2 Samuel 12
1 And YHWH sends Nathan to David, and he comes to him, and says to him: “Two men have been in one city, one rich and one poor.
Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich has very many flocks and herds,
The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle,
3 but the poor one has nothing, except one little ewe-lamb which he has bought and keeps alive. And it grows up together with him and with his sons. It eats of his morsel, and it drinks from his cup, and it lies in his bosom, and it is as a daughter to him.
but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.
4 And a traveler comes to the rich man, and he spares to take from his own flock, and from his own herd, to prepare for the traveling [man] who has come to him; and he takes the ewe-lamb of the poor man and prepares it for the man who has come to him.”
Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking 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.”
5 And the anger of David burns against the man exceedingly, and he says to Nathan, “YHWH lives, surely the man who is doing this [is] a son of death,
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
6 and [for] the ewe-lamb he repays fourfold, because that he has done this thing, and because that he had no pity.”
Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”
7 And Nathan says to David, “You [are] the man! Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: I anointed you for king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul;
Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 and I give to you the house of your lord, and the wives of your lord, into your bosom, and I give the house of Israel and Judah to you; and if [that is] too little, then I add such and such [things] to you.
I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.
9 Why have you despised the word of YHWH, to do evil in His eyes? You have struck Uriah the Hittite by the sword, and you have taken his wife for a wife for yourself, and you have slain him by the sword of the sons of Ammon.
Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.
10 And now, the sword does not turn aside from your house for all time, because you have despised Me, and take the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be for a wife for yourself;
Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 thus said YHWH: Behold, I am raising up calamity against you, out of your [own] house, and have taken your wives before your eyes, and given [them] to your neighbor, and he has lain with your wives before the eyes of this sun;
This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.
12 for you have done [it] in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”
You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
13 And David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against YHWH.” And Nathan says to David, “Also—YHWH has caused your sin to pass away; you do not die;
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
14 only, because you have caused the enemies of YHWH to greatly despise by this thing, also—the son who is born to you surely dies.”
Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”
15 And Nathan goes to his house, and YHWH strikes the boy, whom the wife of Uriah has borne to David, and it is incurable;
After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.
16 and David seeks God for the youth, and David keeps a fast, and has gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth.
David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.
17 And [the] elderly of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he has not been willing, nor has he eaten bread with them;
The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.
18 and it comes to pass on the seventh day, that the boy dies, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the boy is dead, for they said, “Behold, in the boy being alive we spoke to him, and he did not listen to our voice; and how do we say to him, The boy is dead? Then he has done evil.”
On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”
19 And David sees that his servants are whispering, and David understands that the boy is dead, and David says to his servants, “Is the boy dead?” And they say, “Dead.”
When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “He is dead,” they replied.
20 And David rises from the earth, and bathes and anoints [himself], and changes his raiment, and comes into the house of YHWH, and bows himself, and comes to his house, and asks and they place bread for him, and he eats.
Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.
21 And his servants say to him, “What [is] this thing you have done? Because of the living boy you have fasted and you weep, and when the boy is dead you have risen and eat bread.”
“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.”
22 And he says, “While the boy is alive I have fasted and I weep, for I said, Who knows [if] YHWH pities me and the boy has lived?
David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’
23 And now, he has died, why [is] this—I fast? Am I able to bring him back again? I am going to him, and he does not return to me.”
But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
24 And David comforts his wife Bathsheba, and goes in to her, and lies with her, and she bears a son, and he calls his name Solomon; and YHWH has loved him,
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child
25 and sends by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calls his name Jedidiah, because of YHWH.
and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him.
26 And Joab fights against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captures the royal city,
Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
27 and Joab sends messengers to David and says, “I have fought against Rabbah—I have also captured the city of waters;
Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.
28 and now, gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and capture it, lest I capture the city, and my name has been called on it.”
Now, therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.”
29 And David gathers all the people, and goes to Rabbah, and fights against it, and captures it;
So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; and he fought against it and captured it.
30 and he takes the crown of their king from off his head, and its weight [is] a talent of gold, and precious stones, and it is on the head of David; and he has brought out the spoil of the city—very much;
Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.
31 and he has brought out the people who [are] in it, and sets [them] to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron, and has caused them to pass over into the brick-kiln; and so he does to all the cities of the sons of Ammon; and David turns back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.
David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.
