2 Samuel 12:1-31
12 And Jehovah disapproved the thing that David had done, and sent Nathan to David; and he came and said to him “There were two men in the same city, one rich and one poor:
2 the rich man had a great many sheep and cattle,
3 the poor man had nothing at all but one little lamb which he had bought and raised, and it had grown up in company with him and his children; it ate of his crusts, and drank from his cup, and slept in his arms, and was like a daughter to him.
4 And a chance guest came to the rich man; and he could not bear to take any of his sheep or cattle to cook for the traveler that he had had come to him, but took the poor man’s lamb and cooked it for the man that had come to him.”
5 And David was greatly incensed against the man, and said to Nathan “By Jehovah, the man that did that is going to die;
6 * and he shall pay for the lamb seven times its value, because he did that thing and had no mercy.”
7 And Nathan said to David “You are the man. Says Jehovah, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and delivered you from Saul’s hands,
8 ** and gave you your master’s daughters and your master’s wives to lie in your bosom, and I gave you the girls of Israel and Judah, and if that had been too little I would have added as many over and over.
9 * How comes it that you have despised Jehovah in doing what he disapproves? you have struck down Urijah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own, and him you have killed with the sword of the Bene-ʽAmmon;
10 and now the sword will not quit your house forever, because you despised me and took Urijah the Hittite’s wife to be your own.
11 I, says Jehovah, will raise mischief against you out of your own family, and will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in sight of this sun;
12 for you did it in secret, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.”
13 And David said to Nathan “I have sinned against Jehovah.” And Nathan said to David “And Jehovah on his part has set aside your sin; you shall not die;
14 the son that is born to you shall die though, because you did treat Jehovah with contempt in this matter.”
15 And Nathan went home.
And Jehovah smote the child that Urijah’s widow bore to David, and it was taken desperately sick.
16 And David betook himself to God on behalf of the boy; and David kept fast, and used to go to his room and lie on the floor all night.
17 And the elders of his house rose to stand over him and get him to rise off the floor; but he would not, and did not take bread with them.
18 And on the seventh day the child died; and David’s officers were afraid to tell him the child was dead, because they thought “Here we spoke to him while the child was alive and he did not obey, and how are we to tell him ‘The child is dead’? and he will do something bad.”
19 And David saw that his officers were whispering to each other, and David understood that the child was dead; and David said to his officers “Is the child dead?” and they said “He is.”
20 And David got up off the floor, and bathed and oiled himself and changed his dress and went into the house of Jehovah and did reverence, and came into his house and asked for bread; and they set it before him, and he ate it.
21 * And his officers said to him “What does this mean that you have done? while the child was alive you fasted and wept on his account, and when the child was dead you got up and ate bread.”
22 And he said “While the child was still alive I fasted and wept because I thought ‘Who knows whether Jehovah may be gracious to me, and the child live?’
23 But now he is dead: what was I fasting for? could I yet bring him back? I am going to him, but he will not come back to me.”
24 * And David comforted his wife Bath-Shebaʽ, and went in to her and lay with her, and she had a son; and he named him Solomon; and Jehovah loved him,
25 and sent by the prophet Nathan and named him Jedidiah after Jehovah.
26 And Joab attacked Rabbah of the Bene-ʽAmmon, and took the palace city.
27 And Joab sent messengers to David with the message “I have attacked Rabbah, and I took the water city.
28 Now bring together the rest of the people and beleaguer the city and take it, lest I should take it and it should carry my name.”
29 And David brought together all the people and went to Rabbah and attacked the city and took it;
30 * and he took the crown of Malcam off his head, and its weight was a hundredweight of gold; and it had a precious stone in it, which came to be on David’s head. And he took out the plunder of the city, a very great amount;
31 * and the people in it he took out and put them to saws and iron cuts and iron picks, and put them through the brickyard; and so he did with all the cities of the Bene-ʽAmmon. And David and all the people went back to Jerusalem.
Footnotes
^ 12:6 Var. four times
^ 12:8 Var. gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives
^ 12:8 Var. gave you the house of Israel
^ 12:9 Var. despised Jehovah’s word
^ 12:21 Var. while the child was still alive you fasted and wept, and
^ 12:24 Var. she named him
^ 12:30 a hundredweight, gold and precious stones; and it was on
^ 12:31 Unc.
