Nathan Rebukes David

12 And the Lord sent ^(A)Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, ^(B)“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms,^[a] and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest 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 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ^(C)“As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, ⁶ and he shall restore the lamb ^(D)fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(E)‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. ⁸ And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. ^9 (F)Why have you despised the word of the Lord, ^(G)to do what is evil in his sight? ^(H)You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and ^(I)have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now therefore 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 evil against you out of your own house. And I will 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 and before the sun.’” ^13 (K)David said to Nathan, ^(L)“I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, ^(M)“The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly ^(N)scorned the Lord,^[b] the child who is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house.

David's Child Dies

And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. ¹⁶ David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David ^(O)fasted and went in ^(P)and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. ¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” ¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” ²⁰ Then David arose from the earth ^(Q)and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord ^(R)and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, 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 alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” ²² He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ^(S)‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ ²³ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, ^(T)but he will not return to me.”

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(A)It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, ^(B)which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. ^23 (C)And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. ^(D)And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. ^24 (E)I will take you ^(F)from the nations and gather you from all the countries and ^(G)bring you into your own land. ^25 (H)I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from ^(I)all your uncleannesses, and ^(J)from all your idols ^(K)I will cleanse you. ²⁶ And I will give you ^(L)a new heart, and ^(M)a new spirit I will put within you. ^(N)And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ^27 (O)And I will put my Spirit within you, ^(P)and cause you to walk in my statutes and ^(Q)be careful to obey my rules.^{[a] 28 (R)}You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ^(S)you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

³⁴ And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. ³⁵ And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like ^(A)the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then ^(B)the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and ^(C)replanted that which was desolate. ^(D)I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

Peter Reports to the Church

11 Now the apostles and ^(A)the brothers^[a] who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, ^(B)the circumcision party^[b] criticized him, saying, ^3 (C)“You went to uncircumcised men and ^(D)ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained it to them in order: ^5 (E)“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. ⁶ Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² And the Spirit told me to go with them, ^(F)making no distinction. ^(G)These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. ¹³ And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; ^14 (H)he will declare to you a message by which ^(I)you will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵ As I began to speak, ^(J)the Holy Spirit fell on them ^(K)just as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ^(L)‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If then ^(M)God gave ^(N)the same gift to them as he gave to us ^(O)when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(P)who was I ^(Q)that I could stand in God's way?” ¹⁸ When they heard these things they fell silent. And they ^(R)glorified God, saying, ^(S)“Then to the Gentiles also God has ^(T)granted ^(U)repentance that leads to life.”

^23 (A)In that day you will ^(B)ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(C)whatever you ask of the Father in my name, ^(D)he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. ^(E)Ask, and you will receive, ^(F)that your joy may be full.

I Have Overcome the World

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. ^(G)The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ^27 (H)for the Father himself loves you, because ^(I)you have loved me and ^(J)have believed that I came from God.^{[a] 28 (K)}I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now ^(L)I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not ^(M)using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that ^(N)you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that ^(O)you came from God.” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, ^(P)the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when ^(Q)you will be scattered, each to his own home, and ^(R)will leave me alone. ^(S)Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you, that ^(T)in me you may have peace. ^(U)In the world you will have ^(V)tribulation. But ^(W)take heart; ^(X)I have overcome the world.”