2 Samuel 12
Nathan the prophet rebukes David
1 And the LORD sent Nathan to David: and when he came in to David, he said to him, There were two men in a city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich man had very many sheep and herds;
3 But the poor man had nothing, but a little ewe lamb which he had bought and reared; and she had grown up with him and his children alike; of her morsel he ate, and of her cup he drank, and he slept in her bosom, and had her as his daughter.
4 And when a traveler came to the rich man, he failed to take of his own sheep and of his herds to stew for the traveler that came to him: and he took the poor man's lamb, and prepared it for the man that came to him.
5 Then David's wrath was kindled against that man, and he said to Nathan, As the LORD lives, the man who did this is worthy of death.
6 And for the lamb he will give fourfold again, because he did this thing, and because he had no mercy.
7 Then Nathan said to David, You are that man. Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I have anointed you king over Israel, and I have delivered you out of the hand of Saul,
8 And I have given you your lord's house, and your lord's wives into your bosom, and I have also given you the house of Israel and Judah, and this is little, but I would add to you such and such things.
9 Why then; hast thou despised the word of the LORD, doing evil in his sight? You smote Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and you took his wife for your wife; and him you slew with the sword of the children of Ammon.
10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart thee 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 upon thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them to thy neighbour, who shall lie with thy wives before this sun.
12 For thou hast done it in secret, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.
13 Then David said to 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 But because of this deed of this place, which the enemies of the Lord blaspheme, even the son that is born to you will surely die.
15 Then Nathan went to his house; and the Lord smote the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he was grievously sick.
16 And David sought God for the child, and David fasted, and went in, and spent the night prostrate on the earth:
17 Then the elders of his house rose up and came to him to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, and did not eat bread with them.
18 And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died: and the servants of David were afraid to say to him that the child was dead, for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, but he would not hearken to our voice; how then shall we tell him that the child is dead? Because it would hurt you more.
19 But when David saw that his servants were speaking in a low voice, and David understood that the child was dead, therefore David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said: It is dead.
20 Then David arose from the ground, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his raiment, and entered the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his house, and asked for bread; and they gave him bread, and he ate.
21 And his servants said to him, What is this that you have done? For the living child you fasted and wept; but after the child died you rose and ate bread.
22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, Who knows whether the Lord will have mercy on me, and let the child live?
23 But now that it is dead, why should I fast now? Can I make her come back anymore? I will go to her, but she will not return to me.
24 And David comforted her wife Beth-sheba, and went in to her, and lay with her: and she had a son, and called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.
25 And he sent by the hand of the prophet Nathan, and he called his name Jedidjah, for the Lord's sake.
26 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah, of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
27 Then Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I fought with Rabbah, and I also took the cities of the waters.
28 Now gather the rest of the people around the city, and take it, lest when I take the city, my name will not be called over it.
29 Then David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.
30 And he took the crown off his king's head, the weight of which was a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it, and it was placed on David's head: and he took very great spoil of the city.
31 And when he had brought the people that were in it, he put them to saws, and to iron chisels, and to iron axes, and put them through a brick oven; and so he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon: and David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.