Nathan Confronts David

12 Then Adonai sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one was rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had an exceedingly huge flock and herd, ³ but the poor man had nothing at all, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished, and it grew up together with him and his children. It ate from his own morsel and drank from his own cup, and nestled in his bosom, and it was to him like a daughter. ⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man, but he was unwilling to take one from his own flock or herd to prepare a meal for the wayfarer who had come to him. Rather, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man that had come to him.”

⁵ Then David’s anger blazed hot against the man and he said to Nathan, “As Adonai lives, the man that did this deserves to die! ⁶ So he must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did such a thing and showed no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says Adonai, God of Israel: It is I who anointed you king over Israel, and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your bosom, and I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. Now if that were too little, then I would have added to you so much more. ⁹ Why then have you despised the word of Adonai by doing such evil in My eyes? Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword, and his wife you have taken to be your wife, and him you have slain with the sword of the children of Ammon ¹⁰ So now 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 “Thus says Adonai: Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household, 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. ¹² Indeed you have done it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and under the sun.”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Adonai.”

Nathan replied to David, “Adonai also has made your sin pass away—you will not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have made the enemies of Adonai greatly blaspheme, so even the child born to you will surely die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house.

Then Adonai struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David and he became very sick. ¹⁶ David therefore sought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the floor. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him in order to get him up from the floor but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he didn’t listen to our voice. So how can we tell him that the child is dead? He might do something terrible!”

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?”

“He is dead,” they said.

²⁰ Then David got up from the floor, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the House of Adonai and worshipped. When he came back to his own palace, he asked for food, so they set food before him and he ate.

²¹ His servants asked him, “What is this thing you have done? You fasted and wept while the child was still alive, but as soon as the child died, you got up and ate food.”

²² He replied, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept, for I thought, ‘Who knows? Adonai might be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But now that he has died, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? It is I who will be going to him, but he will never return to me.”

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and lay with her, and she bore a son and called his name Solomon. Adonai loved him, ²⁵ and He sent word by the hand of the prophet Nathan. So he called his name Jedidiah^[a], for Adonai’s sake.

²⁶ Now Joab attacked Rabbah of the children of Ammon and captured the royal city. ²⁷ So Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have attacked Rabbah and captured the city’s water supply. ²⁸ So now gather the rest of the troops together, camp against the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” ²⁹ So David gathered all the troops, went to Rabbah, attacked it and captured it. ³⁰ Then he took the crown of their king from off his head—its weight was a talent of gold and in it was a precious stone—and then it was placed on David’s head. He also brought a vast amount of spoils out of the city. ³¹ Then he brought out the people who were there and put them to work under saws, iron threshing boards and iron axes, and assigned them to brick making; and thus he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.