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And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, Who knows? [perhaps] Jehovah will be gracious to me, that the child may live.

And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake.

And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed difficult for Amnon to do the least thing to her.

And she said to him, No, my brother, do not humble me; for no such thing is done in Israel: do not this infamy.

And I, whither shall I carry my reproach? and thou wouldest be as one of the infamous in Israel. And now, I pray thee, speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.

And Amnon hated her with an exceeding 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, Arise, be gone.

And she said to him, There is no cause for this evil in sending me away, [which] is greater than the other that thou didst to me. But he would not hearken to her.

Now she had a vest of many colours upon her; for so were the king's daughters that were virgins apparelled. And his attendant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

And Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had humbled his sister Tamar.

And 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 has been determined from the day that he humbled his sister Tamar.

And now let not my lord the king take the thing to heart, to say, All the king's sons are dead; for Amnon only is dead.

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

And king David longed to go forth to Absalom; for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.

And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said to her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments, I pray, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that hath a long time mourned for the dead;

And behold, the whole family is risen against thy bondmaid, and they say, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may put him to death, for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also: so they will quench my coal which is left, and will not leave to my husband a name or remnant on the earth.

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; and God has not taken away his life, but devises means that the banished one be not expelled from him.

For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.

And thy bondmaid said, Let the word of my lord the king now be comfortable; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad; and Jehovah thy God will be with thee.

And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, [As] thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, there is no turning to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king has spoken; for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words into the mouth of thy bondmaid:

But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.