Nathan Rebukes David^(A)

12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said, “There were two men in a certain city. One was wealthy, but the other was poor. ² The wealthy man had a very large flock and herd, ³ but the poor man had nothing except a single small ewe lamb that he had acquired. He nourished it and raised it together with himself and his sons. From his crumbs, it would eat; from his cup, it would drink; and in his arms it would lie. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “There came a visitor to the wealthy man, but he was unwilling to take from his own flock or herd to prepare a meal for the wanderer who had come to him. Instead he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared food for the wanderer who had come to him.”

⁵ David became very angry because of this man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die. ⁶ And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan told David, “You are this man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you as king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave to you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave to you the house of Israel and Judah. If this were too little, I would have continued to do for you much more. ⁹ Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and you took his wife as a wife for yourself. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now the sword will 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: See, I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house. I will take your wives before your eyes and will give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² Although you did it secretly, I will do this thing before all of Israel, and under the sun.”

¹³ Then 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. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.”

¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child that the wife of Uriah had born for David, and he became sick. ¹⁶ David entreated God on behalf of the child. He fasted for a period, and he would go in and lie throughout the night on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his house stood beside him to rouse him from the ground, but he was not willing, nor would he consume food with them.

¹⁸ The child died on the seventh day, and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child had died. They said, “When the child was alive, we would speak to him, but he would not acknowledge our voices. Now how can we say to him, ‘The child is dead’? He may do harm.”

¹⁹ When David noticed that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?”

They said, “He is dead.”

²⁰ So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his garments. Then he entered the house of the Lord and worshipped. He then went in to his own house. When he asked, they set down food for him and ate.

²¹ His servants said to him, “What is this thing you have done? You fasted and wept for the sake of the living child, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

²² He explained, “As long as the child was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, so that the child may live.’ ²³ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

The Birth of Solomon

²⁴ Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife. He went to her and lay with her, so that she conceived a son. They named him Solomon, and the Lord loved him. ²⁵ So He sent a word by way of the prophet Nathan that he should be named Jedidiah for the sake of the Lord.

²⁶ Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and assumed control of the royal city. ²⁷ So Joab sent messengers to David and reported, “I have fought against Rabbah, and I have occupied the water supply of the city. ²⁸ Now gather the remainder of the people, lay siege to the city, and take it. Otherwise, I myself will capture the city, and it will be called by my name.”

²⁹ So David gathered all of the people and they went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. ³⁰ David took the crown of their king from his head, and its weight was a talent^[a] of gold and precious stone. It was placed upon the head of David. He brought out large quantities of plunder from the city. ³¹ He brought out the people who were in it, and he put them to work with saws, and iron picks, and iron axes, and sent them to work in the brick kiln. Thus he did to all of the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all of the people returned to Jerusalem.