Chapter 12

Nathan Rebukes David

1 Then the Lord sent aNathan to David. And bhe came to him and 1said,

“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 aone little ewe lamb

Which he bought and nourished;

And it grew up together with him and his children.

It would eat of his 1bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,

And was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man,

And he 1was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,

To prepare for the wayfarer 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 the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this 1adeserves to die.

6 “He must make restitution for the lamb afourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”

7 Nathan then said to David, “aYou are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘bIt 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 ayour master’s house and your master’s wives into your 1care, 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 ahave you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? bYou have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, chave taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.

10 ‘Now therefore, athe 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 evil against you from your own household; aI will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in 1broad daylight.

12 ‘Indeed ayou did it secretly, but bI will do this thing before all Israel, and 1under the sun.’ ”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “aI have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has 1btaken away your sin; you shall not die.

14 “However, because by this deed you have agiven occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”

15 So Nathan went to his house.

Loss of a Child

Then the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s 1widow bore to David, so that he was very sick.

16 David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David afasted and went and blay all night on the ground.

17 aThe elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise 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 the servants of David 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 our voice. 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 arose from the ground, awashed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the Lord and bworshiped. Then he came 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 thing that you have done? 1While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

22 He said, “While the child was still alive, aI fasted and wept; for I said, ‘bWho knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’

23 “But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? aI will go to him, but bhe will not return to me.”

Solomon Born

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and 1ahe named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him

25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him 1Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.

War Again

26 aNow Joab fought against bRabbah of the sons of Ammon and captured the royal city.

27 Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters.

28 “Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and camp against 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, fought against it and captured it.

30 Then ahe took the crown of 1their king from his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and in it 2was a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in great amounts.

31 He also brought out the people who were in it, and aset them under saws, sharp iron instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass through the brickkiln. And thus he did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.