2Samuel:12-13

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* And the Lord sent Nathan unto David , and he came unto him and said to him , Two men were once in one city , the one rich and the other poor . * The rich man had flocks and herds , in great abundance . * But the poor man had nothing , save one little ewe , which he had bought ; and he nourished it , and it grew up with him and with his children together ; of his bread it used to eat , and out of his cup it used to drink , and in his bosom it used to lie , and it was to him as a daughter . * And there came a traveler unto the rich man ; and he felt compunction to take from his own flocks and from his own herds to dress for the wayfarer that was come to him ; but he took the ewe of the poor man , and dressed it for the man that was come to him . * And the anger of David was greatly kindled against the man ; and he said to Nathan , As the Lord liveth , surely the man that hath done this deserveth to die ; * And the ewe he shall pay fourfold , for punishment that he hath done this thing , and because he had no compassion . * Then said Nathan to David , Thou art the man ! Thus hath said the Lord , the God of Israel , It is I who anointed thee as king over Israel , and it is I who delivered thee out of the hand of Saul ; * And I gave unto thee the house of thy master , and the wives of thy master into thy bosom , and gave unto thee the house of Israel and Judah : and if this be too little , I could bestow on thee yet many more like these things . * Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his eyes ? Uriyah the Hittite hast thou smitten with the sword , and his wife hast thou taken unto thee for wife ; but him hast thou slain with the sword of the children of ‘Ammon . * And now , the sword shall not depart from thy house for ever ; for the reason that thou hast despised me , and hast taken the wife of Uriyah the Hittite to be thy wife . * Thus hath said the Lord , Behold , I will raise up against thee evil out of thy own house , and I will take away thy wives before thy eyes , and I will give them unto thy neighbor ; and he shall lie with thy wives before the face of this sun . * For thou hast done it in secret ; but I will surely do this thing before all Israel , and before the sun . * Then said David unto Nathan , I have sinned against the Lord . And Nathan said to David , Also the Lord hath caused thy sin to pass away : thou shalt not die . * Nevertheless , because thou hast given great cause to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme through this thing , the child also that hath been born unto thee shall surely die . * And Nathan went to his house ; and the Lord struck the child that Uriyah ’s wife had born unto David , that it became very sick . * And David besought God in behalf of the lad ; and David kept a fast , and came home , and lay over night upon the earth . * And the elders of the house arose about him , to raise him up from the earth ; but he would not , and he did not partake of any bread with them . * And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died ; and the servants of David were afraid to tell him , that the child was dead ; for they said , Behold , while the child was yet alive , we spoke to him , and he would not hearken to our voice : how then shall we say to him , The child is dead ! he might do a hurt . * But when David saw that his servants were whispering to each other , David understood that the child was dead ; wherefore David said unto his servants , Is the child dead ? and they said , he is dead . * David then rose up from the earth , and washed and anointed himself , and changed his garments , and went into the house of the Lord and prostrated himself ; and then he came to his own house , and asked that they should set food before him , and he ate . * And his servants then said unto him , What is this thing which thou hast done ? On account of the child when living thou didst fast and weep ; but as soon as the child was dead thou didst arise and eat bread ! * And he said , While the child was yet alive , I fasted and wept ; because I said , Who knoweth , but that the Lord will be gracious to me , that the child may live ? * But now he is dead , wherefore should I fast then ? can I restore him again ? I am going to him ; but he will not return to me . * And David comforted Bath –sheba ’ his wife , and he went in unto her , and lay with her ; and she bore a son , and called his name Solomon ; and the Lord loved him . * And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet , and called his name , Yedideyah in behalf of the Lord . * And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of ‘Ammon , and captured the royal city . * And Joab sent messengers to David ; and said , I have fought against Rabbah , and have also captured the water –town . * And now gather the rest of the people together , and encamp against the city , and capture it : lest I capture the city myself , and it be called by my name . * And David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah , and fought against it , and captured it . * And he took the crown of Malkam from off his head , and its weight was a talent of gold , and a precious stone , and it was set on the head of David ; and the booty of the city he brought out in great abundance . * And the people that were therein he brought forward , and put them under saws , and under iron threshing –wagons , and under axes of iron , and made them pass through brick –kilns ; and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of ‘Ammon : and David returned with them with all the people unto Jerusalem . * And it came to pass after this , that Abshalom the son of David had a handsome sister , whose name was Thamar ; and Amnon the son of David loved her . * And Amnon worried himself so that he fell sick on account of Thamar his sister ; for she was a virgin ; and it was impossible in the eyes of Amnon to do her the least . * But Amnon had a friend , whose name was Yonadab , the son of Shim ’ah , David ’s brother ; and Yonadab was a very sensible man . * And he said to him , Why art thou so wasted , O prince , morning after morning ? Wilt thou not tell me ? Then said Amnon to him , Thamar the sister of Abshalom my brother do I love . * And Yonadab said to him , Lie down on thy couch , and feign thyself sick ; and when thy father cometh to see thee , thou must say unto him , Let , I pray thee , Thamar my sister come , and give me some food , and prepare the refreshment before my eyes , in order that I may see it , and eat it out of her hand . * So Amnon lay down , and feigned himself sick ; and when the king came to see him , Amnon said to the king , Let , I pray thee , Thamar my sister come , and mix up before my eyes a couple of cakes , that I may enjoy them out of her hand . * Then did David send home to Thamar , saying , Do go now to thy brother Amnon ’s house , and prepare for him the refreshment . * So Thamar went to the house of Amnon her brother , and he was lying down ; and she took the dough and kneaded , and mixed it up before his eyes , and baked the cakes ; * And she took the pan , and poured them out before him ; but he refused to eat ; and Amnon said , Cause every man to go out from me ; and they went out , every man , from him . * And Amnon said to Thamar , Bring the refreshment into the chamber , that I may enjoy it out of thy hand . So Thamar took the cakes which she had made , and brought them unto Amnon her brother into the chamber . * And when she had brought them near unto him to eat , he took hold of her , and said unto her , Come , lie with me , my sister . * But she said to him , No , my brother , do not violate me ; for such a deed ought not to be done in Israel ; do not this scandalous act ! * And I , whither should I carry my shame ? and as for thee , thou wouldst be like one of the worthless in Israel ; but now , O speak , I pray thee , unto the king , for he will not withhold me from thee . * Nevertheless , he would not hearken unto her voice ; but he overpowered her , and violated her , and lay with her . * Then did Amnon hate her with a very great hatred ; so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her ; and Amnon said unto her , Arise , be gone . * And she said unto him , not add this yet greater wrong than the other which thou hast done with me , to send me away ! But he would not listen to her ; * And he called his young man , his servant , and said , Do send this woman away from me , into the street , and lock the door behind her . * And she had on a garment of divers colors ; for thus were usually appareled the king ’s daughters when virgins , in robes ; and his servant brought her out into the street , and locked the door behind her . * And Thamar put ashes on her head , and the garment of divers colors which was on her she rent : and she placed her hand on her head , and went away and cried as she went along . * Then said to her Abshalom her brother , Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee ? but now , my sister , keep silence , he is thy brother , take this thing not to thy heart . So Thamar remained , and was secluded in the house of Abshalom her brother . * And when king David heard all these things , it displeased him greatly . * And Abshalom spoke not with Amnon either bad or good ; for Abshalom hated Amnon , because he had violated Thamar his sister . * And it came to pass after two full years , that Abshalom had sheep –shearers at Ba ’al –chazor , which is near Ephraim ; and Abshalom invited all the king ’s sons . * And Abshalom came to the king , and said , Behold , now , thy servant hath sheep –shearers ; let the king , I pray thee , and his servants go with thy servant . * And the king said to Abshalom , No , my son , do not let us all go now , that we may not be a burden upon thee . And he urged him much , but he would not go , and he blessed him . * And Abshalom said , If not , let , I pray thee , Amnon my brother go with us . And the king said to him , Why should he go with thee ? * But Abshalom urged him greatly , and he sent with him Amnon and all the sons of the king . * Now Abshalom commanded his servants , saying , Mark ye , I pray you , when Annon ’s heart is merry with wine , and I say unto you , Smite Amnon : then kill him , fear not ; behold , it is I who command it you ; be firm and show yourselves men of valor . * And the servants of Abshalom did unto Amnon as Abshalom had commanded . Then arose all the king ’s sons , and they rode off , every man on his mule , and fled . * And it happened , while they were on the way , that the report came to David , saying , Abshalom hath smitten all the king ’s sons , and there is not one of them left . * Then arose the king and rent his garments , and laid himself on the earth : and all his servants were standing by with their garments rent . * But Yonadab the son of Shim ’ah , David ’s brother , commenced and said , Let not my Lord suppose that they have slain all the young men , the king ’s sons ; since Amnon alone is dead ; for by the command of Abshalom was this ordained from the day that he violated Thamar his sister . * And now let not my Lord the king take the thing to his heart , thinking , that all the king ’s sons are dead ; for Amnon alone is dead . * And Abshalom flew away . And the young man that was watching lifted up his eyes , and looked , and behold , many people were coming by the way behind him , by the side of the mount . * And Yonadab said to the king , The king ’s sons are come : according to the word of thy servant , so hath it come to pass . * And it happened , as he had just finished speaking , that , behold , the king ’s sons came , and they lifted up their voice and wept ; and also the king and all his servants wept very much . * But Abshalom had fled ; and he went to Talmai , the son of ‘Ammihud , the king of Geshur : and mourned for his son all the time . * So did Abshalom fly , and go to Geshur , and he remained there three years . * And king David longed to go forth unto Abshalom ; for he was comforted concerning Amnon , that he was dead . * And when now Joab the son of Zeruyah perceived that the heart of the king was toward Abshalom :

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