2 Samuel 12:1

The Lord sent Nathan<cr>1</cr>  to David.<cr>2</cr>  When he came to him,<cr>3</cr>  he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.

The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle,

2 Samuel 12:2

but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

2 Samuel 12:3

“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

2 Samuel 12:4

David<cr>1</cr>  burned with anger<cr>2</cr>  against the man<cr>3</cr>  and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,<cr>4</cr>  the man who did this must die!

2 Samuel 12:5

He must pay for that lamb four times over,<cr>1</cr>  because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

2 Samuel 12:6

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!<cr>1</cr>  This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed<cr>2</cr>  you<cr>3</cr>  king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

2 Samuel 12:7

I gave your master’s house to you,<cr>1</cr>  and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.

2 Samuel 12:8

Why did you despise<cr>1</cr>  the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down<cr>2</cr>  Uriah<cr>3</cr>  the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed<cr>4</cr>  him with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 12:9

Now, therefore, the sword<cr>1</cr>  will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

2 Samuel 12:10

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household<cr>1</cr>  I am going to bring calamity on you.<cr>2</cr>  Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.<cr>3</cr> 

2 Samuel 12:11

You did it in secret,<cr>1</cr>  but I will do this thing in broad daylight<cr>2</cr>  before all Israel.’”

2 Samuel 12:12

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned<cr>1</cr>  against the Lord.”<pb/>Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away<cr>2</cr>  your sin.<cr>3</cr>  You are not going to die.<cr>4</cr> 

2 Samuel 12:13

But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for<ft>1</ft> the Lord,<cr>1</cr>  the son born to you will die.”

2 Samuel 12:14

After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck<cr>1</cr>  the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

2 Samuel 12:15

David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying<cr>1</cr>  in sackcloth<ft>1</ft> on the ground.

2 Samuel 12:16

The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused,<cr>1</cr>  and he would not eat any food with them.<cr>2</cr> 

2 Samuel 12:17

On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

2 Samuel 12:18

David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.<pb/>“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

2 Samuel 12:19

Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed,<cr>1</cr>  put on lotions and changed his clothes,<cr>2</cr>  he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

2 Samuel 12:20

His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept,<cr>1</cr>  but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

2 Samuel 12:21

He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?<cr>1</cr>  The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’<cr>2</cr> 

2 Samuel 12:22

But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him,<cr>1</cr>  but he will not return to me.”<cr>2</cr> 

2 Samuel 12:23

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba,<cr>1</cr>  and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon.<cr>2</cr>  The Lord loved him;

2 Samuel 12:24

and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.<ft>1</ft><cr>1</cr> 

2 Samuel 12:25

Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah<cr>1</cr>  of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel.

2 Samuel 12:26

Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply.

2 Samuel 12:27

Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

2 Samuel 12:28

So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it.

2 Samuel 12:29

David took the crown<cr>1</cr>  from their king’s<ft>1</ft> head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent<ft>2</ft> of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city

2 Samuel 12:30

and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.<ft>1</ft> David did this to all the Ammonite<cr>1</cr>  towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 12:31

2 Samuel 13:1

In the course of time, Amnon<cr>1</cr>  son of David fell in love with Tamar,<cr>2</cr>  the beautiful sister of Absalom<cr>3</cr>  son of David.

Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

2 Samuel 13:2

Now Amnon had an adviser named Jonadab son of Shimeah,<cr>1</cr>  David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man.

2 Samuel 13:3

He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”<pb/>Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

2 Samuel 13:4

“Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’”

2 Samuel 13:5

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”

2 Samuel 13:6

David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.”

2 Samuel 13:7

So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it.

2 Samuel 13:8

Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.<pb/>“Send everyone out of here,”<cr>1</cr>  Amnon said. So everyone left him.

2 Samuel 13:9

Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom.

2 Samuel 13:10

But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed<cr>1</cr>  her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”<cr>2</cr> 

2 Samuel 13:11

“No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel!<cr>1</cr>  Don’t do this wicked thing.<cr>2</cr> 

2 Samuel 13:12

What about me?<cr>1</cr>  Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.”

2 Samuel 13:13

But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.<cr>1</cr> 

2 Samuel 13:14

Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

2 Samuel 13:15

“No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.”<pb/>But he refused to listen to her.

2 Samuel 13:16

He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.”

2 Samuel 13:17

So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate<ft>1</ft> robe,<cr>1</cr>  for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore.

2 Samuel 13:18

Tamar put ashes<cr>1</cr>  on her head and tore the ornate robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.

2 Samuel 13:19

Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.

2 Samuel 13:20

When King David heard all this, he was furious.<cr>1</cr> 

2 Samuel 13:21

And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad;<cr>1</cr>  he hated<cr>2</cr>  Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 13:22

2 Samuel 13:23

Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers<cr>1</cr>  were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there.

Absalom went to the king and said, “Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?”

2 Samuel 13:24

“No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but gave him his blessing.

2 Samuel 13:25

Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.”<pb/>The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?”

2 Samuel 13:26

But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons.

2 Samuel 13:27

Absalom<cr>1</cr>  ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high<cr>2</cr>  spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.<cr>3</cr> ”

2 Samuel 13:28

So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.

2 Samuel 13:29

While they were on their way, the report came to David: “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.”

2 Samuel 13:30

The king stood up, tore<cr>1</cr>  his clothes and lay down on the ground; and all his attendants stood by with their clothes torn.

2 Samuel 13:31

But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom’s express intention ever since the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 13:32

My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

2 Samuel 13:33

Meanwhile, Absalom had fled.<pb/>Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, “I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the side of the hill.”<ft>1</ft>

2 Samuel 13:34

Jonadab said to the king, “See, the king’s sons have come; it has happened just as your servant said.”

2 Samuel 13:35

As he finished speaking, the king’s sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his attendants wept very bitterly.

2 Samuel 13:36

Absalom fled and went to Talmai<cr>1</cr>  son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned many days for his son.

2 Samuel 13:37

After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years.

2 Samuel 13:38

And King David longed to go to Absalom,<cr>1</cr>  for he was consoled<cr>2</cr>  concerning Amnon’s death.

2 Samuel 13:39

2 Samuel 14:1

Joab<cr>1</cr>  son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom.

So Joab sent someone to Tekoa<cr>1</cr>  and had a wise woman<cr>2</cr>  brought from there. He said to her, “Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions.<cr>3</cr>  Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead.

2 Samuel 14:2

Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab<cr>1</cr>  put the words in her mouth.

2 Samuel 14:3

When the woman from Tekoa went<ft>1</ft> to the king, she fell with her face to the ground to pay him honor, and she said, “Help me, Your Majesty!”

2 Samuel 14:4

The king asked her, “What is troubling you?”<pb/>She said, “I am a widow; my husband is dead.

2 Samuel 14:5

I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him.

2 Samuel 14:6

Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death<cr>1</cr>  for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir<cr>2</cr>  as well.’ They would put out the only burning coal I have left,<cr>3</cr>  leaving my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth.”

2 Samuel 14:7

The king said to the woman, “Go home,<cr>1</cr>  and I will issue an order in your behalf.”

2 Samuel 14:8

But the woman from Tekoa said to him, “Let my lord the king pardon<cr>1</cr>  me and my family,<cr>2</cr>  and let the king and his throne be without guilt.<cr>3</cr> ”

2 Samuel 14:9

The king replied, “If anyone says anything to you, bring them to me, and they will not bother you again.”

2 Samuel 14:10

She said, “Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger<cr>1</cr>  of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed.”<pb/>“As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “not one hair<cr>2</cr>  of your son’s head will fall to the ground.<cr>3</cr> ”

2 Samuel 14:11

Then the woman said, “Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.”<pb/>“Speak,” he replied.

2 Samuel 14:12

The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself,<cr>1</cr>  for the king has not brought back his banished son?<cr>2</cr> 

2 Samuel 14:13

Like water<cr>1</cr>  spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die.<cr>2</cr>  But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person<cr>3</cr>  does not remain banished from him.

2 Samuel 14:14

“And now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; perhaps he will grant his servant’s request.

2 Samuel 14:15

Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’<cr>1</cr> 

2 Samuel 14:16

“And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king secure my inheritance, for my lord the king is like an angel<cr>1</cr>  of God in discerning<cr>2</cr>  good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”

2 Samuel 14:17

Then the king said to the woman, “Don’t keep from me the answer to what I am going to ask you.”<pb/>“Let my lord the king speak,” the woman said.

2 Samuel 14:18

The king asked, “Isn’t the hand of Joab<cr>1</cr>  with you in all this?”<pb/>The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me to do this and who put all these words into the mouth of your servant.

2 Samuel 14:19

Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom<cr>1</cr>  like that of an angel of God—he knows everything that happens in the land.<cr>2</cr> ”

2 Samuel 14:20

The king said to Joab, “Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

2 Samuel 14:21

Joab fell with his face to the ground to pay him honor, and he blessed the king.<cr>1</cr>  Joab said, “Today your servant knows that he has found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his servant’s request.”

2 Samuel 14:22

Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 14:23

But the king said, “He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.

2 Samuel 14:24

In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him.

2 Samuel 14:25

Whenever he cut the hair of his head<cr>1</cr> —he used to cut his hair once a year because it became too heavy for him—he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels<ft>1</ft> by the royal standard.

2 Samuel 14:26

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

2 Samuel 12–16 - NIV

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