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 to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich has very many flocks and herds,
The rich [man] had very numerous 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 nothing save one little ewe-lamb, which he had bought and nourished: and it grew up together with him, and with his children: it fed of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay 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 there came a traveler to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the way-faring man that had come to him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come 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's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, [As] the LORD liveth, the man that hath done 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 four-fold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
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. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee 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.
And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [that had been] too little, I would moreover have given to thee such and such things.
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 despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife [to be] thy wife, and 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 never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite 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 saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes, and give [them] to thy neighbor, 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 before 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, The LORD also hath 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.”
But, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child 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 struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it was very sick.
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 therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
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 from the earth: but he would not, neither 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 feared 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 will he then be grieved, if we tell him that the child is dead?
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.”
But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore 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 arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed [himself], and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, 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.”
Then said his servants to him, What thing [is] this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, [while it was] alive; but after the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
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 he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted, and wept: for I said, Who can tell [whether] God will be gracious to me, that the child may 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 he is dead, Why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall 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,
And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name 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 he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.
26 And Joab fights against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captures the royal city,
And Joab fought against Rabbah 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 Rabbah, and have 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.”
Now therefore collect the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.
29 And David gathers all the people, and goes to Rabbah, and fights against it, and captures it;
And David collected all the people, and went to Rabbah, 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 their king's crown from off his head, the weight of which [was] a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was [set] on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.
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 saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
