rsv 2Samuel:12-13, SEEK
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And the LORD sent Nathan to David .
He came to him ,
and said to him , "
There were two men in a certain city ,
the one rich and the other poor .
*
The rich man had very many flocks and herds ;
*
but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb ,
which he had bought .
And he brought it up ,
and it grew up with him and with his children ;
it used to eat of his morsel ,
and drink from his cup ,
and lie in his bosom ,
and it was like a daughter to him .
*
Now there came a traveler to the rich man ,
and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him ,
but he took the poor man '
s lamb ,
and prepared it for the man who had come to him ."
*
Then David '
s anger was greatly kindled against the man ;
and he said to Nathan , "
As the LORD lives ,
the man who has done this deserves to die ;
*
and he shall restore the lamb fourfold ,
because he did this thing ,
and because he had no pity ."
*
Nathan said to David , "
You are the man .
Thus says the LORD ,
the God of Israel , `
I anointed you king over Israel ,
and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul ;
*
and I gave you your master '
s house ,
and your master '
s wives into your bosom ,
and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah ;
and if this were too little ,
I would add to you as much more .
*
Why have you despised the word of the LORD ,
to do what is evil in his sight ?
You have smitten Uri '
ah the Hittite with the sword ,
and have taken his wife to be your wife ,
and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites .
*
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house ,
because you have despised me ,
and have taken the wife of Uri '
ah the Hittite to be your wife .'
*
Thus says the LORD , `
Behold ,
I will raise up evil against you out of your own house ;
and I will take your wives before your eyes ,
and give them to your neighbor ,
and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun .
*
For you did it secretly ;
but I will do this thing before all Israel ,
and before the sun .'"
*
David said to Nathan , "
I have sinned against the LORD ."
And Nathan said to David , "
The LORD also has put away your sin ;
you shall not die .
*
Nevertheless ,
because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD ,
the child that is born to you shall die ."
*
Then Nathan went to his house .
And the LORD struck the child that Uri '
ah '
s wife bore to David ,
and it became sick .
*
David therefore besought God for the child ;
and David fasted ,
and went in and lay all night upon the ground .
*
And the elders of his house stood beside him ,
to raise him from the ground ;
but he would not ,
nor did he eat food with them .
*
On the seventh day the child died .
And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead ;
for they said , "
Behold ,
while the child was yet alive ,
we spoke to him ,
and he did not listen to us ;
how then can we say to him the child is dead ?
He may do himself some harm ."
*
But when David saw that his servants were whispering together ,
David perceived that the child was dead ;
and David said to his servants , "
Is the child dead ?"
They said , "
He is dead ."
*
Then David arose from the earth ,
and washed ,
and anointed himself ,
and changed his clothes ;
and he went into the house of the LORD ,
and worshiped ;
he then went to his own house ;
and when he asked ,
they set food before him ,
and he ate .
*
Then his servants said to him , "
What is this thing that you have done ?
You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive ;
but when the child died ,
you arose and ate food ."
*
He said , "
While the child was still alive ,
I fasted and wept ;
for I said , `
Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me ,
that the child may live ?'
*
But now he is dead ;
why should I fast ?
Can I bring him back again ?
I shall go to him ,
but he will not return to me ."
*
Then David comforted his wife ,
Bathshe '
ba ,
and went in to her ,
and lay with her ;
and she bore a son ,
and he called his name Solomon .
And the LORD loved him ,
*
and sent a message by Nathan the prophet ;
so he called his name Jedidi '
ah ,
because of the LORD .
*
Now Jo '
ab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites ,
and took the royal city .
*
And Jo '
ab sent messengers to David ,
and said , "
I have fought against Rabbah ;
moreover ,
I have taken the city of waters .
*
Now ,
then ,
gather the rest of the people together ,
and encamp against the city ,
and take it ;
lest I take the city ,
and it be called by my name ."
*
So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah ,
and fought against it and took it .
*
And he took the crown of their king from his head ;
the weight of it was a talent of gold ,
and in it was a precious stone ;
and it was placed on David '
s head .
And he brought forth the spoil of the city ,
a very great amount .
*
And he brought forth the people who were in it ,
and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes ,
and made them toil at the brickkilns ;
and thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites .
Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem .
*
Now Ab '
salom ,
David '
s son ,
had a beautiful sister ,
whose name was Tamar ;
and after a time Amnon ,
David '
s son ,
loved her .
*
And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar ;
for she was a virgin ,
and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her .
*
But Amnon had a friend ,
whose name was Jon '
adab ,
the son of Shim '
e-ah ,
David '
s brother ;
and Jon '
adab was a very crafty man .
*
And he said to him , "
O son of the king ,
why are you so haggard morning after morning ?
Will you not tell me ?"
Amnon said to him , "
I love Tamar ,
my brother Ab '
salom '
s sister ."
*
Jon '
adab said to him , "
Lie down on your bed ,
and pretend to be ill ;
and when your father comes to see you ,
say to him , `
Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat ,
and prepare the food in my sight ,
that I may see it ,
and eat it from her hand .'"
*
So Amnon lay down ,
and pretended to be ill ;
and when the king came to see him ,
Amnon said to the king , "
Pray let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight ,
that I may eat from her hand ."
*
Then David sent home to Tamar ,
saying , "
Go to your brother Amnon '
s house ,
and prepare food for him ."
*
So Tamar went to her brother Amnon '
s house ,
where he was lying down .
And she took dough ,
and kneaded it ,
and made cakes in his sight ,
and baked the cakes .
*
And she took the pan and emptied it out before him ,
but he refused to eat .
And Amnon said , "
Send out every one from me ."
So every one went out from him .
*
Then Amnon said to Tamar , "
Bring the food into the chamber ,
that I may eat from your hand ."
And Tamar took the cakes she had made ,
and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother .
*
But when she brought them near him to eat ,
he took hold of her ,
and said to her , "
Come ,
lie with me ,
my sister ."
*
She answered him , "
No ,
my brother ,
do not force me ;
for such a thing is not done in Israel ;
do not do this wanton folly .
*
As for me ,
where could I carry my shame ?
And as for you ,
you would be as one of the wanton fools in Israel .
Now therefore ,
I pray you ,
speak to the king ;
for he will not withhold me from you ."
*
But he would not listen to her ;
and being stronger than she ,
he forced her ,
and lay with her .
*
Then Amnon hated her with 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 to her , "
Arise ,
be gone ."
*
But she said to him , "
No ,
my brother ;
for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other which you did to me ."
But he would not listen to her .
*
He called the young man who served him and said , "
Put this woman out of my presence ,
and bolt the door after her ."
*
Now she was wearing a long robe with sleeves ;
for thus were the virgin daughters of the king clad of old .
So his servant put her out ,
and bolted the door after her .
*
And Tamar put ashes on her head ,
and rent the long robe which she wore ;
and she laid her hand on her head ,
and went away ,
crying aloud as she went .
*
And her brother Ab '
salom said to her , "
Has Amnon your brother been with you ?
Now hold your peace ,
my sister ;
he is your brother ;
do not take this to heart ."
So Tamar dwelt ,
a desolate woman ,
in her brother Ab '
salom '
s house .
*
When King David heard of all these things ,
he was very angry .
*
But Ab '
salom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad ;
for Ab '
salom hated Amnon ,
because he had forced his sister Tamar .
*
After two full years Ab '
salom had sheepshearers at Ba '
al-ha '
zor ,
which is near E '
phraim ,
and Ab '
salom invited all the king '
s sons .
*
And Ab '
salom came to the king ,
and said , "
Behold ,
your servant has sheepshearers ;
pray let the king and his servants go with your servant ."
*
But the king said to Ab '
salom , "
No ,
my son ,
let us not all go ,
lest we be burdensome to you ."
He pressed him ,
but he would not go but gave him his blessing .
*
Then Ab '
salom said , "
If not ,
pray let my brother Amnon go with us ."
And the king said to him , "
Why should he go with you ?"
*
But Ab '
salom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king '
s sons go with him .
*
Then Ab '
salom commanded his servants , "
Mark when Amnon '
s heart is merry with wine ,
and when I say to you , `
Strike Amnon ,'
then kill him .
Fear not ;
have I not commanded you ?
Be courageous and be valiant ."
*
So the servants of Ab '
salom did to Amnon as Ab '
salom had commanded .
Then all the king '
s sons arose ,
and each mounted his mule and fled .
*
While they were on the way ,
tidings came to David , "
Ab '
salom has slain all the king '
s sons ,
and not one of them is left ."
*
Then the king arose ,
and rent his garments ,
and lay on the earth ;
and all his servants who were standing by rent their garments .
*
But Jon '
adab the son of Shim '
e-ah ,
David '
s brother ,
said , "
Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men the king '
s sons ,
for Amnon alone is dead ,
for by the command of Ab '
salom this has been determined from the day he forced his sister Tamar .
*
Now therefore let not my lord the king so take it to heart as to suppose that all the king '
s sons are dead ;
for Amnon alone is dead ."
*
But Ab '
salom fled .
And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes ,
and looked ,
and behold ,
many people were coming from the Horona '
im road by the side of the mountain .
*
And Jon '
adab said to the king , "
Behold ,
the king '
s sons have come ;
as your servant said ,
so it has come about ."
*
And as soon as he had finished speaking ,
behold ,
the king '
s sons came ,
and lifted up their voice and wept ;
and the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly .
*
But Ab '
salom fled ,
and went to Talmai the son of Ammi '
hud ,
king of Geshur .
And David mourned for his son day after day .
*
So Ab '
salom fled ,
and went to Geshur ,
and was there three years .
*
And the spirit of the king longed to go forth to Ab '
salom ;
for he was comforted about Amnon ,
seeing he was dead .
*
Now Jo '
ab the son of Zeru '
iah perceived that the king '
s heart went out to Ab '
salom .