II Samuel 13

¹Forsothe it was doon aftir these thingis, that Amon, the sone of Dauid, louyde the faireste sistir, Thamar bi name, of Absolon, sone of Dauid.

²And Amon perischide greetli for hir, so that he was sijk for `the loue of hir. For whanne she was a virgyn, it semyde hard to hym, that he schulde do ony thing vnonestli with hir.

³Forsothe a freend, Jonadab bi name, sone of Semmaa, brother of Dauid, `was to Amon; Jonadab was a ful prudent man.

⁴Which seide to Amon, Sone of the kyng, whi art thou maad feble so bi leenesse bi alle daies? whi schewist thou not to me? And Amon seide to him, Y loue Thamar, the sister of my brother Absolon.

⁵And Jonadab answeride to hym, Li thou on thi bed, and feyne thou sikenesse; and whanne thi fadir cometh, that he visyte thee, seie thou to hym, Y preye, come Thamar, my sister, that sche yyue mete to me, and make a seew, that Y ete of hir hond.

⁶Therfor Amon lay doun, and `bigan as to be sijk. And whanne the kyng hadde come to visite him, Amon seide to the kyng, Y biseche, come Thamar, my sistir, that sche make twei soupyngis bifor my iyen, and that Y take of hir hond meete maad redi.

⁷Therfor Dauid sente to the hows of Thamar, and seide, Come thou in to the hows of Amon, thi brother, and make thou seew to hym.

⁸And Thamar cam in to the hows of Amon, hir brother. Sotheli he lai; and sche took mele, and medlide, and made moist bifor hise iyen, and sethide soupyngis;

⁹and sche took that, that sche hadde sode, and helde out, and settide byfor hym, and he nolde ete. And Amon seide, Putte ye out alle men fro me. And whanne thei hadden put out alle men,

¹⁰Amon seide to Thamar, Bere the mete in to the closet, that Y ete of thin hond. Therfor Thamar took the soupingis whiche sche hadde maad, and brouyte in to Amon, hir brother, in the closet.

¹¹And whanne sche hadde proferid mete to hym, he took hir, and seide, Come thou, my sistir, li thou with me.

¹²And sche answeride to hym, My brother, nyle thou, nyle thou oppresse me, for this is not leueful in Israel; nyle thou do this foli.

¹³For Y schal not mow bere my schenschip, and thou schalt be as oon of the vnwise men in Israel; but rather speke thou to the kyng, and he schal not denye me to thee.

¹⁴Sotheli he nolde assente to hir preieris; but he was strengere in myytis, and oppresside hir, and lay with hir.

¹⁵And `Amon hadde hir hateful bi ful grete haterede, so that the hatrede was gretter, bi which he hatide hir, than the loue bi which he louyde hir bifor. And Amon seide to hir, Rise thou, and go.

¹⁶And sche answeride to hym, This yuel is more which thou doist now ayens me, and puttist me out, than that, that thou didist bifore. And he nolde here hir; but whanne the child was clepide,

¹⁷that mynystride to hym, he seide, Putte thou out this womman fro me, and close thou the dore aftir hir.

¹⁸And sche was clothid with a coote doun to the heele; for the kyngis douytris virgyns vsiden siche clothis. Therfor the mynystre of Amon puttide hir out, and closide the dore aftir hir.

¹⁹And sche spreynte aische to hir heed, whanne the coote to `the heele was to-rent, and whanne the hondis weren put on hir heed, and sche yede entrynge and criynge.

²⁰Forsothe Absolon, hir brother, seide to hir, Whether Amon, thi brothir, hath leyn with thee? But `now, sister, be stille; he is thi brother, and turmente not thin herte for this thing. Therfor Thamar dwellide morenynge in the hows of Absolon, hir brothir.

²¹Forsothe whanne `kyng Dauid hadde herd these wordis, he was ful sori, and he nolde make sore the spyrit of Amon, his sone; for he louyde Amon, for he was the firste gendrid `to hym.

²²Forsothe Absolon spak not to Amon, nether yuel nether good; for Absolon hatide Amon, for he hadde defoulid Thamar, his sistir.

²³Forsothe it was doon aftir the tyme of twei yeer, that the scheep of Absolon weren shorun in Baalasor, which is bisidis Effraym. And Absolon clepide alle the sones of the kyng.

²⁴And he cam to the kyng, and seide to hym, Lo! the scheep of thi seruaunt ben schorun; Y preye, come the king with hise seruauntis to his seruaunt.

²⁵And the kyng seide to Absolon, Nyle thou, my sone, nyle thou preye, that alle we come, and greeue thee. Forsothe whanne he constreynede Dauid, and he nolde go, he blesside Absolon.

²⁶And Absolon seide to Dauid, If thou nylt come, Y byseche, come nameli Amon, my brother, with vs. And the kyng seide to hym, It is no nede, that he go with thee.

²⁷Therfor Absolon constreynede hym; and he delyuerede with him Amon, and alle the sones of the kyng. And Absolon hadde maad a feeste as the feeste of a kyng.

²⁸Sotheli Absolon comaundide to hise children, and seide, Aspie ye, whanne Amon is drunkun of wyn, and Y seie to you, Smyte ye, and sle hym. Nyle ye drede, for Y am that comaunde to you; be ye strengthid, and be ye stronge men.

²⁹Therfor the children of Absolon diden ayens Amon, as Absolon hadde comaundide to hem; and alle the sones of the kyng risiden, and stieden ech on his mule, and fledden.

³⁰And whanne thei yeden yit in the weie, fame cam to the kyng, and seide, Absolon hath kild alle the sones of the king, and `nameli not oon lefte of hem.

³¹Therfor the kyng roos, and to-rente hise clothis, and felde doun on the erthe; and alle hise seruauntis that stoden nyy to hym, to-renten her clothis.

³²Sotheli Jonadab, sone of Semmaa, brother of Dauid, answeride and seide, My lord the kyng, gesse not, that alle the children, and sones of the kyng, ben slayn; Amon aloone is deed, for he was set in hatrede to Absolon, fro the day in which he oppresside Thamar, his sistir.

³³Now therfor, my lord the kyng, set not this word on his herte, and seie, Alle the sones of the kyng ben slayn; for Amon aloone is deed.

³⁴Forsothe Absolon fledde. And a child aspiere reiside hise iyen, and bihelde, and lo! myche puple cam bi a weye out of the comyn weie bi the side of the hil.

³⁵And Jonadab seide to the kyng, Lo! the sones of the kyng comen; bi the word of thi seruaunt, so it is doon.

³⁶And whanne he hadde ceessid to speke, also the sones of the kyng apperiden; and thei entriden, and reisiden her vois, and wepten; but also the kyng and alle his seruauntis wepten bi ful greet wepyng.

³⁷Forsothe Absolon fledde, and yede to Tholmai, sone of Amyur, the kyng of Gessur. Therfor Dauid biweilide his sone Amon in many daies.

³⁸Forsothe Absolon, whanne he hadde fled, and hadde come in to Gessur, was there thre yeer.

³⁹And Dauid ceesside to pursue Absolon, for he was coumfortid on the deeth of Amon.

II Samuel 13

¹And 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.

²And 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.

³But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.

⁴And 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.

⁵And 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.

⁶So 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.

⁷Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him meat.

⁸So 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister.

¹²And 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.

¹³And 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.

¹⁴Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.

¹⁵Then 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.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰And 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.

²¹But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.

²²And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad: for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.

²³And it came to pass after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal–hazor, which is beside Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶Then 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?

²⁷But Absalom pressed him, that he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

²⁸Now 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.

²⁹And 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.

³⁰And 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.

³¹Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay on the earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent.

³²And 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.

³³Now 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.

³⁴But 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.

³⁵And Jonadab said unto the king, Behold, the king’s sons come: as thy servant said, so it is.

³⁶And 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.

³⁷But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.

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

³⁹And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.