II Samuel 12

¹And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.

²The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds;

³But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.

⁴Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come.

⁵And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this:

⁶And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity.

⁷And Nathan said to David, You are that man. The Lord God of Israel says, I made you king over Israel, putting holy oil on you, and I kept you safe from the hands of Saul;

⁸I gave you your master's daughter and your master's wives for yourself, and I gave you the daughters of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you such and such things.

⁹Why then have you had no respect for the word of the Lord, doing what is evil in his eyes? You have put Uriah the Hittite to death with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife; you have put him to death with the sword of the children of Ammon.

¹⁰So now the sword will never be turned away from your family; because you have had no respect for me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

¹¹The Lord says, From those of your family I will send evil against you, and before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he will take your wives to his bed by the light of this sun.

¹²You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun.

¹³And David said to Nathan, Great is my sin against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord has put away your sin; death will not come on you.

¹⁴But still, because you have had no respect for the Lord, death will certainly overtake the child who has newly come to birth.

¹⁵Then Nathan went back to his house. And the hand of the Lord was on David's son, the child of Uriah's wife, and it became very ill.

¹⁶So David made prayer to God for the child; and he took no food day after day, and went in and, stretching himself out on the earth, was there all night.

¹⁷And the chief men of his house got up and went to his side to make him get up from the earth, but he would not; and he would not take food with them.

¹⁸And then on the seventh day the child's death took place. And David's servants were in fear of giving him the news of the child's death: for they said, Truly, while the child was still living he gave no attention when we said anything to him: what will he do to himself if we give him word that the child is dead?

¹⁹But when David saw that his servants were talking together quietly, he was certain that the child was dead: and he said to his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, He is.

²⁰Then David got up from the earth, and after washing and rubbing himself with oil and changing his clothing, he went into the house of the Lord and gave worship: then he went back to his house, and at his order they put food before him and he had a meal.

²¹Then his servants said to him, Why have you been acting in this way? you were weeping and going without food while the child was still living; but when the child was dead, you got up and had a meal.

²²And he said, While the child was still living I went without food and gave myself up to weeping: for I said, Who is able to say that the Lord will not have mercy on me and give the child life?

²³But now that the child is dead there is no reason for me to go without food; am I able to make him come back to life? I will go to him, but he will never come back to me.

²⁴And David gave comfort to his wife Bath-sheba, and he went in to her and had connection with her: and she had a son to whom she gave the name Solomon. And he was dear to the Lord.

²⁵And he sent word by Nathan the prophet, who gave him the name Jedidiah, by the word of the Lord.

²⁶Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town.

²⁷And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.

²⁸So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name.

²⁹Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it.

³⁰And he took the crown of Milcom from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were stones of great price; and it was put on David's head. And he took a great store of goods from the town.

³¹And he took the people out of the town and put them to work with wood-cutting instruments, and iron grain-crushers, and iron axes, and at brick-making: this he did to all the towns of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people went back to Jerusalem.

II Samuel 12

¹The Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

²The rich man had very many flocks and herds,

³but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him like a daughter.

⁴A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man who had come to him."

⁵David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is worthy to die!

⁶He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!"

⁷Nathan said to David, "You are the man. This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.

⁸I gave you your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things.

⁹Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

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 wife.'

¹¹"This is what the Lord says: 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

¹²For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'"

¹³David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin. You will not die.

¹⁴However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the Lord's enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die."

¹⁵Nathan departed to his house. The Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it was very sick.

¹⁶David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the ground.

¹⁷The elders of his house arose beside him, to raise him up from the ground: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

¹⁸It happened on the seventh day, that the child died. The servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, "Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to our voice. How will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?"

¹⁹But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, "Is the child dead?" They said, "He is dead."

²⁰Then David arose from the ground, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into the house of the Lord, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he ate.

²¹Then his servants said to him, "What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child was dead, you rose up and ate bread."

²²He said, "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who knows whether the Lord will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?'

²³But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

²⁴David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. The Lord loved him;

²⁵and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he named him Jedidiah, for the Lord's sake.

²⁶Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

²⁷Joab sent messengers to David, and said, "I have fought against Rabbah. Yes, I have taken the city of waters.

²⁸Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name."

²⁹David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.

³⁰He took the crown of their king from off his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David's head. He brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount.

³¹He brought out the people who were therein, and put them under saws, and under iron picks, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick kiln: and he did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.