2 Samuel 12:1-14
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Sends Nathan to David
12 Then Yahweh sent (A)Nathan to David. And (B)he came to him and [a]said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing except (C)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat his morsel of bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 Now a visitor came to the rich man,
And he [b]was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;
Rather 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 Yahweh lives, surely the man who has done this [c](D)deserves to die. 6 And he must make restitution for the lamb (E)fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “(F)You are the man! Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(G)It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you (H)your master’s house and your master’s wives into your [d]care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9 Why (I)have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in His sight? (J)You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, (K)have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 So now, (L)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 Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; (M)I will even take your wives from before your sight and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 Indeed (N)you did it secretly, but (O)I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “(P)I have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has [e](Q)taken away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have (R)given occasion to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme, the son also that is born to you shall surely die.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Samuel 12:1 Lit said to him
- 2 Samuel 12:4 Lit spared
- 2 Samuel 12:5 Lit is a son of death
- 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit bosom
- 2 Samuel 12:13 Lit caused your sin to pass away
2 Samuel 12:1-14
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance
12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David.(A) When he arrived, he said to him:
There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up, living with him and his children. It shared his meager food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.[a]
5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan: “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”(B)
7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel,(C) and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms,[b] and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 9 Why then have you despised the command of the Lord by doing what I consider[c] evil?(D) You struck down Uriah(E) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.(F) 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house(G) because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife.’
11 “This is what the Lord says,(H) ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another[d] before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly.[e] 12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’”[f]
13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”(I)
Then Nathan replied to David, “The Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.(J) 14 However, because you treated[g] the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.”(K)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Samuel 12:4 Lit for the man who had come to him
- 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit bosom
- 2 Samuel 12:9 Alt Hb tradition reads what He considers
- 2 Samuel 12:11 Or to your neighbor
- 2 Samuel 12:11 Lit in the eyes of this sun
- 2 Samuel 12:12 Lit and before the sun
- 2 Samuel 12:14 Ancient Jewish tradition, one LXX ms; MT reads treated the enemies of; DSS read treated the word of
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