²² So Samuel said:

^24 (D)Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I ^(E)feared the people and obeyed their voice.

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession

12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And ^(A)he came to him, and ^(B)said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. ³ But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this ^[a]shall surely die! ⁶ And he shall restore ^(C)fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I ^(D)anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! ^9 (E)Why have you ^(F)despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? ^(G)You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore, ^(H)the sword shall 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 the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will ^(I)take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For you did it secretly, ^(J)but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”

^13 (K)So David said to Nathan, ^(L)“I have sinned against the Lord.”

And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has ^(M)put away your sin; you shall not die.

The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously ^(A)practiced ^[a]sorcery in the city and ^(B)astonished the ^[b]people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his ^[c]sorceries for a long time. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the things ^(C)concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

The Sorcerer’s Sin

¹⁴ Now when the ^(D)apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵ who, when they had come down, prayed for them ^(E)that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For ^(F)as yet He had fallen upon none of them. ^(G)They had only been baptized in ^(H)the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then ^(I)they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because ^(J)you thought that ^(K)the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your ^(L)heart is not right in the sight of God. ²² Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God ^(M)if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are ^(N)poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered and said, ^(O)“Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”