Nathan pronounces God’s judgment

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor. ² The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing—just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup—even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor.”

⁵ David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the one who did this is demonic!^{[a] 6} He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over^[b] because he did this and because he had no compassion.”

⁷ “You are that man!” Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from Saul’s power. ⁸ I gave your master’s house^[c] to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house^[d] of Israel and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. ⁹ Why have you despised the Lord’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him.

Psalm 51

For the music leader. A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him just after he had been with Bathsheba.