²⁵ and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,^[a] because of the Lord.

^26 (A)Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? ^(B)Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was ^(C)beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.

⁵ He was still speaking when, behold, ^(A)a bright cloud overshadowed them, and ^(B)a voice from the cloud said, ^(C)“This is my beloved Son,^[a] with whom I am well pleased; ^(D)listen to him.”

¹⁷ and behold, ^(A)a voice from heaven said, ^(B)“This is my beloved Son,^[a] with whom I am well pleased.”

²³ And they told the king, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground.

Nathan and Bathsheba Before David

¹¹ Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that ^(A)Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it?

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.”

⁴ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,