband will not have a name or anything left on the face of the earth.”
8 The king said to the woman, “Go to your house. I will issue orders on your behalf.”
9 The woman from Tekoa said to the king, “On me, my lord the king—let the guilt be on me and on the house of my father. The king and his throne will be guiltless.”
10 The king said, “Bring to me anyone who speaks against you about this, and he will not contact you again.”
11 She said, “Please, the king should remember the Lord your God and stop the avenger of blood from multiplying the killing, so that they do not destroy my son.”
David said, “As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son will fall to the ground.”
12 The woman said, “Please allow your servant to speak a word to my lord the king.”
He said, “Speak up.”
13 The woman said, “Why have you planned something like this against the people of God? By his own words the king convicts himself for not returning his own banished one. 14 We will certainly die. We are like water spilled onto the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take life. He devises means to restore to himself the one who has been banished. 15 Now I have come to say this to my lord the king, because the people have made me afraid. Your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king. Perhaps the king will fulfill the request of his servant, 16 for the king will listen and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to destroy both me and my son, to remove us from our inheritance from God.’ 17 Your servant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king give me rest, because he is like the angel of God—that is what my lord the king is like. He is able to distinguish good and evil.’ The Lord your God will be with you.”
18 The king answered the woman, “Please, do not withhold the answer to what I am about to ask you.”
The woman said, “My lord the king, please speak.”
19 The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?”
The woman answered, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, nothing veers off to the right or to the left from everything my lord the king has said, for your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders. He also put all these words into the mouth of your servant. 20 Your servant Joab did this in order to change the way things were going. My lord has wisdom, like the wisdom of the Angel of God. He knows everything that goes on in the land.”
21 The king said to Joab, “All right! I will do this. Go and bring back the young man Absalom.”
22 Joab fell down with his face to the ground. He bowed down and blessed the king and said, “Today your servant has become aware that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has carried out the request of his servant.”
23 So Joab got up and went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.
24 But the king said, “He must go to his own house. He is not to see me face-to-face.” So Absalom went to his own house, and he did not see the face of the king.
25 There was not a man in all Israel as handsome as Absalom and so greatly praised. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head there was not a blemish on him. 26 When he shaved the hair on his head (periodically he cut it off because it became too heavy for him), the hair weighed five pounds.[h]
27 Three sons and one daughter were born to Absalom. The daughter’s name was Tamar. She was an attractive woman.
28 Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years, but he did not see the king face-to-face. 29 Absalom sent to Joab in order to ask him to go to the king on his behalf, but Joab was not willing to come to him. Absalom sent again, a second time, but Joab was still not willing to come. 30 So Absalom said to his servants, “See that field of Joab next to mine, where he has barley. Go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire. ⎣Joab’s servants came to him with their clothing torn and said to him, “The servants of Absalom have set your field on fire.”⎦[i]
31 Joab got up and went to Absalom’s house. He said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?”
32 Absalom said to Joab, “I sent this message to you: Come here. I want to send you to speak to the king and to say for me, ‘Why did I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to still be there.’ Now I want to see the king face-to-face. If I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death.” 33 So Joab went to the king and gave him the message.
Then the king summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. He bowed down to the king with his face to the ground, and the king kissed Absalom.
Absalom’s Rebellion
15 After this, Absalom acquired for himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run in front of him. 2 Absalom would get up early and stand beside the road by the gatehouse. Absalom would call out to every man who had a legal issue to bring before the king for judgment, and he would say, “What city are you from?” The person would say, “Your servant is from such-and-such of the tribes of Israel.” 3 Absalom would say to him, “Your claims are good and valid, but there is no one from the king to listen to you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, “I wish someone would make me a judge in the land. Then everyone who has a legal issue or needs a judgment could come to me, and I would give him justice.”
5 Whenever someone approached to bow down to him, he would reach out, take hold of him, and kiss him. 6 Absalom acted this way to everyone of Israel who came to the king for judgment. In this way Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 After four[j] years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and fulfill my vow, which I have made to the Lord, 8 because when I was at Geshur in Aram, your servant vowed, ‘If the Lord will really return me to Jerusalem, I will serve the Lord.’”
9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he set out and went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent agents throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “When you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem who had been invited went along with Absalom. They went innocently, since they did not know what was going on.
12 While he was offering sacrifices, Absalom summoned David’s advisor, Ahithophel of Giloh, to come from Giloh, his hometown. The conspiracy gained strength as more and more people were going over to Absalom.
13 A messenger came to David and said, “The hearts of the men of Israel are following Absalom.”
14 So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Get ready. We must flee, or we will not escape from Absalom. Hurry up and go, so that he does not come quickly, overtake us, bring down disaster on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
15 The officials of the king said to him, “Here we are. We, your servants, will do everything our lord the king decides.” 16 So the king set out with his entire household, but he left ten concubines[k] to watch over the house. 17 The king and all his people set out. They stopped at a house some distance away.
David’s Flight
18 All his troops were passing by in front of David. All the Kerethites, Pelethites, and Gittites—six hundred men from Gath who had come under his command—were passing by in front of the king. 19 The king said to Ittai from Gath, “Why are you going with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom, because you are a foreigner and an exile from your home. 20 You arrived just yesterday. Today should I cause you to wander with us, when I myself do not have a plan as to where I am going? Go back and take your fellow soldiers with you. May the Lord’s mercy and faithfulness be with you.”[l]
21 Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king will be, whether it leads to death or life, there your servant will be.”
22 David said to Ittai, “Go ahead then. March on.” So Ittai from Gath and all his men and all the dependents who were with them marched by.
23 All the people of the land wept loudly as all the troops were marching by. The king crossed over the stream bed of the Kidron. All the people kept marching by in the direction of the wilderness.
24 Next came Zadok and all the Levites with him, who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of God. They set down the Ark of God, and Abiathar offered up sacrifices until all the people finished passing by, as they left the city. 25 The king said to Zadok, “Return the Ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see it in its proper dwelling place. 26 But if he says, ‘I have no pleasure in you,’ look, here I am. Let him do to me whatever is good in his eyes.”
27 The king said to Zadok the priest, “Aren’t you a seer?[m] Go back to the city in peace. You two priests, take your sons with you—your son Ahima’az and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. 28 Listen, I will be waiting at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the Ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.
30 David went up along the ascent to the top of the Mount of Olives. As he walked along with his head covered, he was weeping, and he was walking barefoot. All the people who were with him also covered their heads. As they went up, they were weeping as they walked along.
31 David had been told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David said, “Please, Lord, make the advice of Ahithophel foolish.”
32 David arrived at the summit, where he worshipped God.[n]
Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him. His robe was torn, and he had dirt on his head. 33 David said to him, “If you cross over with me, you will become a burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city and you say to Absalom, ‘Let me be your servant, O King. In the past I was a servant of your father. Now I will be your servant,’ then you can defeat the advice of Ahithophel for me. 35 Are not Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, with you there? Tell every word that you hear in the house of the king to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. 36 Their two sons, Zadok’s son Ahima’az and Abiathar’s son Jonathan, are there with them. Through those two, the three of you will be able to send me every word that you hear.” 37 Hushai, the friend and advisor of David, went to the city, just as Absalom also was entering into Jerusalem.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.