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David and Nathan

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came and told him this:

There were two men in a city. One was rich and one poor. The rich man had a large number of flocks and herds. The poor man did not own anything except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He raised it so that it grew up together with him and his children. It ate from his food and drank from his cup. It slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. When a traveler came to the rich man, the rich man was unwilling to take an animal from his flock or from his herd to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. So he took the lamb from the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him.

David’s anger flared up against that man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is as good as dead. In place of that lamb, he will restore four lambs, because he did this and had no pity.”

Nathan told David, “You are the man. This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.”

The Message of Judgment Against David

I anointed you king over Israel. I rescued you from the hand of Saul. I gave the house of your master to you, and I gave the wives of your master into your embrace. I gave you the house of Israel and the house of Judah. If this was too little, I would have added even more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You have taken his wife as your own wife. You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 So now the sword will not depart from your house forever, 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. Look! I am raising up disaster against you from your own house. Right in front of your eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie down with your wives in the sight of the sun. 12 Because you acted in secret, I will do this in front of all Israel in broad daylight.

13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan said to David, “The Lord himself has put away your sin. You will not die.

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The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Jesus told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves (that they were righteous) and looked down on others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple courts to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all my income.’

13 “However the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

14 “I tell you, this man went home justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

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Lawsuits and Unrighteous Behavior

If any one of you has a case against another, does he dare to seek judgment before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to deal with insignificant lawsuits?