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2 Samuel 12
New American Standard Bible

Nathan Rebukes David

12 Then the Lord sent (A)Nathan to David. And (B)he came to him and [a]said,

“There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.
2 The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing at all except (C)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat [b]scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie [c]in his lap,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 Now a visitor came to the wealthy man,
And he could not bring himself to take any animal from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;
So he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this certainly [d](D)deserves to die! 6 So he must make restitution for the lamb (E)four times over, since he did this thing and [e]had no compassion.”

7 Nathan then said to David, “(F)You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘(G)It is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you (H)your master’s house and put your master’s wives [f]into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you [g]many more things like these! 9 Why (I)have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? (J)You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you (K)have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now then, (L)the sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; (M)I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in [h]broad daylight. 12 Indeed, (N)you did it secretly, but (O)I will do this thing before all Israel, and [i]in open daylight.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “(P)I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has (Q)allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14 However, since by this deed you have (R)shown utter disrespect for the [j]Lord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.

Loss of a Child

Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s [k]widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David (S)fasted and went and (T)lay all night on the ground. 17 (U)The elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. 18 Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to [l]us. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm?” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20 So David got up from the ground, (V)washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and (W)worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and when he asked, they served him food, 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 [m]alive; but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” 22 And he said, “While the child was still alive, (X)I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘(Y)Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ 23 But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? (Z)I am going to him, but (AA)he will not return to me.”

Solomon Born

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and slept with her; and she gave birth to a son, and [n](AB)he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him [o]Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.

War Again

26 (AC)Now Joab fought against (AD)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27 Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28 Now then, gather the rest of the people and camp opposite the city and capture it, or I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” 29 So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. 30 Then (AE)he took the crown of [p]their king from his head; and its weight was a [q]talent of gold, and it had a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the plunder of the city in great amounts. 31 He also brought out the people who were in it, and (AF)put some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made [r]others [s]serve at the brick [t]works. And he did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 12:1 Lit said to him
  2. 2 Samuel 12:3 Lit his piece
  3. 2 Samuel 12:3 Or on his chest
  4. 2 Samuel 12:5 Lit is a son of death
  5. 2 Samuel 12:6 Or showed no consideration
  6. 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit on your lap; or chest
  7. 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit like these and like these
  8. 2 Samuel 12:11 Lit the sight of this sun
  9. 2 Samuel 12:12 Lit before the sun
  10. 2 Samuel 12:14 Lit enemies of the Lord (a euphemistic reference to God); DSS word of the Lord
  11. 2 Samuel 12:15 Lit wife
  12. 2 Samuel 12:18 Lit our voice
  13. 2 Samuel 12:21 Some ancient versions still alive
  14. 2 Samuel 12:24 Some mss she
  15. 2 Samuel 12:25 I.e., beloved of the Lord
  16. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or Milcom; MT Malcam, prob. a variant spelling of Milcom; cf. Zeph 1:5
  17. 2 Samuel 12:30 About 75 lb. or 34 kg
  18. 2 Samuel 12:31 Lit them
  19. 2 Samuel 12:31 Another reading of MT lit pass through
  20. 2 Samuel 12:31 Lit mold; i.e., for molding bricks
Close NRSVUE

2 Samuel 12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

12 1 and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.(A) 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare and drink from his cup and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;(B) 6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”(C)

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul;(D) 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your bosom and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah, and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.(E) 10 Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.(F) 11 Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within 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 broad daylight.(G) 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and in broad daylight.”(H) 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.(I) 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord,[a] the child born to you shall die.”(J) 15 Then Nathan went to his house.

Bathsheba’s Child Dies

The Lord struck the child whom Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill.(K) 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.(L) 17 The elders of his house stood beside him urging him to rise 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, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us; how then can we tell him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, he perceived that the child was dead, and David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”

20 Then David rose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped; he then went to his own house, and when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.(M) 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive, but when the child died, you rose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’(N) 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”(O)

Solomon Is Born

24 Then David consoled his wife Bathsheba and went to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he named him Solomon. The Lord loved him(P) 25 and sent a message by the prophet Nathan, so he named him Jedidiah[b] because of the Lord.

The Ammonites Crushed

26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city.(Q) 27 Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the water city. 28 Now, then, gather the rest of the people together, encamp against the city, and take it, lest I myself take the city and it is called by my name.” 29 So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. 30 He took the crown of Milcom[c] from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David’s head. He also brought forth the spoil of the city, a very great amount.(R) 31 He brought out the people who were in it and set them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes or sent them to the brickworks. Thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 12.14 Cn: Heb scorned the enemies of the Lord
  2. 12.25 That is, beloved of the Lord
  3. 12.30 Gk: Heb their kings
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