2 Samuel 12
1 So then Yahweh sent Nathan the prophet unto David, —who therefore came unto him and said to him—Two men, there were in a certain city, the one, rich, and, the other, poor.
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.
2 The, rich, man had flocks and herds exceeding many;
The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds;
3 whereas the, poor, man had, nothing, —save one little lamb, which he had made his own, and sustained, and it had grown up with him and with his children, all together, —of his own morsel, used it to eat, and, out of his own cup, used it to drink, and, in his own bosom, used it to lie, and it was to him, as a daughter.
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.
4 Now there came a traveller to the rich man, but he thought it a pity to take of his own flock, or his own herd, to make ready for the wayfarer who had come to him, —so he took the lamb of his poor neighbour, and made ready for the man who had come to him.
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.
5 Then was kindled the anger of David against the man, fiercely, —and he said unto Nathan, By the life of Yahweh, doomed to death, is the man that hath done this;
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:
6 and, the lamb, shall he pay back sevenfold, —because he did this thing, and, for that he had no pity.
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.
7 Then said Nathan unto David: Thou, art the man! Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel—I, anointed thee to be king over Israel, and, I, delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
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;
8 and gave unto thee the household of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord, into thy bosom, and gave unto thee the house of Israel and Judah. And, if this had been too little, I could have further given thee more and more of such things.
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.
9 Wherefore, hast thou despised the word of Yahweh, by doing that which is wicked in mine eyes? Uriah the Hittite, hast thou smitten with the sword, and, his wife, hast thou taken to thyself to wife, yea, him, hast thou slain with the sword of the sons of Ammon!
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.
10 Now, therefore, the sword shall not depart from thy house, unto age-abiding times, —because thou hast despised me, and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
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.
11 Thus, saith Yahweh, —Behold me! raising up over thee calamity out of thine own household, and I will take thy wives, before thine eyes, and give unto thy neighbour, and he will lie with thy wives, in the eyes of this sun.
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.
12 For, thou, didst it, in secret, —but, I, will do this thing, before all Israel, and before the sun.
You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun.
13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against Yahweh. Then said Nathan unto David, —Yahweh also, hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die!
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.
14 Nevertheless, because thou hast greatly blasphemed Yahweh, by this thing, the very son that is born to thee, shall, die.
But still, because you have had no respect for the Lord, death will certainly overtake the child who has newly come to birth.
15 And Nathan departed unto his own house, —and Yahweh struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne unto David, and it fell sick.
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.
16 David therefore earnestly sought God in behalf of the boy, —and David kept a fast, and used to go in and pass the night, and lie upon the ground.
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.
17 And the elders of his house stood up over him, to raise him from the ground, —but he would not, neither would he eat food with them.
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.
18 And it came to pass, on the seventh day, that the child died, —but the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead, for said they—Lo! while the child was living, we spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice, how then can we say unto him, The child is dead, and so he do [himself] harm?
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?
19 But, when David saw that his servants were whispering among themselves, then understood David that the child was dead, —and David said unto his servants—Is the child, dead? And they answered—Dead!
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.
20 Then David arose from the ground, and bathed and anointed, and changed his apparel, and, entering into the house of Yahweh, bowed himself down, —then came he into his own house, and asked, and they set before him food, and he did eat.
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.
21 Then said his servants unto him, What is this thing that thou hast done? For the child’s sake, while living, thou didst fast and weep, but, as soon as the child was dead, thou didst arise and eat food.
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.
22 And he said, —While yet the child lived, I fasted, and wept, —for I said—Who knoweth whether Yahweh may not grant me favour, and the child live?
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?
23 But, now, that he is dead, wherefore should I go on fasting? can I bring him back again? I am going unto him, but, he, will not come back unto me.
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.
24 And David consoled Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her, —and she bare a son, and called his name, Solomon, and Yahweh loved him.
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.
25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name Jedidiah ["Beloved of Yah"], for Yahweh’s sake.
And he sent word by Nathan the prophet, who gave him the name Jedidiah, by the word of the Lord.
26 And Joab fought against Rabbah, of the sons of Ammon, —and captured the royal city.
Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town.
27 Then Joab sent messengers unto David, —and said—I have fought against Rabbah, I have also captured the city of the waters.
And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.
28 Now, therefore, gather thou together the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and capture it, —lest, I, capture the city, and it be called by my name.
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.
29 So David gathered together all the people, and went to Rabbah, —and fought against it, and captured it.
Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it.
30 Then took he the crown of Milcom from off his head, the weight thereof, being a talent of gold, with the precious stones, and it remained on the head of David, —the spoil of the city also, brought he forth in great abundance;
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.
31 the people also that were therein, brought he forth, and put them to the saw, and to threshing sledges of iron, and to axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln, and thus used he to do unto all the cities of the sons of Ammon. And David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
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.
