12 The Lord sent Nathan to go and speak to David. [ a ] Nathan told this story to David, ‘There were two men who lived in the same town. One man was rich and the other man was poor. 2 The rich man had very many sheep, goats and cows. 3 But the poor man had only one little female lamb. He had bought it and he had taken care of it. It had grown up with his own children. It ate his bits of food and it drank water from his cup. It even slept while he held it. It was like a daughter for him.
4 One day, the rich man had a visitor to his home. The rich man needed to make a meal for his visitor. But he did not want to kill one of his own animals. Instead, he took the poor man's lamb away from him. He cooked the lamb to feed his visitor.’
5 When David heard what the rich man had done, he became very angry. He said to Nathan, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, that man deserves to die. 6 He did that cruel thing and he was not sorry for the poor man. So he must pay the poor man enough money to buy four lambs.’
7 Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are that man! This is what the Lord , Israel's God, says: “I chose you as king to rule over Israel. I saved you from Saul's power. 8 I gave your master's palace to you, and his wives as well. I gave the kingdoms of Israel and Judah to you. And if that was not enough for you, I would have given you even more than that. 9 But now you have not respected the Lord 's command. You have done an evil thing. You caused Uriah the Hittite to die in a battle. You used the Ammonite soldiers to kill Uriah. 10 So now your family will always have people who die in battle. When you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife, you showed that you did not respect me.”
11 This is what the Lord says, “I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble to you. You yourself will see it happen! I will take your wives from you and I will give them to someone else. He will have sex with them in the daytime, for everyone to see. 12 What you did, you did secretly. But I will cause this to happen in the light of day, so that all Israel can see it.” ’
13 Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord .’
Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has forgiven your sin. He will not punish you with death. 14 But you did not respect the Lord when you did this bad thing. Because of that, your baby son will certainly die.’ 15 Then Nathan went home.
After that, the Lord caused the child of Uriah's wife to become very ill. 16 David asked the Lord to make his child well again. He lay on the floor of his house all night and he ate no food. 17 His palace officers stood around him. They tried to help him to get up from the ground. But he refused and he would not eat anything with them.
18 On the seventh day, the child died. David's officers were afraid to tell him. They thought, ‘Even when the child was alive, David refused to listen to us. So what will happen if we tell him that the child is dead? He might try to hurt himself.’
19 But David saw that his officers were speaking secretly to each other. So he realized that the child had died. He asked them, ‘Is the child dead?’
They replied, ‘Yes, he is dead.’
20 Then David got up from the ground and he washed himself. He put special oil on his body and he dressed himself in clean clothes. Then he went into the Lord 's house to worship him. After that, he went back to his palace. He asked his servants to bring some food and he ate it.
21 His officers said to him, ‘We do not understand what you are doing. While the child was still alive, you refused to eat food and you wept. But now that the child is dead you are no longer weeping. You are moving around and you are eating. Why?’
22 David replied, ‘While the child was still alive, I wept and I did not eat anything. I thought that perhaps the Lord would be kind to me. I thought that he might let the child live. 23 But now the child is dead. Even if I fast and I pray, I cannot bring him back to me. One day, I will go to the place where he is. But he will never come back here to me.’
24 Then David went to comfort his wife, Bathsheba. He had sex with her as his wife. Later, she gave birth to a son. David gave him the name ‘Solomon’. The Lord loved the child, 25 so he sent a message to David with Nathan, the prophet. He told David to call his son Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him. [ b ]
26 At this time, Joab was attacking Rabbah, the Ammonite city. He had taken from the enemy the king's strong place in the city. 27 Joab sent men to take this message to David: ‘I have attacked Rabbah. Now I have taken the place that holds the city's water. 28 So you should bring the other soldiers of our army to make their camp here. Then you can attack the city and you can take it for us. If you do not do that, I will take the city myself. Then the city will have my name instead of yours.’
29 So David brought all the soldiers of the army together. He led them to Rabbah. They attacked the city and they won against it. 30 He took the crown off the Ammonite king's head. The crown was made of gold. It weighed 34 kilograms. There was a valuable jewel fixed on it. David's men then put the crown on David's head. David also took a lot of valuable things from the city. 31 He brought the people out from the city to do hard work for him. He made them cut wood with saws, and use iron tools and axes. He also made them work at the brick ovens. He did the same thing to the people of all the other Ammonite cities.
Then David and all his army returned to Jerusalem.
12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, “There were two men in a city. One man was rich, but the other man was poor. 2 The rich man had lots of sheep and cattle. 3 But the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb that he bought. The poor man fed the lamb, and the lamb grew up with this poor man and his children. She ate from the poor man’s food and drank from his cup. The lamb slept on the poor man’s chest. The lamb was like a daughter to the poor man.
4 “Then a traveler stopped to visit the rich man. The rich man wanted to give food to the traveler, but he did not want to take any of his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler. No, the rich man took the lamb from the poor man and cooked it for his visitor.”
5 David became very angry with the rich man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this should die! 6 He must pay four times the price of the lamb because he did this terrible thing and because he had no mercy.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are that rich man! This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I chose [ a ] you to be the king of Israel. I saved you from Saul. 8 I let you take his family and his wives, and I made you king of Israel and Judah. As if that had not been enough, I would have given you more and more. 9 So why did you ignore my command? Why did you do what I say is wrong? You let the Ammonites kill Uriah the Hittite, and you took his wife. It is as if you yourself killed Uriah in war. 10 So your family will never have peace! When you took Uriah’s wife, you showed that you did not respect me.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am bringing trouble against you. This trouble will come from your own family. I will take your wives from you and give them to someone who is very close to you. He will have sexual relations with your wives, and everyone will know it! [ b ] 12 You had sexual relations with Bathsheba in secret, but I will punish you so that all the people of Israel can see it.’” [ c ]
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord .”
Nathan said to David, “The Lord will forgive you, even for this sin. You will not die. 14 But you did things that made the Lord ’s enemies lose their respect for him, so your new baby son will die.”
15 Then Nathan went home. And the Lord caused the baby boy who was born to David and Uriah’s wife to become very sick. 16 David prayed to God for the baby. David refused to eat or drink. He went into his house and stayed there and lay on the ground all night.
17 The leaders of David’s family came and tried to pull David up from the ground, but he refused to get up. He refused to eat with these leaders. 18 On the seventh day the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead. They said, “Look, we tried to talk to David while the baby was alive, but he refused to listen to us. If we tell David that the baby is dead, he might do something bad to himself.”
19 David saw his servants whispering and understood that the baby was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?”
The servants answered, “Yes, he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the floor. He washed himself. He changed his clothes and got dressed. Then he went into the Lord ’s house to worship. After that he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate.
21 David’s servants asked him, “Why are you doing this? When the baby was alive, you cried and refused to eat. But when the baby died you got up and ate food.”
22 David said, “While the baby was still living, I cried and refused to eat because I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’ 23 But now the baby is dead, so why should I refuse to eat? Can I bring the baby back to life? No. Some day I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me.”
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He slept with her and had sexual relations with her. Bathsheba became pregnant again and had another son. David named the boy Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon 25 and sent word for Nathan the prophet to give Solomon the name Jedidiah. [ d ] So Nathan did this for the Lord .
26 Rabbah was the capital city of the Ammonites. Joab fought against Rabbah and captured it. 27 Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured its water supply. 28 Now bring the rest of the army together and attack Rabbah. Capture this city before I do, or else it will be called by my name.”
29 So David gathered all the soldiers together and went to Rabbah. He fought against Rabbah and captured the city. 30 David took the crown off their king’s head. [ e ] The crown was gold and weighed about 75 pounds. [ f ] This crown had precious stones in it. They put the crown on David’s head. David took many valuable things out of the city.
31 David also brought out the people of the city of Rabbah and made them work with saws, iron picks, and axes. He also forced them to build things with bricks. He did the same thing to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and the army went back to Jerusalem.
12 And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord , to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11 Thus saith the Lord , Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord . And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.
18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?
19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.
20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord , and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?
23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him.
25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord .
26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.
28 Now 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.
29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.
30 And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.
31 And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
12 Then the Lord sent ( A ) Nathan to David. And ( B ) he came to him and [ a ] said,
“There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.
2 The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing at all except ( C ) one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat [ b ] scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie [ c ] in his lap,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 Now a visitor came to the wealthy man,
And he could not bring himself to take any animal from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;
So he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this certainly [ d ] ( D ) deserves to die! 6 So he must make restitution for the lamb ( E ) four times over, since he did this thing and [ e ] had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “ ( F ) You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord , the God of Israel says: ‘ ( G ) It is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you ( H ) your master’s house and put your master’s wives [ f ] into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you [ g ] many more things like these! 9 Why ( I ) have you despised the word of the Lord , by doing evil in His sight? ( J ) You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you ( K ) have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now then, ( L ) the sword shall never leave 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 am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; ( M ) I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in [ h ] broad daylight. 12 Indeed, ( N ) you did it secretly, but ( O ) I will do this thing before all Israel, and [ i ] in open daylight.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “ ( P ) I have sinned against the Lord .” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has ( Q ) allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14 However, since by this deed you have ( R ) shown utter disrespect for the [ j ] Lord , the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.
Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s [ k ] widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David ( S ) fasted and went and ( T ) lay all night on the ground. 17 ( U ) The elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. 18 Then it happened on the seventh day that 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 alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to [ l ] us. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm?” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20 So David got up from the ground, ( V ) washed, anointed himself , and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and ( W ) worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and when he asked, they served him food, and he ate.
21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was [ m ] alive; but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” 22 And he said, “While the child was still alive, ( X ) I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘ ( Y ) Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ 23 But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? ( Z ) I am going to him, but ( AA ) he will not return to me.”
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and slept with her; and she gave birth to a son, and [ n ] ( AB ) he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him [ o ] Jedidiah for the Lord ’ s sake.
26 ( AC ) Now Joab fought against ( AD ) Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27 Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28 Now then, gather the rest of the people and camp opposite the city and capture it, or I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” 29 So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. 30 Then ( AE ) he took the crown of [ p ] their king from his head; and its weight was a [ q ] talent of gold, and it had a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the plunder of the city in great amounts. 31 He also brought out the people who were in it, and ( AF ) put some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made [ r ] others [ s ] serve at the brick [ t ] works. And he did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
12 The Lord sent Nathan ( B ) to David. ( C ) When he came to him, ( D ) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5 David ( E ) burned with anger ( F ) against the man ( G ) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, ( H ) the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, ( I ) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! ( J ) This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed ( K ) you ( L ) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, ( M ) and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise ( N ) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down ( O ) Uriah ( P ) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed ( Q ) him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword ( R ) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household ( S ) I am going to bring calamity on you. ( T ) Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ( U ) 12 You did it in secret, ( V ) but I will do this thing in broad daylight ( W ) before all Israel.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned ( X ) against the Lord .”
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away ( Y ) your sin. ( Z ) You are not going to die. ( AA ) 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for [ a ] the Lord , ( AB ) the son born to you will die.”
15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck ( AC ) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying ( AD ) in sackcloth [ b ] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, ( AE ) and he would not eat any food with them. ( AF )
18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”
19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, ( AG ) put on lotions and changed his clothes, ( AH ) he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, ( AI ) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? ( AJ ) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ( AK ) 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, ( AL ) but he will not return to me.” ( AM )
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, ( AN ) and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. ( AO ) The Lord loved him; 25 and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. [ c ] ( AP )
26 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah ( AQ ) of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. 28 Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”
29 So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. 30 David took the crown ( AR ) from their king’s [ d ] head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent [ e ] of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. [ f ] David did this to all the Ammonite ( AS ) towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
