¹It happened after this that Absalom, the son of David, had a beautiful sister, and her name was Tamar, and Amnon, the son of David loved her.

²Amnon was in distress, to the point of making himself sick on account of Tamar his sister, for she was a virgin, and it was difficult in the eyes of Amnon to do anything to her.

³Amnon had a friend, and his name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, the brother of David; and Jonadab was an exceedingly wise man.

⁴He said to him, Why are you so thin, son of the king, morning by morning? Will you not tell me? Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, the sister of Absalom my brother.

⁵Jonadab said to him, Lie down on your bed and make yourself sick; when your father comes to see you, say to him, Please let Tamar my sister come and feed me food, and make the meal before my eyes, so that I may see it and eat from her hand.

⁶Amnon lay down and made himself sick, and the king came to see him; and Amnon said to the king, Please let Tamar my sister come and make two cakes before my eyes, so that I may eat from her hand.

⁷David sent to Tamar at the house, saying, Please go to the house of Amnon your brother, and make the meal for him.

⁸Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother, and he was lying down. She took the dough, kneaded it, made cakes before his eyes, and cooked the cakes.

⁹She took the pan and poured it out before him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, Bring out every man from me. And every man went out from him.

¹⁰Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the chamber, so that I may eat from your hand. Tamar took the cakes that she had made and brought them into the chamber, to Amnon her brother.

¹¹She brought them near to him to eat, and he took hold of her and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.

¹²She said to him, No, my brother, do not humble me, for it is not done so in Israel; do not do this disgraceful folly.

¹³And I, where will I carry my reproach? And you will be like one of the fools in Israel. And now, speak, please, to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.

¹⁴But he was not willing to hear her voice; being stronger than she, he afflicted her and lay with her.

¹⁵Then Amnon hated her with an exceedingly great hatred, for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her; and Amnon said to her, Rise, go.

¹⁶She said to him, No! Because of this evil, sending me away is greater than the other you did with me. But he was not willing to hear her.

¹⁷He called his boy who served him and said, Send this one away from me to the outside, please, and bolt the door after her.

¹⁸And on her was a long-sleeved tunic, for so the virgin daughters of the king wore robes. His servant brought her out to the outside and bolted the door after her.

¹⁹Tamar took ashes on her head, tore the long-sleeved tunic that was on her, put her hand on her head, and went on, crying out.

²⁰Absalom her brother said to her, Has Amnon your brother been with you? And now, my sister, keep silent; he is your brother. Do not set your heart to this word. So Tamar dwelled, desolate, in the house of Absalom her brother.

²¹And King David heard all these words, and he burned with anger exceedingly.

²²Absalom did not speak with Amnon, neither bad nor good, for Absalom hated Amnon on account of the word of how he had afflicted Tamar his sister.

²³It happened after two full years that Absalom had shearers at Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim, and Absalom summoned all the sons of the king.

²⁴Absalom came to the king and said, Look, there is a shearing to your slave; let the king and his slave go with your slave.

²⁵The king said to Absalom, No, my son, please let us not all go, so that we not be heavy on you. He pressed upon him, but he was not willing to go; and he blessed him.

²⁶Absalom said, And if not, please let Amnon my brother go with us. The king said to him, Why should he go with you?

²⁷Absalom pressed upon him, and he sent Amnon and all the sons of the king with him.

²⁸Absalom commanded his boys, saying, See, please, when the heart of Amnon is good with wine and I say to you, Strike Amnon, then you shall kill him. Do not be afraid. Is it not I who have commanded you. Be strong and become sons of strength.

²⁹The boys of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the sons of the king rose, and each man mounted his mule and fled.

³⁰It happened, while they were on the way, that the report came to David, saying, Absalom has struck down all the sons of the king, and not one of them is left.

³¹The king rose and tore his garments and lay down on the land, and all his slaves stood by with torn garments.

³²Jonadab son of Shimeah, brother of David answered and said, Let not my lord say, They have killed all the youths, the sons of the king—for Amnon alone is dead; for by the mouth of Absalom it was fixed from the day he afflicted Tamar his sister.

³³And now, let not my lord the king set to his heart a word, saying, All the sons of the king are dead; for Amnon alone is dead.

³⁴Absalom fled. The boy who kept watch lifted up his eyes and saw, and look, a numerous people were going from the road behind him, at the descent. The watchman came and told the king, and said, I saw men coming down from the road of Horonaim, from the side of the mountain.

³⁵Jonadab said to the king, Look, the sons of the king have come; according to the word of your slave, so it has happened.

³⁶It happened, as he finished speaking, that look, the sons of the king came and lifted up their voice and wept; and also the king and all his slaves wept a very great weeping.

³⁷Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, king of Geshur; and he mourned over his son all the days.

³⁸And Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years.

³⁹And David the king finished going out against Absalom, for he was comforted over Amnon, that he was dead.