The Daily Audio Bible

Nathan Confronts David

12 So Yahweh sent Nathan to David. Nathan came to him and said, “There were two men in a certain city. One was rich, and the other was poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cows, ³ but the poor man had only one little female lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up in his home with his children. She would eat his food and drink from his cup. She rested in his arms and was like a daughter.

⁴ “Now, a visitor came to the rich man. The rich man thought it would be a pity to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler. So he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared her for the traveler.”

⁵ David burned with anger against the man. “I solemnly swear, as Yahweh lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this certainly deserves to die! ⁶ And he must pay back four times the price of the lamb because he did this and had no pity.”

⁷ “You are the man!” Nathan told David. “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and rescued you from Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master Saul’s house and his wives. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if this weren’t enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise my word by doing what I considered evil? You had Uriah the Hittite killed in battle. You took his wife as your wife. You used the Ammonites to kill him. ¹⁰ So warfare will never leave your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

¹¹ “This is what Yahweh says: I will stir up trouble against you within your own household, and before your own eyes I will take your wives and give them to someone close to you. He will go to bed with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did this secretly, but I will make this happen in broad daylight in front of all Israel.”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.”

Nathan replied, “Yahweh has taken away your sin; you will not die. ¹⁴ But since you have shown total contempt for Yahweh by this affair, the son that is born to you must die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went home.

Yahweh struck the child that Uriah’s wife had given birth to for David so that the child became sick. ¹⁶ David pleaded with Elohim for the child; he fasted and lay on the ground all night. ¹⁷ The older leaders in his palace stood beside him to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling. And he wouldn’t eat with them.

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. But David’s officials were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. They thought, “While the child was alive, we talked to him, and he wouldn’t listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may harm himself.”

¹⁹ But when David saw that his officials were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” David asked them.

“Yes, he is dead,” they answered.

²⁰ So David got up from the ground, bathed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into Yahweh’s house and worshiped. Then he went home and asked for food. They placed food in front of him, and he ate.

²¹ His officials asked him, “Why are you acting this way? You fasted and cried over the child when he was alive. But as soon as the child died, you got up and ate.”

²² David answered, “As long as the child was alive, I fasted and cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Yahweh may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But why should I fast now that he’s dead? Can I bring him back? Someday I’ll go to him, but he won’t come back to me.”

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to bed with her, and she later gave birth to a son. David named him Solomon. Yahweh loved the child ²⁵ and sent a message through the prophet Nathan to name the baby Jedidiah [The Lord’s Beloved].

David Defeats the Ammonites^(A)

²⁶ Meanwhile, Joab fought against the Ammonite city of Rabbah and captured its royal fortress. ²⁷ So he sent messengers to tell David, “I fought against Rabbah and captured the fortress guarding its water supply. ²⁸ Gather the rest of the troops, surround the city, and capture it. Otherwise, I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.”

²⁹ So David gathered all the troops and went to Rabbah. He fought against the city and captured it. ³⁰ He took the gold crown from the head of Rabbah’s king and put it on his own head. (The crown weighed 75 pounds and contained a precious stone.) David also took a lot of goods from the city. ³¹ He brought out the troops who were there and put them to work with saws, hoes, and axes. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.

Sadness Will Turn to Joy

16 Yeshua continued, “I have said these things to you so that you won’t lose your faith. ² You will be thrown out of synagogues. Certainly, the time is coming when people who murder you will think that they are serving God. ³ They will do these things to you because they haven’t known the Father or me. ⁴ But I’ve told you this so that when it happens you’ll remember what I’ve told you. I didn’t tell you this at first, because I was with you.

⁵ “Now I’m going to the one who sent me. Yet, none of you asks me where I’m going. ⁶ But because I’ve told you this, you’re filled with sadness. ⁷ However, I am telling you the truth: It’s good for you that I’m going away. If I don’t go away, the helper won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ He will come to convict the world of sin, to show the world what has God’s approval, and to convince the world that God judges it. ⁹ He will convict the world of sin, because people don’t believe in me. ¹⁰ He will show the world what has God’s approval, because I’m going to the Father and you won’t see me anymore. ¹¹ He will convince the world that God judges it, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

¹² “I have a lot more to tell you, but that would be too much for you now. ¹³ When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth. He won’t speak on his own. He will speak what he hears and will tell you about things to come. ¹⁴ He will give me glory, because he will tell you what I say. ¹⁵ Everything the Father says is also what I say. That is why I said, ‘He will take what I say and tell it to you.’

¹⁶ “In a little while you won’t see me anymore. Then in a little while you will see me again.”

¹⁷ Some of his disciples said to each other, “What does he mean? He tells us that in a little while we won’t see him. Then he tells us that in a little while we will see him again and that he’s going to the Father.” ¹⁸ So they were asking each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while’? We don’t understand what he’s talking about.”

¹⁹ Yeshua knew they wanted to ask him something. So he said to them, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, and in a little while you will see me again’? ²⁰ I can guarantee this truth: You will cry because you are sad, but the world will be happy. You will feel pain, but your pain will turn to happiness. ²¹ A woman has pain when her time to give birth comes. But after the child is born, she doesn’t remember the pain anymore because she’s happy that a child has been brought into the world.

²² “Now you’re in a painful situation. But I will see you again. Then you will be happy, and no one will take that happiness away from you. ²³ When that day comes, you won’t ask me any more questions. I can guarantee this truth: If you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. ²⁴ So far you haven’t asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive so that you can be completely happy.

²⁵ “I have used examples to illustrate these things. The time is coming when I won’t use examples to speak to you. Rather, I will speak to you about the Father in plain words. ²⁶ When that day comes, you will ask for what you want in my name. I’m telling you that I won’t have to ask the Father for you. ²⁷ The Father loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I left the Father and came into the world. Again, as I’ve said, I’m going to leave the world and go back to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Now you’re talking in plain words and not using examples. ³⁰ Now we know that you know everything. You don’t need to wait for questions to be asked. Because of this, we believe that you have come from God.”

³¹ Yeshua replied to them, “Now you believe. ³² The time is coming, and is already here, when all of you will be scattered. Each of you will go your own way and leave me all alone. Yet, I’m not all alone, because the Father is with me. ³³ I’ve told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you’ll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world.”