Amnon and Tamar

¹David's son Absalom had a beautiful unmarried sister named Tamar. Amnon, another of David's sons, fell in love with her.

²He was so much in love with her that he became sick, because it seemed impossible for him to have her; as a virgin, she was kept from meeting men.

³But he had a friend, a very shrewd man named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shammah.

⁴Jonadab said to Amnon, “You are the king's son, yet day after day I see you looking sad. What's the matter?” “I'm in love with Tamar, the sister of my half brother Absalom,” he answered.

⁵Jonadab said to him, “Pretend that you are sick and go to bed. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please ask my sister Tamar to come and feed me. I want her to fix the food here where I can see her, and then serve it to me herself.’”

⁶So Amnon pretended that he was sick and went to bed. King David went to see him, and Amnon said to him, “Please let Tamar come and make a few cakes here where I can see her, and then serve them to me herself.”

⁷So David sent word to Tamar in the palace: “Go to Amnon's house and fix him some food.”

⁸She went there and found him in bed. She took some dough, prepared it, and made some cakes there where he could see her. Then she baked the cakes

⁹and emptied them out of the pan for him to eat, but he wouldn't. He said, “Send everyone away”—and they all left.

¹⁰Then he said to her, “Bring the cakes here to my bed and serve them to me yourself.” She took the cakes and went over to him.

¹¹As she offered them to him, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me!”

¹²“No,” she said. “Don't force me to do such a degrading thing! That's awful!

¹³How could I ever hold up my head in public again? And you—you would be completely disgraced in Israel. Please, speak to the king, and I'm sure that he will give me to you.”

¹⁴But he would not listen to her; and since he was stronger than she was, he overpowered her and raped her.

¹⁵Then Amnon was filled with a deep hatred for her; he hated her now even more than he had loved her before. He said to her, “Get out!”

¹⁶“No,” she answered. “To send me away like this is a greater crime than what you just did!” But Amnon would not listen to her;

¹⁷he called in his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight! Throw her out and lock the door!”

¹⁸The servant put her out and locked the door. Tamar was wearing a long robe with full sleeves, the usual clothing for an unmarried princess in those days.

¹⁹She sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying.

²⁰When her brother Absalom saw her, he asked, “Has Amnon molested you? Please, sister, don't let it upset you so much. He is your half brother, so don't tell anyone about it.” So Tamar lived in Absalom's house, sad and lonely.

²¹When King David heard what had happened, he was furious.

²²And Absalom hated Amnon so much for having raped his sister Tamar that he would no longer even speak to him.

Absalom's Revenge

²³Two years later Absalom was having his sheep sheared at Baal Hazor, near the town of Ephraim, and he invited all the king's sons to be there.

²⁴He went to King David and said, “Your Majesty, I am having my sheep sheared. Will you and your officials come and take part in the festivities?”

²⁵“No, my son,” the king answered. “It would be too much trouble for you if we all went.” Absalom insisted, but the king would not give in, and he asked Absalom to leave.

²⁶But Absalom said, “Well, then, will you at least let my brother Amnon come?” “Why should he?” the king asked.

²⁷But Absalom kept on insisting until David finally let Amnon and all his other sons go with Absalom. Absalom prepared a banquet fit for a king

²⁸and instructed his servants: “Notice when Amnon has had too much to drink, and then when I give the order, kill him. Don't be afraid. I will take the responsibility myself. Be brave and don't hesitate!”

²⁹So the servants followed Absalom's instructions and killed Amnon. All the rest of David's sons mounted their mules and fled.

³⁰While they were on their way home, David was told: “Absalom has killed all your sons—not one of them is left!”

³¹The king stood up, tore his clothes in sorrow, and threw himself to the ground. The servants who were there with him tore their clothes also.

³²But Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shammah, said, “Your Majesty, they haven't killed all your sons. Only Amnon is dead. You could tell by looking at Absalom that he had made up his mind to do this from the time that Amnon raped his sister Tamar.

³³So don't believe the news that all your sons are dead; only Amnon was killed.”

³⁴In the meantime Absalom had fled. Just then the soldier on sentry duty saw a large crowd coming down the hill on the road from Horonaim. He went to the king and reported what he had seen.

³⁵Jonadab said to David, “Those are your sons coming, just as I said they would.”

³⁶As soon as he finished saying this, David's sons came in; they started crying, and David and his officials also cried bitterly.

^37-38Absalom fled and went to the king of Geshur, Talmai son of Ammihud, and stayed there three years. David mourned a long time for his son Amnon;

³⁹but when he got over Amnon's death, he was filled with longing for his son Absalom.

Nathan's Message to David

¹King David was now living in his palace. One day he sent for the prophet Nathan and said to him, “Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but the Lord's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!”

²Nathan answered, “Do whatever you have in mind, because God is with you.”

³But that night God said to Nathan,

⁴“Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, ‘You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in.

⁵From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now I have never lived in a temple; I have always lived in tents and moved from place to place.

⁶In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.’

⁷“So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, ‘I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel.

⁸I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world.

^9-10I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to defeat all your enemies and to give you descendants.

¹¹When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong.

¹²He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever.

¹³I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king.

¹⁴I will put him in charge of my people and my kingdom forever. His dynasty will never end.’”

¹⁵Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

David's Prayer of Thanksgiving

¹⁶Then King David went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, sat down, and prayed, “I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, Lord God, nor is my family.

¹⁷Yet now you are doing even more; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come, and you, Lord God, are already treating me like someone great.

¹⁸What more can I say to you! You know me well, and yet you honor me, your servant.

¹⁹It was your will and purpose to do this for me and to show me my future greatness.

²⁰Lord, there is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God.

²¹There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them spread your fame throughout the world. You rescued your people from Egypt and drove out other nations as your people advanced.

²²You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

²³“And now, O Lord, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would.

²⁴Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.’ And you will preserve my dynasty for all time.

²⁵I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, my God, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings.

²⁶You, Lord, are God, and you have made this wonderful promise to me.

²⁷I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, Lord, have blessed them, and your blessing will rest on them forever.”

A Prayer for Help

¹Oppose those who oppose me, Lord, and fight those who fight against me!

²Take your shield and armor and come to my rescue.

³Lift up your spear and war ax against those who pursue me. Promise that you will save me.

⁴May those who try to kill me be defeated and disgraced! May those who plot against me be turned back and confused!

⁵May they be like straw blown by the wind as the angel of the Lord pursues them!

⁶May their path be dark and slippery while the angel of the Lord strikes them down!

⁷Without any reason they laid a trap for me and dug a deep hole to catch me.

⁸But destruction will catch them before they know it; they will be caught in their own trap and fall to their destruction!

⁹Then I will be glad because of the Lord; I will be happy because he saved me.

¹⁰With all my heart I will say to the Lord, “There is no one like you. You protect the weak from the strong, the poor from the oppressor.”

¹¹Evil people testify against me and accuse me of crimes I know nothing about.

¹²They pay me back evil for good, and I sink in despair.

¹³But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low,

¹⁴as I would pray for a friend or a brother. I went around bent over in mourning, as one who mourns for his mother.

¹⁵But when I was in trouble, they were all glad and gathered around to make fun of me; strangers beat me and kept striking me.

¹⁶Like those who would mock a cripple, they glared at me with hate.

¹⁷How much longer, Lord, will you just look on? Rescue me from their attacks; save my life from these lions!

¹⁸Then I will thank you in the assembly of your people; I will praise you before them all.

¹⁹Don't let my enemies, those liars, gloat over my defeat. Don't let those who hate me for no reason smirk with delight over my sorrow.

²⁰They do not speak in a friendly way; instead they invent all kinds of lies about peace-loving people.

²¹They accuse me, shouting, “We saw what you did!”

²²But you, O Lord, have seen this. So don't be silent, Lord; don't keep yourself far away!

²³Rouse yourself, O Lord, and defend me; rise up, my God, and plead my cause.

²⁴You are righteous, O Lord, so declare me innocent; don't let my enemies gloat over me.

²⁵Don't let them say to themselves, “We are rid of him! That's just what we wanted!”

²⁶May those who gloat over my suffering be completely defeated and confused; may those who claim to be better than I am be covered with shame and disgrace.

²⁷May those who want to see me acquitted shout for joy and say again and again, “How great is the Lord! He is pleased with the success of his servant.”

²⁸Then I will proclaim your righteousness, and I will praise you all day long.