2 Samuel 12
1 And Jehovah 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 morsel, 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 Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this is worthy to 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 Jehovah, the 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 have added unto thee such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is evil in
his sight? thou hast smitten 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 thy house, because thou hast
despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11 Thus saith Jehovah, 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
neighbor, 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 Jehovah. And Nathan said
unto David, Jehovah 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 Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And Jehovah 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 stood] beside 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 hearkened not 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 were whispering together, David
perceived that the child was dead; and 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 he came into the house of Jehovah, 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 knoweth whether Jehovah will not 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 will not return to me.
24 And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with
her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. And Jehovah loved him;
25 and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name
Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake.
26 Now 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;
yea, I 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 the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight thereof
was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on
David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.
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 brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And
David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.