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. ¹⁰ Because of that, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your own house.

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: I am making trouble come against you from inside your own family. Before your very eyes I will take your wives away and give them to your friend, and he will have sex with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did what you did secretly, but I will do what I am doing before all Israel in the light of day.”

¹³ “I’ve sinned against the Lord!” David said to Nathan.

“The Lord has removed your sin,” Nathan replied to David. “You won’t die. ¹⁴ However, because you have utterly disrespected the Lord^[e] by doing this, the son born to you will definitely die.”