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. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord ^(N)to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan departed to his house.

The Death of David’s Son

And the ^(O)Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. ¹⁶ David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and ^(P)lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”

¹⁹ When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

And they said, “He is dead.”

²⁰ So David arose from the ground, washed and ^(Q)anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and ^(R)worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. ²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this 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 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; ^(S)for I said, ‘Who can tell whether ^[b]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 ^(T)to him, but ^(U)he shall not return to me.”

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, ^(A)but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. ²³ And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am ^(B)hallowed in you before their eyes. ²⁴ For ^(C)I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. ^25 (D)Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you ^(E)from all your filthiness and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a ^(F)new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My ^(G)Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. ^28 (H)Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; ^(I)you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

³⁴ The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. ³⁵ So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of ^(A)Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. ^(B)I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.”

Peter Defends God’s Grace

11 Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ^(A)those of the circumcision contended with him, ³ saying, ^(B)“You went in to uncircumcised men ^(C)and ate with them!”

⁴ But Peter explained it to them ^(D)in order from the beginning, saying: ^5 (E)“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. ⁶ When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ ¹⁰ Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² Then ^(F)the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover ^(G)these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ^13 (H)And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, ¹⁴ who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, ^(I)as upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ^(J)‘John indeed baptized with water, but ^(K)you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ^17 (L)If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, ^(M)who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ^(N)“Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

²³ “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. ^(A)Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, ^(B)that your joy may be ^(C)full.

Jesus Christ Has Overcome the World

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you ^(D)plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; ^27 (E)for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and ^(F)have believed that I came forth from God. ^28 (G)I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! ³⁰ Now we are sure that ^(H)You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this ^(I)we believe that You came forth from God.”

³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ^32 (J)Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, ^(K)each to his ^[a]own, and will leave Me alone. And ^(L)yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³ These things I have spoken to you, that ^(M)in Me you may have peace. ^(N)In the world you ^[b]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, ^(O)I have overcome the world.”