2 Samuel 13

⁹These were all the sons of David, besides the sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister.

²And sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;

³his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

¹⁵Then Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that his hatred was greater than the love he previously had. “Get up!” he said to her. “Be gone!”

²the third was Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; the fourth was Adonijah the son of Haggith;

²⁷Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.

²⁵Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

¹⁰Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

⁸O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.

⁴So Ahab went to his palace, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had told him, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and refused to eat.

⁹Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

¹⁴His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.

¹³Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”

²⁰Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.

²So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.

³²Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

⁹The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.

⁹You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.

¹³Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

¹⁴His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.

³Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.

¹²Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the Lord.

²⁴Then she went out and asked her mother, “What should I request?” And her mother answered, “The head of John the Baptist.”

²⁵At once the girl hurried back to the king with her request: “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.”

¹⁵Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext of examining his case more carefully. We are ready to kill him on the way.”

²⁷If you cease to hear instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹⁹You unleash your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.

²¹Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”

³³He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”

¹Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

¹⁹But upon reaching the idols near Gilgal, he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” “Silence,” said the king, and all his attendants left him.

¹¹One day, however, Joseph went into the house to attend to his work, and not a single household servant was inside.

¹²She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

¹⁷If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity.

⁶Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

²³The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.

⁷When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.

¹¹You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.

⁹You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.

⁸Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

²⁴Look, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this man.”

¹²Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.

¹¹This is what the Lord says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.

⁸Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually assault the queen while I am in the palace?” As soon as the words had left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

⁵And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died.

²⁵But if the man encounters a betrothed woman in the open country, and he overpowers her and lies with her, only the man who has done this must die.

²⁶Do nothing to the young woman, because she has committed no sin worthy of death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.

¹⁷Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. But after she had been defiled by them, she turned away in disgust.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.

³⁰‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’

¹³All glorious is the princess in her chamber; her gown is embroidered with gold.

¹⁴In colorful garments she is led to the king; her virgin companions are brought before you.

³²They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe or not.”

²³So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the robe of many colors he was wearing—

⁶Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the Lord until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.

³⁷Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the Lord has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”

²On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.

¹¹Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.

¹²That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

¹²When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.

¹⁹Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”

¹⁵These are the sons of Leah born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, in addition to his daughter Dinah. The total number of sons and daughters was thirty-three.

²When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.

²⁴A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.

⁷When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.

¹⁰Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

²⁸Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.

²⁹May it whirl over the head of Joab and over the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”

²⁹Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

²²Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

²³“Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people.

⁸Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.

²⁴But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

¹⁷You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.

¹⁸Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

⁵⁰Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we have no choice in the matter.

¹⁵Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.

¹¹But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

⁹Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

⁴While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

¹²After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.

¹³When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”

⁷Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

¹⁹And he has sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the other sons of the king, as well as Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he has not invited your servant Solomon.

²⁵For today he has gone down and sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

⁴Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.

⁶And Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When Ishmael encountered the men, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

⁷And when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.

⁸Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him.

⁹But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.

²¹His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.

²They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

⁴Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.” “The Lord bless you,” they replied.

¹⁵And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

²⁹But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.

²and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

³But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁷The man got up to depart, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night.

⁸On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to depart, but the girl’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate.

²³So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

¹³Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.

¹⁴The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

²⁷When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

²¹His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.

⁹“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.

²⁴A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.

⁶So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and let your heart be merry.”

²²While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”

⁹When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, that your heart may be merry. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey home.”

⁷After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

¹⁰For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.

³⁶When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

³⁷In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him, and he became like a stone.

³³“Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.

⁹Now Absalom was riding on his mule when he met the servants of David, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so that he was suspended in midair.

²⁴These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. (This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.)

¹⁹You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.

¹²If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.

⁹Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.

¹¹Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.

¹⁶David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.

²⁰Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,

³⁴Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

³¹Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.

²⁹When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,

⁹Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”

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

¹¹Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.

¹²If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

⁴¹Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

¹⁴Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.

¹⁹and said, “My lord, do not hold me guilty, and do not remember your servant’s wrongdoing on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart.

¹⁷A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.

¹⁹It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

⁸Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹And the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

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

³⁸After Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, he stayed there three years.

²¹“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.”

¹⁵Then Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that his hatred was greater than the love he previously had. “Get up!” he said to her. “Be gone!”

³³The king was shaken and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

³his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

²³So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²the third was Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; the fourth was Adonijah the son of Haggith;

³⁴Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. When the young man standing watch looked up, he saw many people coming down the road west of him, along the side of the hill. And the watchman went and reported to the king, “I see men coming from the direction of Horonaim, along the side of the hill.”

³²“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”

²³So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

⁸For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the Lord brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron.’”

³²“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”

⁶⁷And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.

¹²After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.

³⁵All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

²My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

¹⁹When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “He is dead,” they replied.

²⁰Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.

³²Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.