1 David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. Another of David’s sons, Amnon, was attracted to Tamar. 2 He wanted to have sex with [EUP] his half-sister very much, with the result that he made himself sick thinking about her all the time. But it was not possible for Amnon to get her, because she was a virgin, so they kept men away from her.

3 But Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, who was the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty/shrewd man.

4 One day Jonadab said to Amnon, “You are the king’s son, but every day I see that [RHQ] you seem very depressed/sad. What is your problem?” Amnon replied, “I ◄am in love/want to sleep► [EUP] with Tamar, my half-brother Absalom’s sister.”

5 Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed, and pretend that you are sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Allow my half-sister Tamar to come and give me some food to eat. She can prepare the food while I am watching her. Then she can serve it to me herself.’ ”

6 So Amnon lay down, and pretended that he was sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I am sick; please allow my half-sister Tamar to come and make a couple scones/dumplings for me while I am watching, and then she can serve them to me.”

7 So David sent a message to Tamar in the palace, saying “Amnon is sick and he wants you to go to his house and prepare some food for him.” 8 So Tamar went to Amnon’s house, where he was lying in bed. She took some dough and kneaded it, and formed it into some scones/dumplings while he was watching her. Then she baked them. 9 She took them out of the pan and put them on a plate in front of him, but he refused to eat them. Then he said to everyone else in the room, “All the rest of you, leave me now!” So all the others left his room.

10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into my room and serve it to me.” So Tamar took into his room the scones/dumplings that she had made. 11 But when she brought them close for him to eat them, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come to bed with me!”

12 She replied, “No, do not force me to do such a disgraceful thing! We never do things like that in Israel! That would be awful/terrible! 13 As for me, if I did that, I would not be able to [RHQ] endure being disgraced by having done that. And as for you, everyone in Israel would condemn you for having done such a disgraceful deed. So I plead with you, talk to the king. I am sure that he will allow me to marry you.” 14 But he would not listen to her. He was stronger than she was, so he forced her to have sex with him.

15 Then Amnon hated her very much. He hated her much more than he had desired her. He said to her, “Get up and get out of here!”

16 But she said to him, “No! It would be very wrong for you to send me away. It would be worse than what you just did to me!” But he would not listen to her.

17 He summoned his personal servant and said to him, “Take this woman outside, away from me, and lock the door so that she cannot come in again!” 18 So the servant put her outside and locked the door.

Tamar was wearing a long robe with long sleeves, which was the clothing that was usually worn by the unmarried daughters of the king at that time. 19 But Tamar tore the long robe that she was wearing, and put ashes on her head to show that she was very sad. Then she put her hands on her head to show that she was grieving, and she went away, crying.

20 Her brother Absalom saw her and said to her, “Has your half-brother Amnon [DOU] forced you to have sex with him [EUP]? Please, my sister, do not tell anyone, and do not become depressed/sad.” So Tamar went to live in Absalom’s house, and she was very sad and lonely.

21 When King David heard about all that, he became very angry. 22 And Absalom hated Amnon, because he had raped his sister, so he would not speak to Amnon about anything.

23 Two years later, Absalom’s servants were shearing sheep at Baal-Hazor, which is near a town named Ephraim. When they finished shearing the sheep, they celebrated, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons to come and celebrate. 24 Absalom went to the king and said to him, “Sir, my servants have been shearing my sheep. Please come with your officials to celebrate with us!”

25 But the king replied, “No, my son, it would not be good for all of us to go, because it would cause you to do a lot of work and spend a lot of money for food.” Absalom continued urging him, but the king would not go. Instead, he said that he hoped/desired that God would bless them while they celebrated.

26 Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, please allow my half-brother Amnon to go with us.” But the king replied, “Why do you want him to go with you?”

27 But Absalom continued to insist, so finally the king permitted Amnon and all David’s other sons to go with Absalom.

28 So they all went. And at the celebration, Absalom commanded his servants, “Notice when Amnon has become a bit drunk from the wine. Then when I signal to you, kill him. Do not be afraid; you will be doing this only because I told you [RHQ] to do it. So be courageous and do it!” 29 So Absalom’s servants did what Absalom told them to do. They killed Amnon. All the rest of David’s sons saw what happened and fled, riding on their mules.

30 While they were on their way home, someone went quickly and reported to David, “Absalom has killed all of your other sons; none of them is still alive!” 31 The king stood up, tore his clothes because he was extremely sad, and then he threw himself down on the ground. All the servants who were there also tore their clothes.

32 But Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “Your Majesty, I am sure that they have not killed all your sons. I am sure that only Amnon is dead, because Absalom has determined to do this ever since the day that Amnon raped [EUP] his half-sister Tamar. 33 So, your majesty, do not believe the report that all your sons are dead. I am sure that only Amnon is dead.”

34 In the meantime, Absalom ran away.

Just then, the soldier/sentry who was standing on the city wall saw a large crowd of people coming down the hill along the road from Horonaim. He ran and told the king what he had seen. 35 Jonadab said to the king, “Aha! What I told you is true. Your other sons are alive and have come!”

36 And as soon as he said that, David’s sons came in. They all started crying, and David and all his officials also cried very much.

37-38 But Absalom had fled. He went to stay with the king of the Geshur region, who was Talmai the son of Ammihud. Absalom stayed there for three years.

David mourned for his son Amnon for a long time, 39 but after that, he desired very much to see Absalom, because he was no longer grieving about Amnon being dead.