2 Samuel 12
1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.
And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto him and said to him, Two men were once in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds;
The rich man had flocks and herds, in great abundance.
3 But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.
But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe, which he had bought; and he nourished it, and it grew up with him and with his children together; of his bread it used to eat, and out of his cup it used to drink, and in his bosom it used to lie, and it was to him as a daughter.
4 Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come.
And there came a traveler unto the rich man; and he felt compunction to take from his own flocks and from his own herds to dress for the wayfarer that was come to him; but he took the ewe of the poor man, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
5 And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this:
And the anger of David was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, surely the man that hath done this deserveth to die;
6 And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity.
And the ewe he shall pay fourfold, for punishment that he hath done this thing, and because he had no compassion.
7 And Nathan said to David, You are that man. The Lord God of Israel says, I made you king over Israel, putting holy oil on you, and I kept you safe from the hands of Saul;
Then said Nathan to David, Thou art the man! Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, It is I who anointed thee as king over Israel, and it is I who delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8 I gave you your master's daughter and your master's wives for yourself, and I gave you the daughters of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you such and such things.
And I gave unto thee the house of thy master, and [put] the wives of thy master into thy bosom, and gave unto thee the house of Israel and Judah: and if this be too little, I could bestow on thee yet many more like these things.
9 Why then have you had no respect for the word of the Lord, doing what is evil in his eyes? You have put Uriah the Hittite to death with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife; you have put him to death with the sword of the children of Ammon.
Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his eyes? Uriyah the Hittite hast thou smitten with the sword, and his wife hast thou taken unto thee for wife; but him hast thou slain with the sword of the children of 'Ammon.
10 So now the sword will never be turned away from your family; because you have had no respect for me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
And now, the sword shall not depart from thy house for ever; for the reason that thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriyah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11 The Lord says, From those of your family I will send evil against you, and before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he will take your wives to his bed by the light of this sun.
Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will raise up against thee evil out of thy own house, and I will take away thy wives before thy eyes, and I will give them unto thy neighbor; and he shall lie with thy wives before the face of this sun.
12 You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun.
For thou hast done it in secret; but I will surely do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
13 And David said to Nathan, Great is my sin against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord has put away your sin; death will not come on you.
Then said David unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, Also the Lord hath caused thy sin to pass away: thou shalt not die.
14 But still, because you have had no respect for the Lord, death will certainly overtake the child who has newly come to birth.
Nevertheless, because thou hast given great cause to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme through this thing, the child also that hath been born unto thee shall surely die.
15 Then Nathan went back to his house. And the hand of the Lord was on David's son, the child of Uriah's wife, and it became very ill.
And Nathan went to his house; and the Lord struck the child that Uriyah's wife had born unto David, that it became very sick.
16 So David made prayer to God for the child; and he took no food day after day, and went in and, stretching himself out on the earth, was there all night.
And David besought God in behalf of the lad; and David kept a fast, and came home, and lay over night upon the earth.
17 And the chief men of his house got up and went to his side to make him get up from the earth, but he would not; and he would not take food with them.
And the elders of the house arose about him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, and he did not partake of any bread with them.
18 And then on the seventh day the child's death took place. And David's servants were in fear of giving him the news of the child's death: for they said, Truly, while the child was still living he gave no attention when we said anything to him: what will he do to himself if we give him word that the child is dead?
And it came to pass 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 yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice: how then shall we say to him, The child is dead! he might do [himself] a hurt.
19 But when David saw that his servants were talking together quietly, he was certain that the child was dead: and he said to his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, He is.
But when David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, David understood that the child was dead; wherefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, he is dead.
20 Then David got up from the earth, and after washing and rubbing himself with oil and changing his clothing, he went into the house of the Lord and gave worship: then he went back to his house, and at his order they put food before him and he had a meal.
David then rose up from the earth, and washed and anointed himself, and changed his garments, and went into the house of the Lord and prostrated himself; and then he came to his own house, and asked that they should set food before him, and he ate.
21 Then his servants said to him, Why have you been acting in this way? you were weeping and going without food while the child was still living; but when the child was dead, you got up and had a meal.
And his servants then said unto him, What is this thing which thou hast done? On account of the child when living thou didst fast and weep; but as soon as the child was dead thou didst arise and eat bread!
22 And he said, While the child was still living I went without food and gave myself up to weeping: for I said, Who is able to say that the Lord will not have mercy on me and give the child life?
And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; because I said, Who knoweth, but that the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?
23 But now that the child is dead there is no reason for me to go without food; am I able to make him come back to life? I will go to him, but he will never come back to me.
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast then? can I restore him again? I am going to him; but he will not return to me.
24 And David gave comfort to his wife Bath-sheba, and he went in to her and had connection with her: and she had a son to whom she gave the name Solomon. And he was dear to the Lord.
And David comforted Bath-sheba' his wife, and he went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore a son, and called his name Solomon; and the Lord loved him.
25 And he sent word by Nathan the prophet, who gave him the name Jedidiah, by the word of the Lord.
And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name, Yedideyah in behalf of the Lord.
26 Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town.
And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of 'Ammon, and captured the royal city.
27 And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.
And Joab sent messengers to David; and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have also captured the water-town.
28 So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name.
And now gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and capture it: lest I capture the city myself, and it be called by my name.
29 Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it.
And David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and captured it.
30 And he took the crown of Milcom from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were stones of great price; and it was put on David's head. And he took a great store of goods from the town.
And he took the crown of Malkam from off his head, and its weight was a talent of gold, and [on it was] a precious stone, and it was set on the head of David; and the booty of the city he brought out in great abundance.
31 And he took the people out of the town and put them to work with wood-cutting instruments, and iron grain-crushers, and iron axes, and at brick-making: this he did to all the towns of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people went back to Jerusalem.
And the people that were therein he brought forward, and put them under saws, and under iron threshing-wagons, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through brick-kilns; and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of 'Ammon: and David returned with them with all the people unto Jerusalem.
