9 more. Why then hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast slain Ourias the Chettite with the sword, and taken his wife to be thy wife. Thou hast indeed 10 slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore

the sword shall never depart from thy house. Because thou hast despised me, and taken the wife of Ourias the Chettite to 11 be thy wife, therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold I will raise up evils against thee out of thy own house; and I will take thy wives before thy eyes, and give them to thy neighbour, and he 12 will lie with thy wives in the face of the sun. Thou indeed didst act secretly; but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and in the face of yonder sun.

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Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord hath put away thy sin. 14 Thou shalt not die. But because thou hast by this deed given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, there15 fore thy son who is born to thee shall surely die. Then Nathan

went to his house, and the Lord struck the child which the wife 16 of Ourias the Chettite bore to David. And while it was sick David besought God for the child, and fasted and went in and 17 lay on the ground. And when the elders of his house came

to raise him from the ground, he would not consent, nor would 18 he eat bread with them. And on the seventh day the child died.

And David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold while the child was still living we spoke to him, but he would not hearken to our voice, how then must it affect him when we tell him, The child is dead! 19 But when David perceived that his servants were whispering,

he conjectured that the child was dead, therefore David said to 20 his servants, Is the child dead? And when they said, He is

dead, David arose, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothes, and went into the house of God, and worshipped him. Then he went to his own house, and called for 21 bread to eat. And when they had set bread before him, and

he had eaten, his servants said to him, What is this that thou hast done for the child? While it was still living, thou didst fast, and weep, and kept thyself awake; but soon as the child 22 is dead, thou hast risen up, and eaten, and drank. And David

said, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, because

I said, Who knoweth but the Lord may have compassion on 23 me, and the child may live? But now it is dead, why then should I fast? Can I bring it back again? I shall go to it; but it will never return to me.

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Then David comforted his wife Bersabe, and went in unto her; and she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name 25 Solomon. And the Lord loved him, and sent by the ministry of Nathan the prophet, and called his name Jeddedi, For the sake of the Lord.

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Now Joab had fought at Rabbath of the Ammonites, and 27 taken the royal city. Wherefore Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have had a battle at Rabbath, and have taken 28 the city of waters; now therefore assemble the rest of the peo

ple, and encamp against the city, and take it, lest I take the 29 city, and it be called after my name. So David assembled all the people, and went to Rabbath, and fought against it and took 30 it. And he took the crown of Molchom their king from his

head. Now the weight of it was a talent of gold, with precious 31 stones, and it was set on David's head. And he brought out

the spoils of the city in great abundance, and he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to the saw, and to iron crows, and to pick axes of iron, and distributed them through brick yards. And when he had done the same to all the cities of the Ammonites, David, and all the people, returned to Jerusalem.

XIII. After this, Abessalom, a son of David, having a very beautiful sister whose name was Themar, Amnon the son of 2 David fell in love with her. And Amnon was so distressed that he pined away on account of Themar his sister, for she was a virgin, and it appeared monstrous in the eyes of Amnon 3 to have any thing to do with her. Now Amnon had a companion whose name was Jonadab. He was the son of Samaa 4 the brother of David. And Jonadab was a man of great subtilty; and he said to him, What is the matter with thee, son of the king, that thou art so languishing for some time past? Why dost thou not tell me? And Amnon said to him, I am in love with Themar, the sister of my brother Abessalom. 5 Upon this Jonadab said to him, Take to thy bed, and feign thyself sick, and when thy father cometh to see thee say to

him, I pray thee, let Themar my sister come to me, and feed me; and let her prepare the victuals in my sight, that I may 6 see, and eat out of her hands. So Amnon went to bed, and feigned himself sick: and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, I pray thee let Themar my sister come to me, and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I 7 may eat out of her hands. And David sent to the house to

Themar, and said, Go, I pray thee, to thy brother's house, 8 and prepare something for him to eat. Accordingly Themar went to the house of Amnon, her brother, and he was a bed; and she took the dough, and kneaded it, and made it into 9 cakes before his eyes, and stewed them and she took the pan

and poured them out before him, but he would not eat. Then 10 Amnon said, Go out every man from me. And when every one was gone out from him, Amnon said to Themar, Bring the victuals into the chamber that I may eat out of thy hand. So Themar took the cakes she had made and carried them to her 11 brother Amnon into the bed chamber. But when she brought them to him, that he might eat, he took hold of her and said 12 to her, Come, lie with me, my sister. And she said to him, No, my brother, thou must not dishonour me; for such a thing ought not to be done in Israel. Thou must not commit 13 such folly. As for me where could I hide my dishonour? And with regard to thyself, thou wouldst be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, speak I pray thee to the king; 14 for he will not withhold me from thee. But Amnon would not hearken to her, but overpowered her by force, and dis15 honoured her. And when he had lain with her, Amnon hated her with an exceeding great hatred; so that the hatred with which he hated her, was greater than the love with which he had loved her, and his last wickedness was greater than the 16 first. And Amnon said to her, Arise and begone. Whereupon Themar said to him, To send me thus away is adding a still greater injury to that which thou hast already done me. 17 But Amnon would not hearken to her voice, but called his

servant who superintended his house, and said to him, Send away, I pray thee, this one from me, out of doors, and shut 18 the door after her. Now she had on an embroidered robe; for such was the dress which the king's daughters wore, who

were virgins. So when the servant led her out, and shut the 19 door after her, Themar took ashes, and put them on her head, and tore in pieces the embroidered robe which she had on, 20 and putting her hands on her head, she went on crying. And

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Abessalom her brother said to her, Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? Now therefore, my sister, hold thy peace. Because he is thy brother, thou must not mention this matter. So Themar abode as a widow in the house of her brother Abessalom.

Though king David heard all these things, and was very angry, yet he would not grieve the spirit of his son Amnon, 22 because he loved him as being his first born. As for Abessalom he spoke not a word to Amnon, good or bad, for he hated Amnon for having dishonoured his sister Themar.

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Now about two years after this Abessalom had sheep shearers at Belasor, in the borders of Ephraim; and Abessalom 24 invited all the king's sons. And Abessalom went to the king,

and said, Behold they are shearing thy servant's sheep, let the 25 king I pray thee, and his servants, go with thy servant. But the king said to Abessalom, No, my son. We must not all go; for we must not overburthen thee. When he had pressed him, and he would not consent to go but blessed him; then 26 Abessalom said to him, If not; let my brother Amnon, I pray 27 thee, go with us. And the king said, Why should he go with

thee? But Abessalom pressed him, so he sent with him Amnon, and all the king's sons. And Abessalom made a banquet 28 like that of the king. And Abessalom gave a charge to his servants saying, Observe when the heart of Amnon is elated with wine, and I say to you, Smite Amnon; then put him to death. Be not afraid, for it is I who command you. Acquit 29 yourselves like men, and be sons of valour. And when the servants of Abessalom had done to Amnon as Abessalom had commanded them, all the king's sons arose, and mounted 30 every man his mule, and fled. And while they were on the road, the report came to David saying, Abessalom hath slain 31 all the king's sons-there is not one of them left. Thereupon the king arose, and rent his garments, and lay on the ground, and all his servants stood around him, with their clothes rent. 32 And Jonadab, son of Samaa, David's brother, addressing him

said, Let not my lord the king suppose that he hath slain all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon only is deadfor he hath been continually in the mouth of Abessalom from the 33 day he dishonoured his sister Themar. Now therefore let not the king lay this to heart, saying, All the king's sons are dead; for there is none dead but only Amnon; and Abessalom hath 34 made his escape. Then the servant who stood centinel raised his eyes, and looked, and lo, many people were coming down the side of the mountain by the way behind him, whereupon the centinel came, and told the king, saying, I have seen many people coming by the way of Oronen, from the side of 35 the mountain. And Jonadab said to the king, Behold the 36 king's sons are near at hand. It is as thy servant said. And

just as he had finished speaking, behold the king's sons came, and they raised their voice, and wept, and the king also, and 37 all his servants, wept bitterly. And Abessalom fled, and went to Tholmi, son of Emiud, king of Gedsur, to the land of Chamaachad. And king David mourned for his son all that year.

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Now when Abessalom, who had left his country, and gone to Gedsur, had been there three years, king David was mollified so as to long for Abessalom, for he was comforted with XIV. respect to Amnon, seeing he was dead. So when Joab, son of Saruia, perceived that the king's heart was set upon 2 Abessalom, he sent to Thekoe, and brought thence a wise woman, and said to her, Feign thyself, I pray thee, to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be like a woman mourning for one who hath 3 been long dead: and thou shalt go to the king, and speak to 4 him in this manner-So Joab put words in her mouth. And

when the woman of Thekoe came to the king, she fell on her face on the ground, and made obeisance to him, and said, 5 Save, O king! save! And the king said to her, What is the 6 matter with thee? To which she replied, I am a wretched woman, a widow. My husband died. And thy servant had two sons, and they quarrelled in the field, and there was none to part them, and one of them smote the other-his brother, and 7 killed him. And behold the whole family is risen up against thy servant, and say, Deliver up him who smote his brother,