2 Samuel 13-15

2 Samuel 13

¹After some time, David’s son Amnon fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of David’s son Absalom.

²Amnon was sick with frustration over his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed implausible for him to do anything to her.

³Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,

⁴and he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the son of the king, so depressed morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

⁵Jonadab told him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you are ill. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare it in my sight so I may watch her and eat it from her hand.’”

⁶So Amnon lay down and feigned illness. When the king came to see him, Amnon said, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.”

⁷Then David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare a meal for him.”

⁸So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked them.

⁹Then she brought the pan and set it down before him, but he refused to eat. “Send everyone away!” said Amnon. And everyone went out.

¹⁰Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat it from your hand.” Tamar took the cakes she had made and went to her brother Amnon’s bedroom.

¹¹And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come lie with me, my sister!”

¹²“No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not violate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!

¹³Where could I ever take my shame? And you would be like one of the fools in Israel! Please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

¹⁴But Amnon refused to listen to her, and being stronger, he violated her and lay with her.

¹⁵Then Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that his hatred was greater than the love he previously had. “Get up!” he said to her. “Be gone!”

¹⁶“No,” she replied, “sending me away is worse than this great wrong you have already done to me!” But he refused to listen to her.

¹⁷Instead, he called to his attendant and said, “Throw this woman out and bolt the door behind her!”

¹⁸So Amnon’s attendant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a robe of many colors, because this is what the king’s virgin daughters wore.

¹⁹And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her robe. And putting her hand on her head, she went away crying aloud.

²⁰Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister. He is your brother. Do not take this thing to heart.” So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in the house of her brother Absalom.

²¹When King David heard all this, he was furious.

²²And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon for violating his sister Tamar.

²³Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, he invited all the sons of the king.

²⁴And he went to the king and said, “Your servant has just hired shearers. Will the king and his servants please come with me?”

²⁵“No, my son,” the king replied, “we should not all go, or we would be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he was not willing to go, but gave him his blessing.

²⁶“If not,” said Absalom, “please let my brother Amnon go with us.” “Why should he go with you?” the king asked.

²⁷But Absalom urged him, so the king sent Amnon and the rest of his sons.

²⁸Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”

²⁹So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon just as Absalom had ordered. Then all the other sons of the king got up, and each one fled on his mule.

³⁰While they were on the way, a report reached David: “Absalom has struck down all the sons of the king; not one of them is left!”

³¹Then the king stood up, tore his clothes, and lay down on the ground. And all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.

³²But Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, spoke up: “My lord must not think they have killed all the sons of the king, for only Amnon is dead. In fact, Absalom has planned this since the day Amnon violated his sister Tamar.

³³So now, my lord the king, do not take to heart the report that all the sons of the king are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

³⁴Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. When the young man standing watch looked up, he saw many people coming down the road west of him, along the side of the hill. And the watchman went and reported to the king, “I see men coming from the direction of Horonaim, along the side of the hill.”

³⁵So Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the sons of the king have arrived! It is just as your servant said.”

³⁶And as he finished speaking, the sons of the king came in, wailing loudly. Then the king and all his servants also wept very bitterly.

³⁷Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But David mourned for his son every day.

³⁸After Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, he stayed there three years.

³⁹And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he had been consoled over Amnon’s death.

2 Samuel 14

¹Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart longed for Absalom.

²So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

³Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”

⁵“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.

⁶And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

⁷Now the whole clan has risen up against your maidservant and said, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of the brother whom he killed. Then we will cut off the heir as well!’ So they would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on the earth.”

⁸“Go home,” the king said to the woman, “and I will give orders on your behalf.”

⁹But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.”

¹⁰“If anyone speaks to you,” said the king, “bring him to me, and he will not trouble you again!”

¹¹“Please,” she replied, “may the king invoke the LORD your God to prevent the avenger of blood from increasing the devastation, so that my son may not be destroyed!” “As surely as the LORD lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”

¹²Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied.

¹³The woman asked, “Why have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, since he has not brought back his own banished son?

¹⁴For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life, but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.

¹⁵Now therefore, I have come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king. Perhaps he will grant the request of his maidservant.

¹⁶For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’

¹⁷And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring me rest, for my lord the king is able to discern good and evil, just like the angel of God. May the LORD your God be with you.’”

¹⁸Then the king said to the woman, “I am going to ask you something; do not conceal it from me!” “Let my lord the king speak,” she replied.

¹⁹So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say.

²⁰Joab your servant has done this to bring about this change of affairs, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that happens in the land.”

²¹Then the king said to Joab, “I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

²²Joab fell facedown in homage and blessed the king. “Today,” said Joab, “your servant knows that he has found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his request.”

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

²⁴But the king added, “He may return to his house, but he must not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the face of the king.

²⁵Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw.

²⁶And when he cut the hair of his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy—he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard.

²⁷Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.

²⁸Now Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without seeing the face of the king.

²⁹Then he sent for Joab to send him to the king, but Joab refused to come to him. So Absalom sent a second time, but Joab still would not come.

³⁰Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

³¹Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

³²“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”

³³So Joab went and told the king, and David summoned Absalom, who came to him and bowed facedown before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

2 Samuel 15

¹Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him.

²He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

³Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.”

⁴And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”

⁵Also, when anyone approached to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him.

⁶Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

⁷After four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD.

⁸For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”

⁹“Go in peace,” said the king. So Absalom got up and went to Hebron.

¹⁰Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”

¹¹Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter.

¹²While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.

¹³Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

¹⁴And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”

¹⁵The king’s servants replied, “Whatever our lord the king decides, we are your servants.”

¹⁶Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace.

¹⁷So the king set out with all the people following him. He stopped at the last house,

¹⁸and all his servants marched past him—all the Cherethites and Pelethites, and six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath.

¹⁹Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.

²⁰In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness.”

²¹But Ittai answered the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be!”

²²“March on then,” said David to Ittai. So Ittai the Gittite marched past with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

²³Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.

²⁴Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had passed out of the city.

²⁵Then 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 both it and His dwelling place again.

²⁶But if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.”

²⁷The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace—you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan.

²⁸See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”

²⁹So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

³⁰But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

³¹Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

³²When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

³³David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me.

³⁴But you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, my king; in the past I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant.’

³⁵Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace.

³⁶Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.”

³⁷So David’s friend Hushai arrived in Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.