< 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.
And the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David; and he went in to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich has very many flocks and herds,
And the rich [man] had very many flocks and herds.
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] only one little ewe lamb, which he had purchased, and preserved, and reared; an it grew up with himself and his children in common; it ate of his bread and drank of his cup, and slept in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter.
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.”
And a traveller came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his flocks and of his herds, to dress for the traveller that came to him; and he took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that came to him.
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,
And David was greatly moved with anger against the man; and David said to Nathan, [As] the Lord lives, the man that did this thing shall surely die.
6 and [for] the ewe-lamb he repays fourfold, because that he has done this thing, and because that he had no pity.”
And he shall restore the lamb seven-fold, because he has not spared.
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;
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man that has done this. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee to be king over Israel, and I rescued thee out 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.
and I gave thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord into thy bosom, and I gave to thee the house of Israel and Juda; and if that had been little, I would have given thee yet 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 hast thou set at nought the word of the Lord, to do that which is evil in his eyes? thou hast slain Urias the Chettite with the sword, and thou hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and thou hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
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 shall not depart from thy house for ever, because thou has set me at nought, and thou hast taken the wife of Urias the Chettite, to be thy wife.
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;
Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up against thee evil out of thy house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and will give them to thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12 for you have done [it] in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”
For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and before the sun.
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;
And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, And the Lord has put away thy sin; thou shalt 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.”
Only because thou hast given great occasion of provocation to the enemies of the Lord by this thing, thy son also that is born to thee shall 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;
And Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord smote the child, which the wife of Urias the Chettite bore to David, and it was 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.
And David enquired of God concerning the child, and David fasted, and went in and lay all night upon 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;
And the elders of his house arose [and went] to him to raise him up from the ground, but he would not [rise], nor did he eat bread 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.”
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 hearkened not to our voice; and thou should we tell him that the child is dead?—so would he do [himself] harm.
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.”
And David understood that his servants were whispering, and David perceived that the child was dead: and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, He is dead.
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 rose up from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his raiment, and went into the house of God, and worshipped him; and went into his own house, and called for bread to eat, and they set bread 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.”
And his servants said to him, What [is] this thing that thou hast done concerning the child? while it was yet living thou didst fast, and weep, and watch: and when the child was dead thou didst rise up, and didst eat bread, and drink.
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?
And David said, While the child yet lived, I fasted and wept; for I said, Who knows if the Lord will pity me, and the child 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 it is dead, why should I fast thus? shall I be able to bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall 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,
And David comforted Bersabee his wife, and he went in to her, and lay with her; and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his named Solomon, and the Lord loved him.
25 and sends by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calls his name Jedidiah, because of YHWH.
And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name Jeddedi, for the Lord's sake.
26 And Joab fights against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captures the royal city,
And Joab fought against Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
27 and Joab sends messengers to David and says, “I have fought against Rabbah—I have also captured the city of waters;
And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbath, and taken the city of waters.
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.”
And now gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, an take it beforehand; lest I take the city first, and my name be called upon it.
29 And David gathers all the people, and goes to Rabbah, and fights against it, and captures it;
And David gathered all the people, and went to Rabbath, and fought against it, and took 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;
And he took the crown of Molchom their king from off his head, and the weight of it was a talent of gold, with precious stones, and it was upon the head of David; and he carried forth very much spoil of 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.
And he brought forth the people that were in it, and put them under the saw, and under iron harrows, and axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

< 2 Samuel 12 >