2 Samuel 12
New American Standard Bible
Nathan Rebukes David
12 Then the Lord sent (A)Nathan to David. And (B)he came to him and [a]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 (C)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat [b]scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie [c]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 [d](D)deserves to die! 6 So he must make restitution for the lamb (E)four times over, since he did this thing and [e]had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “(F)You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘(G)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 (H)your master’s house and put your master’s wives [f]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 [g]many more things like these! 9 Why (I)have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? (J)You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you (K)have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now then, (L)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; (M)I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in [h]broad daylight. 12 Indeed, (N)you did it secretly, but (O)I will do this thing before all Israel, and [i]in open daylight.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “(P)I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has (Q)allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14 However, since by this deed you have (R)shown utter disrespect for the [j]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 [k]widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David (S)fasted and went and (T)lay all night on the ground. 17 (U)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 [l]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, (V)washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and (W)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 [m]alive; but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” 22 And he said, “While the child was still alive, (X)I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘(Y)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? (Z)I am going to him, but (AA)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 [n](AB)he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him [o]Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.
War Again
26 (AC)Now Joab fought against (AD)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 (AE)he took the crown of [p]their king from his head; and its weight was a [q]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 (AF)put some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made [r]others [s]serve at the brick [t]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
- 2 Samuel 12:1 Lit said to him
- 2 Samuel 12:3 Lit his piece
- 2 Samuel 12:3 Or on his chest
- 2 Samuel 12:5 Lit is a son of death
- 2 Samuel 12:6 Or showed no consideration
- 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit on your lap; or chest
- 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit like these and like these
- 2 Samuel 12:11 Lit the sight of this sun
- 2 Samuel 12:12 Lit before the sun
- 2 Samuel 12:14 Lit enemies of the Lord (a euphemistic reference to God); DSS word of the Lord
- 2 Samuel 12:15 Lit wife
- 2 Samuel 12:18 Lit our voice
- 2 Samuel 12:21 Some ancient versions still alive
- 2 Samuel 12:24 Some mss she
- 2 Samuel 12:25 I.e., beloved of the Lord
- 2 Samuel 12:30 Or Milcom; MT Malcam, prob. a variant spelling of Milcom; cf. Zeph 1:5
- 2 Samuel 12:30 About 75 lb. or 34 kg
- 2 Samuel 12:31 Lit them
- 2 Samuel 12:31 Another reading of MT lit pass through
- 2 Samuel 12:31 Lit mold; i.e., for molding bricks
2 Samuel 12
EasyEnglish Bible
Nathan warns David
12 The Lord sent Nathan to go and speak to David.[a] Nathan told this story to David, ‘There were two men who lived in the same town. One man was rich and the other man was poor. 2 The rich man had very many sheep, goats and cows. 3 But the poor man had only one little female lamb. He had bought it and he had taken care of it. It had grown up with his own children. It ate his bits of food and it drank water from his cup. It even slept while he held it. It was like a daughter for him.
4 One day, the rich man had a visitor to his home. The rich man needed to make a meal for his visitor. But he did not want to kill one of his own animals. Instead, he took the poor man's lamb away from him. He cooked the lamb to feed his visitor.’
5 When David heard what the rich man had done, he became very angry. He said to Nathan, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, that man deserves to die. 6 He did that cruel thing and he was not sorry for the poor man. So he must pay the poor man enough money to buy four lambs.’
7 Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are that man! This is what the Lord, Israel's God, says: “I chose you as king to rule over Israel. I saved you from Saul's power. 8 I gave your master's palace to you, and his wives as well. I gave the kingdoms of Israel and Judah to you. And if that was not enough for you, I would have given you even more than that. 9 But now you have not respected the Lord's command. You have done an evil thing. You caused Uriah the Hittite to die in a battle. You used the Ammonite soldiers to kill Uriah. 10 So now your family will always have people who die in battle. When you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife, you showed that you did not respect me.”
11 This is what the Lord says, “I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble to you. You yourself will see it happen! I will take your wives from you and I will give them to someone else. He will have sex with them in the daytime, for everyone to see. 12 What you did, you did secretly. But I will cause this to happen in the light of day, so that all Israel can see it.” ’
13 Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’
Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has forgiven your sin. He will not punish you with death. 14 But you did not respect the Lord when you did this bad thing. Because of that, your baby son will certainly die.’ 15 Then Nathan went home.
David's son dies
After that, the Lord caused the child of Uriah's wife to become very ill. 16 David asked the Lord to make his child well again. He lay on the floor of his house all night and he ate no food. 17 His palace officers stood around him. They tried to help him to get up from the ground. But he refused and he would not eat anything with them.
18 On the seventh day, the child died. David's officers were afraid to tell him. They thought, ‘Even when the child was alive, David refused to listen to us. So what will happen if we tell him that the child is dead? He might try to hurt himself.’
19 But David saw that his officers were speaking secretly to each other. So he realized that the child had died. He asked them, ‘Is the child dead?’
They replied, ‘Yes, he is dead.’
20 Then David got up from the ground and he washed himself. He put special oil on his body and he dressed himself in clean clothes. Then he went into the Lord's house to worship him. After that, he went back to his palace. He asked his servants to bring some food and he ate it.
21 His officers said to him, ‘We do not understand what you are doing. While the child was still alive, you refused to eat food and you wept. But now that the child is dead you are no longer weeping. You are moving around and you are eating. Why?’
22 David replied, ‘While the child was still alive, I wept and I did not eat anything. I thought that perhaps the Lord would be kind to me. I thought that he might let the child live. 23 But now the child is dead. Even if I fast and I pray, I cannot bring him back to me. One day, I will go to the place where he is. But he will never come back here to me.’
24 Then David went to comfort his wife, Bathsheba. He had sex with her as his wife. Later, she gave birth to a son. David gave him the name ‘Solomon’. The Lord loved the child, 25 so he sent a message to David with Nathan, the prophet. He told David to call his son Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him.[b]
David wins Rabbah
26 At this time, Joab was attacking Rabbah, the Ammonite city. He had taken from the enemy the king's strong place in the city. 27 Joab sent men to take this message to David: ‘I have attacked Rabbah. Now I have taken the place that holds the city's water. 28 So you should bring the other soldiers of our army to make their camp here. Then you can attack the city and you can take it for us. If you do not do that, I will take the city myself. Then the city will have my name instead of yours.’
29 So David brought all the soldiers of the army together. He led them to Rabbah. They attacked the city and they won against it. 30 He took the crown off the Ammonite king's head. The crown was made of gold. It weighed 34 kilograms. There was a valuable jewel fixed on it. David's men then put the crown on David's head. David also took a lot of valuable things from the city. 31 He brought the people out from the city to do hard work for him. He made them cut wood with saws, and use iron tools and axes. He also made them work at the brick ovens. He did the same thing to the people of all the other Ammonite cities.
Then David and all his army returned to Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 12
New King James Version
Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession
12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And (A)he came to him, and (B)said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man 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 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this [a]shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore (C)fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I (D)anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 (E)Why have you (F)despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? (G)You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, (H)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 adversity against you from your own house; and I will (I)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, before the sun.’ ”
13 (K)So David said to Nathan, (L)“I have sinned against the Lord.”
And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has (M)put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord (N)to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house.
The Death of David’s Son
And the (O)Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and (P)lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”
19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”
And they said, “He is dead.”
20 So David arose from the ground, washed and (Q)anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and (R)worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; (S)for I said, ‘Who can tell whether [b]the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go (T)to him, but (U)he shall not return to me.”
Solomon Is Born
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So (V)she bore a son, and (W)he[c] called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So [d]he called his name [e]Jedidiah, because of the Lord.
Rabbah Is Captured(X)
26 Now (Y)Joab fought against (Z)Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the city’s water supply. 28 Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name.” 29 So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. 30 (AA)Then he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the [f]spoil of the city in great abundance. 31 And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 12:5 deserves to die, lit. is a son of death
- 2 Samuel 12:22 Heb. mss., Syr. God
- 2 Samuel 12:24 So with Kt., LXX, Vg.; Qr., a few Heb. mss., Syr., Tg. she
- 2 Samuel 12:25 Qr., some Heb. mss., Syr., Tg. she
- 2 Samuel 12:25 Lit. Beloved of the Lord
- 2 Samuel 12:30 plunder
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
