2Samuel:13-14
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And it came to pass after this ,
that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister ,
whose name was Tamar ;
and Amnon the son of David loved her .
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And Amnon was so vexed ,
that he fell sick for his sister Tamar ;
for she was a virgin ;
and Amnon thought it hard for him to do any thing to her .
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But Amnon had a friend ,
whose name was Jonadab ,
the son of Shimeah David '
s brother :
and Jonadab was a very subtil man .
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And he said unto him ,
Why art thou ,
being the king '
s son ,
lean from day to day ?
wilt thou not tell me ?
And Amnon said unto him ,
I love Tamar ,
my brother Absalom '
s sister .
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And Jonadab said unto him ,
Lay thee down on thy bed ,
and make thyself sick :
and when thy father cometh to see thee ,
say unto him ,
I pray thee ,
let my sister Tamar come ,
and give me meat ,
and dress the meat in my sight ,
that I may see it ,
and eat it at her hand .
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So Amnon lay down ,
and made himself sick :
and when the king was come to see him ,
Amnon said unto the king ,
I pray thee ,
let Tamar my sister come ,
and make me a couple of cakes in my sight ,
that I may eat at her hand .
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Then David sent home to Tamar ,
saying ,
Go now to thy brother Amnon '
s house ,
and dress him meat .
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So Tamar went to her brother Amnon '
s house ;
and he was laid down .
And she took flour ,
and kneaded it ,
and made cakes in his sight ,
and did bake the cakes .
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And she took a pan ,
and poured them out before him ;
but he refused to eat .
And Amnon said ,
Have out all men from me .
And they went out every man from him .
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And Amnon said unto Tamar ,
Bring the meat into the chamber ,
that I may eat of thine hand .
And Tamar took the cakes which she had made ,
and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother .
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And when she had brought them unto him to eat ,
he took hold of her ,
and said unto her ,
Come lie with me ,
my sister .
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And she answered him ,
Nay ,
my brother ,
do not force me ;
for no such thing ought to be done in Israel :
do not thou this folly .
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And I ,
whither shall I cause my shame to go ?
and as for thee ,
thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel .
Now therefore ,
I pray thee ,
speak unto the king ;
for he will not withhold me from thee .
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Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice :
but ,
being stronger than she ,
forced her ,
and lay with her .
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Then Amnon hated her exceedingly ;
so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her .
And Amnon said unto her ,
Arise ,
be gone .
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And she said unto him ,
There is no cause :
this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me .
But he would not hearken unto her .
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Then he called his servant that ministered unto him ,
and said ,
Put now this woman out from me ,
and bolt the door after her .
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And she had a garment of divers colours upon her :
for with such robes were the king '
s daughters that were virgins apparelled .
Then his servant brought her out ,
and bolted the door after her .
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And Tamar put ashes on her head ,
and rent her garment of divers colours that was on her ,
and laid her hand on her head ,
and went on crying .
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And Absalom her brother said unto her ,
Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee ?
but hold now thy peace ,
my sister :
he is thy brother ;
regard not this thing .
So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom '
s house .
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But when king David heard of all these things ,
he was very wroth .
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And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad :
for Absalom hated Amnon ,
because he had forced his sister Tamar .
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And it came to pass after two full years ,
that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baalhazor ,
which is beside Ephraim :
and Absalom invited all the king '
s sons .
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And Absalom came to the king ,
and said ,
Behold now ,
thy servant hath sheepshearers ;
let the king ,
I beseech thee ,
and his servants go with thy servant .
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And the king said to Absalom ,
Nay ,
my son ,
let us not all now go ,
lest we be chargeable unto thee .
And he pressed him :
howbeit he would not go ,
but blessed him .
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Then said Absalom ,
If not ,
I pray thee ,
let my brother Amnon go with us .
And the king said unto him ,
Why should he go with thee ?
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But Absalom pressed him ,
that he let Amnon and all the king '
s sons go with him .
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Now Absalom had commanded his servants ,
saying ,
Mark ye now when Amnon '
s heart is merry with wine ,
and when I say unto you ,
Smite Amnon ;
then kill him ,
fear not :
have not I commanded you ?
be courageous ,
and be valiant .
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And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded .
Then all the king '
s sons arose ,
and every man gat him up upon his mule ,
and fled .
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And it came to pass ,
while they were in the way ,
that tidings came to David ,
saying ,
Absalom hath slain all the king '
s sons ,
and there is not one of them left .
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Then the king arose ,
and tare his garments ,
and lay on the earth ;
and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent .
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And Jonadab ,
the son of Shimeah David '
s brother ,
answered and said ,
Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men the king '
s sons ;
for Amnon only is dead :
for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar .
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Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart ,
to think that all the king '
s sons are dead :
for Amnon only is dead .
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But Absalom fled .
And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes ,
and looked ,
and ,
behold ,
there came much people by the way of the hill side behind him .
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And Jonadab said unto the king ,
Behold ,
the king '
s sons come :
as thy servant said ,
so it is .
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And it came to pass ,
as soon as he had made an end of speaking ,
that ,
behold ,
the king '
s sons came ,
and lifted up their voice and wept :
and the king also and all his servants wept very sore .
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But Absalom fled ,
and went to Talmai ,
the son of Ammihud ,
king of Geshur .
And David mourned for his son every day .
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So Absalom fled ,
and went to Geshur ,
and was there three years .
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And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom :
for he was comforted concerning Amnon ,
seeing he was dead .
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Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king '
s heart was toward Absalom .
*
And Joab sent to Tekoah ,
and fetched thence a wise woman ,
and said unto her ,
I pray thee ,
feign thyself to be a mourner ,
and put on now mourning apparel ,
and anoint not thyself with oil ,
but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead :
*
And come to the king ,
and speak on this manner unto him .
So Joab put the words in her mouth .
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And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king ,
she fell on her face to the ground ,
and did obeisance ,
and said ,
Help ,
O king .
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And the king said unto her ,
What aileth thee ?
And she answered ,
I am indeed a widow woman ,
and mine husband is dead .
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And thy handmaid had two sons ,
and they two strove together in the field ,
and there was none to part them ,
but the one smote the other ,
and slew him .
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And ,
behold ,
the whole family is risen against thine handmaid ,
and they said ,
Deliver him that smote his brother ,
that we may kill him ,
for the life of his brother whom he slew ;
and we will destroy the heir also :
and so they shall quench my coal which is left ,
and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth .
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And the king said unto the woman ,
Go to thine house ,
and I will give charge concerning thee .
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And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king ,
My lord ,
O king ,
the iniquity be on me ,
and on my father '
s house :
and the king and his throne be guiltless .
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And the king said ,
Whosoever saith ought unto thee ,
bring him to me ,
and he shall not touch thee any more .
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Then said she ,
I pray thee ,
let the king remember the LORD thy God ,
that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more ,
lest they destroy my son .
And he said ,
As the LORD liveth ,
there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth .
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Then the woman said ,
Let thine handmaid ,
I pray thee ,
speak one word unto my lord the king .
And he said ,
Say on .
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And the woman said ,
Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God ?
for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty ,
in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished .
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For we must needs die ,
and are as water spilt on the ground ,
which cannot be gathered up again ;
neither doth God respect any person :
yet doth he devise means ,
that his banished be not expelled from him .
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Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king ,
it is because the people have made me afraid :
and thy handmaid said ,
I will now speak unto the king ;
it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid .
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For the king will hear ,
to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God .
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Then thine handmaid said ,
The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable :
for as an angel of God ,
so is my lord the king to discern good and bad :
therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee .
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Then the king answered and said unto the woman ,
Hide not from me ,
I pray thee ,
the thing that I shall ask thee .
And the woman said ,
Let my lord the king now speak .
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And the king said ,
Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this ?
And the woman answered and said ,
As thy soul liveth ,
my lord the king ,
none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken :
for thy servant Joab ,
he bade me ,
and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid :
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To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing :
and my lord is wise ,
according to the wisdom of an angel of God ,
to know all things that are in the earth .
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And the king said unto Joab ,
Behold now ,
I have done this thing :
go therefore ,
bring the young man Absalom again .
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And Joab fell to the ground on his face ,
and bowed himself ,
and thanked the king :
and Joab said ,
To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight ,
my lord ,
O king ,
in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant .
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So Joab arose and went to Geshur ,
and brought Absalom to Jerusalem .
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And the king said ,
Let him turn to his own house ,
and let him not see my face .
So Absalom returned to his own house ,
and saw not the king '
s face .
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But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty :
from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him .
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And when he polled his head , (
for it was at every year '
s end that he polled it :
because the hair was heavy on him ,
therefore he polled it :)
he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king '
s weight .
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And unto Absalom there were born three sons ,
and one daughter ,
whose name was Tamar :
she was a woman of a fair countenance .
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So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem ,
and saw not the king '
s face .
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Therefore Absalom sent for Joab ,
to have sent him to the king ;
but he would not come to him :
and when he sent again the second time ,
he would not come .
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Therefore he said unto his servants ,
See ,
Joab '
s field is near mine ,
and he hath barley there ;
go and set it on fire .
And Absalom '
s servants set the field on fire .
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Then Joab arose ,
and came to Absalom unto his house ,
and said unto him ,
Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire ?
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And Absalom answered Joab ,
Behold ,
I sent unto thee ,
saying ,
Come hither ,
that I may send thee to the king ,
to say ,
Wherefore am I come from Geshur ?
it had been good for me to have been there still :
now therefore let me see the king '
s face ;
and if there be any iniquity in me ,
let him kill me .
*
So Joab came to the king ,
and told him :
and when he had called for Absalom ,
he came to the king ,
and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king :
and the king kissed Absalom .
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And it came to pass after this ,
that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses ,
and fifty men to run before him .