2 Samuel 12:1–7

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance

12So the Lord sent Nathan to David. ^eWhen he arrived, he said to him:

There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle, ³but 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. ⁴Now 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. ^f

⁵David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan: “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.” ^g

⁷Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, ^hand I delivered you from the hand of Saul.