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2 Samuel 9-12
New American Standard Bible

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 Then David said, “Is there [a]anyone still left of the house of Saul, (A)so that I could show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they summoned him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you (B)Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3 Then the king said, “Is there no one remaining of the house of Saul to whom I could show the (C)kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “(D)There is still a son of Jonathan, one who is disabled in both feet.” 4 So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is (E)in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent [b]messengers who brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. 6 (F)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and (G)fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” 7 Then David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for (H)I will assuredly show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I (I)will restore to you all the [c]land of your [d]grandfather Saul; and (J)you yourself shall [e]eat at my table regularly.” 8 Again he prostrated himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should be concerned about (K)a dead dog like me?”

9 Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “(L)Everything that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s [f]grandson. 10 You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master’s grandson will have food [g]to eat; nevertheless (M)Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, (N)shall [h]eat at my table regularly.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “In accordance (O)with everything that my lord the king commands his servant, so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth ate at [i]David’s table as one of the king’s sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because (P)he ate at the king’s table regularly. And (Q)he was disabled in his two feet.

Ammon and Aram Defeated

10 (R)Now it happened afterward that (S)the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place. 2 Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of (T)Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent [j]some of his servants to console him about his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the commanders of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, “[k]Do you think that David is simply honoring your father since he has sent you servants [l]to console you? (U)Has David not sent his servants to you in order to explore the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun took David’s servants and (V)shaved off half of their beards, and (W)cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. 5 When messengers informed David, he sent servants to meet them, because the men were extremely humiliated. And the king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back, and then you shall return.”

6 Now when the sons of Ammon saw that (X)they had become repulsive to David, the sons of Ammon sent messengers and (Y)hired the Arameans of (Z)Beth-rehob and the (AA)Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of (AB)Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob with twelve thousand men. 7 When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the army, the warriors. 8 And the sons of Ammon came out and lined up for battle (AC)at the entrance of the [m]city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of (AD)Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the field.

9 Now when Joab saw that [n]the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel, and lined them up against the Arameans. 10 But the remainder of the people he placed [o]under the command of his brother Abishai, and he lined them up against the sons of Ammon. 11 And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you. 12 (AE)Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and (AF)may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” 13 So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to the battle against the Arameans, and (AG)they fled from him. 14 When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. (AH)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

15 When the Arameans saw that they had been [p]defeated by Israel, they assembled together. 16 (AI)And Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam; and (AJ)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer [q]led them. 17 Now when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans lined up against David and fought him. 18 But the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed (AK)seven hundred charioteers of the Arameans and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they had been [r]defeated by Israel, (AL)they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

Bathsheba, David’s Great Sin

11 (AM)Then it happened [s](AN)in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they brought destruction on the sons of Ammon and (AO)besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem.

2 Now at evening time David got up from his bed and walked around on (AP)the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. 3 So David sent servants and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not (AQ)Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of (AR)Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers and [t]had her brought, and when she came to him, (AS)he slept with her; (AT)and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 But the woman conceived; so she sent word and informed David, and said, “(AU)I am pregnant.”

6 Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, (AV)David asked about Joab’s well-being and [u]that of the people, and the condition of the war. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and (AW)wash your feet.” So Uriah left the king’s house, and a gift from the king [v]was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept (AX)at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 Now when they informed David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 And Uriah said to David, “(AY)The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in [w]temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and (AZ)the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Should I then go to my house to eat and drink and to sleep with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “(BA)Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the day after. 13 Now David summoned [x]Uriah, and he ate and drank in his presence, and he (BB)made [y]Uriah drunk; and in the evening Uriah went out to lie on his bed (BC)with his lord’s servants, and he still did not go down to his house.

14 So in the morning David (BD)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 (BE)He had written in the letter [z]the following: “[aa]Station Uriah on the front line of the [ab]fiercest battle and pull back from him, (BF)so that he may be struck and killed.” 16 So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he [ac]stationed Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and (BG)Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent a messenger and reported to David all the events of the war. 19 He ordered the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, 20 then it shall be that if the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you move against the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who (BH)struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did a woman not throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you move against the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’”

22 So the messenger departed and came and reported to David everything that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we [ad]pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. 24 Also, the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants died, and your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.” 25 Then David said to the messenger, “This is what you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing [ae]displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; [af]fight with determination against the city and overthrow it’; and thereby encourage him.”

26 Now when Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, (BI)she mourned for her husband. 27 When the time of mourning was over, David sent servants and [ag]had her brought to his house and (BJ)she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But (BK)the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David

12 Then the Lord sent (BL)Nathan to David. And (BM)he came to him and [ah]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 (BN)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat [ai]scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie [aj]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 [ak](BO)deserves to die! 6 So he must make restitution for the lamb (BP)four times over, since he did this thing and [al]had no compassion.”

7 Nathan then said to David, “(BQ)You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘(BR)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 (BS)your master’s house and put your master’s wives [am]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 [an]many more things like these! 9 Why (BT)have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? (BU)You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you (BV)have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now then, (BW)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; (BX)I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in [ao]broad daylight. 12 Indeed, (BY)you did it secretly, but (BZ)I will do this thing before all Israel, and [ap]in open daylight.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “(CA)I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has (CB)allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14 However, since by this deed you have (CC)shown utter disrespect for the [aq]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 [ar]widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David (CD)fasted and went and (CE)lay all night on the ground. 17 (CF)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 [as]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, (CG)washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and (CH)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 [at]alive; but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” 22 And he said, “While the child was still alive, (CI)I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘(CJ)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? (CK)I am going to him, but (CL)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 [au](CM)he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him [av]Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.

War Again

26 (CN)Now Joab fought against (CO)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 (CP)he took the crown of [aw]their king from his head; and its weight was a [ax]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 (CQ)put some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made [ay]others [az]serve at the brick [ba]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 9:1 Lit he who is
  2. 2 Samuel 9:5 Lit and he brought
  3. 2 Samuel 9:7 Lit field
  4. 2 Samuel 9:7 Lit father
  5. 2 Samuel 9:7 Lit eat bread
  6. 2 Samuel 9:9 Lit son
  7. 2 Samuel 9:10 Lit and eat it
  8. 2 Samuel 9:10 Lit eat bread
  9. 2 Samuel 9:11 Lit my
  10. 2 Samuel 10:2 Lit by the hand of
  11. 2 Samuel 10:3 Lit In your eyes is David honoring
  12. 2 Samuel 10:3 Lit consoling
  13. 2 Samuel 10:8 Lit gate
  14. 2 Samuel 10:9 Lit the faces of the battle were against
  15. 2 Samuel 10:10 Lit in the hand of
  16. 2 Samuel 10:15 Lit struck
  17. 2 Samuel 10:16 Lit was before them
  18. 2 Samuel 10:19 Lit struck
  19. 2 Samuel 11:1 Lit at the return of the year
  20. 2 Samuel 11:4 Lit took her
  21. 2 Samuel 11:7 Lit welfare of
  22. 2 Samuel 11:8 Lit went out
  23. 2 Samuel 11:11 Or huts
  24. 2 Samuel 11:13 Lit him
  25. 2 Samuel 11:13 Lit him
  26. 2 Samuel 11:15 Lit saying
  27. 2 Samuel 11:15 Lit Give
  28. 2 Samuel 11:15 Lit severe
  29. 2 Samuel 11:16 Lit gave
  30. 2 Samuel 11:23 Lit were upon
  31. 2 Samuel 11:25 Lit be evil in your sight
  32. 2 Samuel 11:25 Lit seize your battle against
  33. 2 Samuel 11:27 Lit brought her
  34. 2 Samuel 12:1 Lit said to him
  35. 2 Samuel 12:3 Lit his piece
  36. 2 Samuel 12:3 Or on his chest
  37. 2 Samuel 12:5 Lit is a son of death
  38. 2 Samuel 12:6 Or showed no consideration
  39. 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit on your lap; or chest
  40. 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit like these and like these
  41. 2 Samuel 12:11 Lit the sight of this sun
  42. 2 Samuel 12:12 Lit before the sun
  43. 2 Samuel 12:14 Lit enemies of the Lord (a euphemistic reference to God); DSS word of the Lord
  44. 2 Samuel 12:15 Lit wife
  45. 2 Samuel 12:18 Lit our voice
  46. 2 Samuel 12:21 Some ancient versions still alive
  47. 2 Samuel 12:24 Some mss she
  48. 2 Samuel 12:25 I.e., beloved of the Lord
  49. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or Milcom; MT Malcam, prob. a variant spelling of Milcom; cf. Zeph 1:5
  50. 2 Samuel 12:30 About 75 lb. or 34 kg
  51. 2 Samuel 12:31 Lit them
  52. 2 Samuel 12:31 Another reading of MT lit pass through
  53. 2 Samuel 12:31 Lit mold; i.e., for molding bricks
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2 Samuel 9-12
New International Version

David and Mephibosheth

9 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”(A)

2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba.(B) They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

“At your service,” he replied.

3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”

Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan;(C) he is lame(D) in both feet.”

4 “Where is he?” the king asked.

Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir(E) son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.(F)

David said, “Mephibosheth!”

“At your service,” he replied.

7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan.(G) I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.(H)”

8 Mephibosheth(I) bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog(J) like me?”

9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson(K) may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s[a] table like one of the king’s sons.(L)

12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth.(M) 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

David Defeats the Ammonites(N)

10 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. 2 David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash,(O) just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father.

When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out(P) and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard,(Q) cut off their garments at the buttocks,(R) and sent them away.

5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”

6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious(S) to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean(T) foot soldiers from Beth Rehob(U) and Zobah,(V) as well as the king of Maakah(W) with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.(X)

7 On hearing this, David sent Joab(Y) out with the entire army of fighting men. 8 The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country.

9 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai(Z) his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong,(AA) and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”(AB)

13 Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites(AC) realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

15 After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.

17 When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. 18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers.[b] He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject(AD) to them.

So the Arameans(AE) were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring,(AF) at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab(AG) out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.(AH) They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.(AI) But David remained in Jerusalem.

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof(AJ) of the palace. From the roof he saw(AK) a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,(AL) the daughter of Eliam(AM) and the wife of Uriah(AN) the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her.(AO) She came to him, and he slept(AP) with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)(AQ) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah(AR) the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”(AS) So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

11 Uriah said to David, “The ark(AT) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[c] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love(AU) to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter(AV) to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down(AW) and die.(AX)”

16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek(AY) son of Jerub-Besheth[d]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall,(AZ) so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”

22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning(BA) 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(BB) the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David(BC)

12 The Lord sent Nathan(BD) to David.(BE) When he came to him,(BF) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 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.

4 “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.”

5 David(BG) burned with anger(BH) against the man(BI) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,(BJ) the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over,(BK) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!(BL) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed(BM) you(BN) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you,(BO) 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. 9 Why did you despise(BP) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down(BQ) Uriah(BR) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed(BS) him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword(BT) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household(BU) I am going to bring calamity on you.(BV) Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.(BW) 12 You did it in secret,(BX) but I will do this thing in broad daylight(BY) before all Israel.’”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned(BZ) against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away(CA) your sin.(CB) You are not going to die.(CC) 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for[e] the Lord,(CD) the son born to you will die.”

15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck(CE) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying(CF) in sackcloth[f] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused,(CG) and he would not eat any food with them.(CH)

18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed,(CI) put on lotions and changed his clothes,(CJ) he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept,(CK) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?(CL) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’(CM) 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him,(CN) but he will not return to me.”(CO)

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba,(CP) and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon.(CQ) The Lord loved him; 25 and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.[g](CR)

26 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah(CS) of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. 28 Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

29 So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. 30 David took the crown(CT) from their king’s[h] head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent[i] of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.[j] David did this to all the Ammonite(CU) towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 9:11 Septuagint; Hebrew my
  2. 2 Samuel 10:18 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 19:18); Hebrew horsemen
  3. 2 Samuel 11:11 Or staying at Sukkoth
  4. 2 Samuel 11:21 Also known as Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon)
  5. 2 Samuel 12:14 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text for the enemies of
  6. 2 Samuel 12:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have in sackcloth.
  7. 2 Samuel 12:25 Jedidiah means loved by the Lord.
  8. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or from Milkom’s (that is, Molek’s)
  9. 2 Samuel 12:30 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
  10. 2 Samuel 12:31 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
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