2 Samuel 13:1-21 ▼

1 And it comes to pass afterward that Absalom son of David has a beautiful sister, and her name [is] Tamar, and Amnon son of David loves her.

2 And Amnon has distress—even to become sick, because of his sister Tamar, for she [is] a virgin, and it is hard in the eyes of Amnon to do anything to her.

3 And Amnon has a friend, and his name [is] Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David’s brother, and Jonadab [is] a very wise man,

4 and says to him, “Why [are] you thus lean, O king’s son, morning by morning? Do you not declare [it] to me?” And Amnon says to him, “Tamar—sister of my brother Absalom—I am loving.”

5 And Jonadab says to him, “Lie down on your bed, and feign yourself sick, and your father has come in to see you, and you have said to him: Please let my sister Tamar come in and give me bread to eat; and she has made the food before my eyes so that I see [it], and have eaten from her hand.”

6 And Amnon lies down, and feigns himself sick, and the king comes in to see him, and Amnon says to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come, and she makes two cakes before my eyes, and I eat from her hand.”

7 And David sends to Tamar, to the house, saying, “Now go to the house of your brother Amnon and make food for him.”

8 And Tamar goes to the house of her brother Amnon, and he is lying down, and she takes the dough, and kneads, and makes cakes before his eyes, and cooks the cakes,

9 and takes the frying-pan, and pours out before him, and he refuses to eat, and Amnon says, “Have everyone go out from me”; and everyone goes out from him.

10 And Amnon says to Tamar, “Bring the food into the inner chamber, and I eat from your hand”; and Tamar takes the cakes that she has made and brings [them] to her brother Amnon [in] the inner chamber,

11 and she brings [them] near to him to eat, and he lays hold on her, and says to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”

12 And she says to him, “No, my brother, do not humble me, for it is not done so in Israel; do not do this folly.

13 And I—to where do I cause my reproach to go? And you are as one of the fools in Israel; and now, please speak to the king; for he does not withhold me from you.”

14 And he has not been willing to listen to her voice, and is stronger than she, and humbles her, and lies with her.

15 And Amnon hates her—a very great hatred—that greater [is] the hatred with which he has hated her than the love with which he loved her, and Amnon says to her, “Rise, go.”

16 And she says to him, “Because of the circumstances this evil is greater than the other that you have done with me—to send me away”; and he has not been willing to listen to her,

17 and calls his young man, his servant, and says, “Now send this one away from me outside, and bolt the door after her.”

18 And a long coat [is] on her, for such upper robes daughters of the king who [are] virgins put on—and his servant takes her outside, and has bolted the door after her.

19 And Tamar takes ashes for her head, and has torn the long coat that [is] on her, and puts her hand on her head, and goes, going on and crying;

20 and her brother Absalom says to her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? And now, my sister, keep silent, he [is] your brother; do not set your heart to this thing”; and Tamar dwells—but desolate—in the house of her brother Absalom.

21 And King David has heard all these things, and it is very displeasing to him;