26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and (A)she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David

12 And the Lord sent (B)Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, (C)“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 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. 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.” Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, (D)“As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb (E)fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, (F)‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 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. (G)Why have you despised the word of the Lord, (H)to do what is evil in his sight? (I)You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and (J)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.’

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 12:3 Hebrew bosom; also verse 8

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning(A) was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased(B) the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David(C)

12 The Lord sent Nathan(D) to David.(E) When he came to him,(F) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

David(G) burned with anger(H) against the man(I) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,(J) the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over,(K) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!(L) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed(M) you(N) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you,(O) and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise(P) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down(Q) Uriah(R) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed(S) him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword(T) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’