Reading hallThe Bible
Christianity2 Samuel 13HOLYMAP · SACRED TEXTS
The Bible2 Samuel 13

The Bible

2 Samuel 13

1
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

2
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

3
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

4
English · Berean Standard Bible

and 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.”

5
English · Berean Standard Bible

Jonadab 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.’”

6
English · Berean Standard Bible

So 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.”

7
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

8
English · Berean Standard Bible

So 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.

9
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

10
English · Berean Standard Bible

Then 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.

11
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

12
English · Berean Standard Bible

“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!

13
English · Berean Standard Bible

Where 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.”

14
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

15
English · Berean Standard Bible

Then 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
English · Berean Standard Bible

“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.

17
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

18
English · Berean Standard Bible

So 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.

19
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

20
English · Berean Standard Bible

Her 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.

21
English · Berean Standard Bible

When King David heard all this, he was furious.

22
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

23
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

24
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

25
English · Berean Standard Bible

“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
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

27
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

28
English · Berean Standard Bible

Now 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!”

29
English · Berean Standard Bible

So 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.

30
English · Berean Standard Bible

While 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!”

31
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

32
English · Berean Standard Bible

But 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.

33
English · Berean Standard Bible

So 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.”

34
English · Berean Standard Bible

Meanwhile, 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.”

35
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

36
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

37
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

38
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

39
English · Berean Standard Bible

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

1
2 Samuel 13English
2
2 Samuel 130%

The Bible

Find your chapter.

1189 chapters

Make yourself comfortable.

PAGE COLOUR

TEXT SIZE

100%

Your preferences stay with you on this device.

ORIGINALS & TRANSLATIONS

Choose your edition.

Select one edition for quiet reading, or several to compare the words.

Hebrew text: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain). Original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb (CC BY 4.0). · Source ↗

Hebrew text: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain), from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible. Original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Changes: lemma and morphology markup removed; morpheme separators removed; qere readings shown in [brackets] after the ketiv, which is shown in (parentheses); petucha/setuma marks omitted; verses renumbered to English versification (Psalm titles moved to headings).

The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB. Dedicated to the public domain. · Source ↗

The Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version), standard text of 1769; electronic text courtesy of eBible.org and the CrossWire Bible Society. Public domain outside the United Kingdom. In the UK, rights in the Authorized Version are vested in the Crown under Letters Patent, administered by Cambridge University Press. · Source ↗

↑
Explore the atlas
↑ ↓ to explore   ·   Enter to open   ·   Esc to close

PEOPLE · PLACES · HIGHER MEANING

Finding your place.

Preparing your experience…