2 Samuel 10 - 14 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Ammonites Dishonor David’s Men

10^aNow it happened afterwards, that ^bthe king of the sons of Ammon died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. ²So David said, “I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of ^aNahash, just as his father showed lovingkindness to me.” So David sent to comfort him concerning his father by the hand of his servants. And David’s servants came to the land of the sons of Ammon. ³But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “In your eyes, is David honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? ^aHas David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” ⁴So Hanun took David’s servants and ^ashaved off half of their beards, and ^bcut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. ⁵Then they told it to David. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly dishonored. And the king said, “¹Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶Then the sons of Ammon saw that ^athey had become odious to David. So the sons of Ammon sent and ^bhired the Arameans of ^cBeth-rehob and the ^dArameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^eMaacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men. ⁷Then David heard of it and sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁸And the sons of Ammon came out and arranged themselves for battle ^aat the entrance of the gate of the city. But the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^bTob and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram

⁹Then Joab saw that ¹the battle was set against him from the front and from the rear. So he chose from all the choice men of Israel, and they arranged themselves to meet the Arameans. ¹⁰But the remainder of the people he put in the hand of Abishai his brother; and he arranged them to meet the sons of Ammon. ¹¹And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall save me, but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to save you. ¹²“^aBe strong, and let us show strength for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and ^bmay Yahweh do what is good in His sight.” ¹³So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Arameans, and ^athey fled before him. ¹⁴Now the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled. So they also fled before Abishai and came into the city. ^aThen Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵Then the Arameans saw that they had been ¹defeated by Israel. So they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶^aAnd Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the ¹River, and they came to Helam; and ^bShobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ²led them. ¹⁷And it was told to David, so he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans arranged themselves to meet David and fought against him. ¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans ^a700 charioteers and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. ¹⁹Then all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that they were ¹defeated by Israel. So ^athey made peace with Israel and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to save the sons of Ammon anymore.

David and Bathsheba

11^aNow it happened ¹^,^bin the spring, at the time when ²kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and ^cbesieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

²Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on ^athe roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. ³So David sent and ¹inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not ^aBathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^bUriah the Hittite?” ⁴Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and ^ahe lay with her; ^band when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. ⁵And the woman became pregnant; and she sent and told David, and said, “^aI am pregnant.”

⁶Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷When Uriah came to him, ^aDavid asked concerning the ¹state of Joab and the ²state of the people and the ³state of the war. ⁸Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and ^awash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king went out after him. ⁹But Uriah lay down ^aat the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰Then they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” And David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹And Uriah said to David, “^aThe ark and Israel and Judah are staying in ¹booths, and my lord Joab and ^bthe servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” ¹²Then David said to Uriah, “^aStay here today also, and tomorrow I will send you out.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the ¹next. ¹³Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he ^amade him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed ^bwith his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴Now it happened in the morning that David ^awrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵^aAnd he had written in the letter, saying, “¹Place Uriah in the front line of the ²fiercest battle and withdraw from him, ^bso that he may be struck down and die.” ¹⁶So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷And the men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and ^aUriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸Then Joab sent and told David all the events of the war. ¹⁹And he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, ²⁰and if it happens that the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you approach the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹‘Who ^astruck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall so he died at Thebez? Why did you approach the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

²²So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. ²³And the messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we ¹pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴“And the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants died, and your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.” ²⁵Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this thing be evil in your sight, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle against the city stronger and ¹tear it down’; and so strengthen him.”

²⁶Then the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband had died, so ^ashe lamented over her husband. ²⁷Then the time of mourning passed by, and David sent and gathered her to his house and ^ashe became his wife; then she bore him a son. But ^bthe thing that David had done was evil in the sight of Yahweh.

Yahweh Sends Nathan to David

12Then Yahweh sent ^aNathan to David. And ^bhe came to him and ¹said, “There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.

²“The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.³“But the poor man had nothing except ^aone little ewe lambWhich he bought and nourished;And it grew up together with him and his children.It would eat his morsel of bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,And was like a daughter to him.⁴“Now a visitor came to the rich man,And he ¹was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives, surely the man who has done this ¹^,^adeserves to die. ⁶“And he must make restitution for the lamb ^afourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”

⁷Nathan then said to David, “^aYou are the man! Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘^bIt is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸‘I also gave you ^ayour master’s house and your master’s wives into your ¹care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! ⁹‘Why ^ahave you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in His sight? ^bYou have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, ^chave taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁰‘So now, ^athe sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹“Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; ^aI will even take your wives from before your sight and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹²‘Indeed ^ayou did it secretly, but ^bI will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’” ¹³Then David said to Nathan, “^aI have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has ¹^,^btaken away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴“However, because by this deed you have ^agiven occasion to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme, the son also that is born to you shall surely die.” ¹⁵And Nathan went to his house.

David’s Child Dies

Then Yahweh smote the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, so that he was very sick. ¹⁶David therefore sought God about the boy; and David ^afasted and went and ^bspent the night lying on the ground. ¹⁷^aAnd the elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. ¹⁸Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice. How then can we tell him that the child has died? He might do himself harm!” ¹⁹And David saw that his servants were whispering together, so David discerned that the child had died; so David said to his servants, “Has the child died?” And they said, “He has died.” ²⁰So David arose from the ground, ^awashed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of Yahweh and ^bworshiped. Then he came to his own house, and he asked, and they set food before him, and he ate.

²¹Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? ¹While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” ²²Then he said, “While the child was still alive, ^aI fasted and wept; for I said, ‘^bWho knows, Yahweh may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ ²³“But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? ^aI will go to him, but ^bhe will not return to me.”

Solomon Is Born

²⁴Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and ¹^,^ahe named him Solomon. Now Yahweh loved him ²⁵and sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him ¹Jedidiah for the sake of Yahweh.

Joab Fights Ammon

²⁶^aThen Joab fought against ^bRabbah of the sons of Ammon and captured the royal city. ²⁷And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. ²⁸“So now, gather the rest of the people together and camp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city myself and it be named after me.” ²⁹So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, fought against it and captured it. ³⁰Then ^ahe took the crown of ¹their king from his head; and its weight was a ²talent of gold, and in it ³was a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in a very great amount. ³¹He also brought out the people who were in it and ^aset them up with saws, sharp iron instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass through the brickkiln. And thus he used to do to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Amnon Violates Tamar

13Now it happened afterwards that ^aAbsalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was ^bTamar, and ^cAmnon the son of David loved her. ²And Amnon was so distressed because of his sister Tamar that he made himself ill, for she was a virgin. So it was hard in Amnon’s sight to do anything to her. ³But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of ¹^,^aShimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very ²shrewd man. ⁴And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Then Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.” ⁵Jonadab then said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill; and your father will come to see you, and you will say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me some food to eat, and let her prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat from her hand.’” ⁶So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; and the king came to see him, and Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and ^amake me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”

⁷Then David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, “Go now to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.” ⁸So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was lying down. And she took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes. ⁹And she took the pan and ¹dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “^aHave everyone go out from me.” So everyone went out from him. ¹⁰Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the ¹bedroom, that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her brother Amnon. ¹¹Then she brought them near to him to eat, but he ^atook hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” ¹²But she said to him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for ^asuch a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this ^bdisgraceful thing! ¹³“As for me, where could I ¹get rid of my reproach? And as for you, you will be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. So now, please speak to the king, for ^ahe will not withhold me from you.” ¹⁴But he was not willing to listen to her voice. Now he was stronger than she, so he ^aviolated her and lay with her.

¹⁵Then Amnon hated her with a very 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, “Get up, go away!” ¹⁶But she said to him, “No, because this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you have done to me!” But he was not willing to listen to her. ¹⁷Then he called his young man who attended him and said, “Now cast this woman out of my presence, and lock the door behind her.” ¹⁸Now she had on ^aa ¹long-sleeved garment; for in this manner the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves in robes. Then his attendant took her out and locked the door behind her. ¹⁹^aThen Tamar put ¹ashes on her head and ^btore her ²long-sleeved garment which was on her; and ^cshe put her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.

²⁰So Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now keep silent, my sister, he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart.” So Tamar remained and was desolate in her brother Absalom’s house. ²¹Now when King David heard of all these matters, he was very angry. ²²But Absalom did not speak to Amnon ^aeither good or bad; for ^bAbsalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar.

²³Now it happened after two full years that Absalom ^ahad sheepshearers in Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

Absalom Strikes Down Amnon

²⁴And Absalom came to the king and said, “Behold now, your servant has sheepshearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant.” ²⁵But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be burdensome to you.” Although he ¹urged him, he was not willing to go, but blessed him. ²⁶Then ^aAbsalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” ²⁷But Absalom ¹urged him, so he sent Amnon and all the king’s sons with him.

²⁸Then Absalom commanded his young men, saying, “See now, ^awhen Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then put him to death. Do not fear; have not I myself commanded you? Be strong and be ¹valiant.” ²⁹Thus the young men of Absalom did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose and each mounted ^ahis mule and fled.

³⁰Now it was while they were on the way that the report came to David, saying, “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.” ³¹Then the king arose, ^atore his clothes and ^blay on the ground; and all his servants were standing by with clothes torn. ³²^aBut Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, answered and said, “Do not let my lord ¹suppose they have put to death all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon alone has died; because by the ²intent of Absalom this has been set since the day that he violated his sister Tamar. ³³“So now, do not let my lord the king ^atake the report to ¹heart, saying, ‘all the king’s sons have died,’ for only Amnon has died.”

³⁴Then ^aAbsalom fled. And ^bthe young man who was the watchman raised his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain. ³⁵And Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king’s sons have come; according to your servant’s word, so it happened.” ³⁶As soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king’s sons came and lifted their voices and wept; and also the king and all his servants wept ¹very bitterly.

³⁷Now ^aAbsalom had fled and went to ^bTalmai the son of Ammihud, the king of ^cGeshur. And David mourned for his son every day. ³⁸^aSo Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, and was there three years. ³⁹And the heart of King David was consumed with going out to Absalom; for ^ahe was comforted concerning Amnon, since he had died.

The Woman of Tekoa

14Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that ^athe king’s heart was inclined toward Absalom. ²So Joab sent to ^aTekoa and ¹brought a wise woman from there and said to her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments now, and do not ^banoint yourself with oil, but be like a woman who has been mourning for the dead many days; ³then you shall go to the king and speak to him in this manner.” So Joab put ^athe words in her mouth.

⁴So the woman of Tekoa ¹spoke to the king, and she fell on her ²face to the ground and ^aprostrated herself and said, “^bSave, O king.” ⁵And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” And she ¹answered, “Truly I am a widow; my husband has died. ⁶“And your servant-woman had two sons, but the two of them struggled together in the field, and there was no one to deliver between them, so one struck the other and put him to death. ⁷“And behold, ^athe whole family has risen against your servant-woman, and they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed, ^band destroy the heir also.’ Thus they will extinguish my coal which remains, so as to ¹leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.”

⁸Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give a command concerning you.” ⁹And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “O my lord, the king, ^athe iniquity is on me and my father’s house, but ^bthe king and his throne are guiltless.” ¹⁰So the king said, “Whoever speaks to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you anymore.” ¹¹Then she said, “Please let the king remember Yahweh your God, ^aso that the avenger of blood will not continue to bring about ruin, so that they would not destroy my son.” And he said, “^bAs Yahweh lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

¹²Then the woman said, “Please let your servant-woman speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.” ¹³Then the woman said, “^aWhy then have you thought up such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back ^bhis banished one. ¹⁴“For ^awe will surely die and are ^blike water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but thinks up ¹ways so that ^cthe banished one will not be cast out from him. ¹⁵“So now, ¹the reason I have come to speak this word to my lord the king is that the people have made me afraid; so your servant-woman said, ‘Let me now speak to the king, perhaps the king will perform the word of his maidservant. ¹⁶‘For the king will listen ¹and deliver his maidservant from the ²hand of the man who would destroy ³both me and my son from ^athe inheritance of God.’ ¹⁷“Then your servant-woman said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king be a resting place, for as ^athe angel of God, so is my lord the king to listen with discernment through the good and evil. And may Yahweh your God be with you.’”

¹⁸Then the king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not hide anything from me that I am about to ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king please speak.” ¹⁹So the king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” And the woman answered and said, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. Indeed, it was ^ayour servant Joab who commanded me, and it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant-woman; ²⁰in order to change the appearance of things your servant Joab has done this thing. But my lord is wise, ^alike the wisdom of the angel of God, to know all that is in the earth.”

David Brings Back Absalom

²¹Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, ^aI have done this thing; go therefore, bring back the young man Absalom.” ²²And Joab fell on his face to the ground, prostrated himself and blessed the king; then Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, O my lord, the king, in that the king has performed the word of his servant.” ²³So Joab arose and went to ^aGeshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. ²⁴However the king said, “Let him turn to ^ahis own house, and let him not see my face.” So Absalom turned to his own house and did not see the king’s face.

²⁵Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised; ^afrom the sole of his foot to the top of his head there was no defect in him. ²⁶When he ^ashaved the hair of his head (and it was at the end of every year that he shaved it, for it was heavy on him so he shaved it), he weighed the hair of his head at ¹200 shekels by the king’s weight. ²⁷^aAnd to Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was ^bTamar; she was a woman of beautiful appearance.

²⁸Now Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, ^aand did not see the king’s face. ²⁹Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but he was not willing to come to him. So he sent again a second time, but he was not willing to come. ³⁰Therefore he said to his servants, “See, ^aJoab’s portion of land is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom’s servants set the portion of land on fire. ³¹Then Joab arose, came to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my portion of land on fire?” ³²And Absalom ¹answered Joab, “Behold, I sent for you, saying, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me still to be there.”’ So now, let me see the king’s face, ^aand if there is iniquity in me, let him put me to death.” ³³So Joab came to the king and told him, and he called for Absalom. Thus he came to the king and prostrated himself on his ¹face to the ground before the king, and ^athe king kissed Absalom.