2 Samuel 12:1–7

Nathan Rebukes David

¹Then 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.”

⁵Then 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.”

⁷Nathan 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.