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.
Yahweh [told the prophet Nathan what David had done, and he] sent Nathan to tell [this story to] David: “[I heard about] two men [who] were living in a certain city. One was rich and the other was poor.
2 The, rich, man had flocks and herds exceeding many;
The rich man owned a lot of cattle and sheep.
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 female lamb, which he had bought. He raised the lamb, and it grew up with his children. He would give the lamb some of his own food and let it drink from his cup. He let the lamb sleep in his arms. The lamb 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.
[One day] a visitor came to [visit] the rich man. The rich man did not want to take one of his own animals [and kill it] to prepare a meal for the visitor. So instead, he stole the poor man’s lamb [and killed it] and prepared a meal for his visitor.”
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;
[When] David [heard that, he] was very angry about [what] the rich man [had done]. He said to Nathan, “I solemnly declare that the man who did that should be executed!
6 and, the lamb, shall he pay back sevenfold, —because he did this thing, and, for that he had no pity.
But before he is executed, he should pay back to the poor man four lambs for doing this, and for not having pity [on the poor man].”
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;
Nathan said to David, “You are the man [I have been talking about]! And this is what Yahweh, the God we Israelis [worship], says to you: ‘I appointed you to be king of Israel, after having rescued you from 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 his palace and his wives. I caused you to become the king to rule Israel and Judah. If [you had told me that] you were not content with what I gave you, I would have given you twice as much!
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!
So why have you despised my commandment [about not committing adultery]? You have done what I consider to be very evil! You have arranged for Uriah to be killed in a battle by the Ammon people-group’s soldiers, and you have taken his wife to be your wife!
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.
You have despised me, and have taken Uriah’s wife to be your wife. So for many generations some of your descendants will die violently. [MTY, PRS]
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.
I solemnly declare to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble to you. I will take your wives and give them to him, and he will have sexual relations with them in the daytime, where everyone can see it, and you will know all about it.
12 For, thou, didst it, in secret, —but, I, will do this thing, before all Israel, and before the sun.
What you did, you did secretly, but what I will cause to happen, everyone in Israel will be able to see it [or know about it]. [IDM]’”
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!
David replied, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” Nathan said to David, “Yahweh has forgiven you for your sin: You will not die [because of this sin].
14 Nevertheless, because thou hast greatly blasphemed Yahweh, by this thing, the very son that is born to thee, shall, die.
But, you have shown contempt for Yahweh by doing this. So, your baby will die.”
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 home. Then Yahweh caused the baby t o become very sick, the one that Uriah’s wife had given birth to.
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 prayed to God that the child [would not die]. He (fasted/abstained from food), and he went into [the room where he slept] and lay all night on the floor.
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.
[The next morning] his advisors stood around him and urged him to get up. But he would not get up, and he would not eat any 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?
One week later the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell that to David. They said [to each other], “Hey, while the baby was still alive, we talked to him, but he would not answer us. Now, if we tell him that the baby is dead [RHQ], he may do something to harm himself!”
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 whispering something to each other, he realized that the baby must be dead. So he asked them, “Is the baby dead?” They replied, “Yes, he is dead.”
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 floor. He bathed himself, put lotions on his body, and put on other clothes, Then he went into Yahweh’s Sacred Tent and worshiped Yahweh. Then he went home. He asked his servants for some food. They gave him some, and he ate it.
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, “We do not understand [RHQ] why you have done this! While the baby was still alive, you cried for him and refused to eat anything. But now that the baby has died, [you are not crying any more!] You got up and ate some food!”
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?
David replied, “While the baby was still alive, I fasted and cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Yahweh may be merciful to me and not allow the baby to die’.
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 the baby is dead. So (there is no reason for me to (fast/abstain from eating food) any more./why should I (fast/abstain from eating food) any more?) [RHQ] (Can I bring him back to me?/I certainly cannot bring him back to me!) [RHQ] [Some day] I will go to where he is, but he will not return 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.
Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba. Then he (slept/had sexual relations) with her, and she [became pregnant again and] gave birth to another son. David named that son Solomon. Yahweh loved that little boy.
25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name Jedidiah ["Beloved of Yah"], for Yahweh’s sake.
He told the prophet Nathan to tell David to name the baby boy Jedediah [which means ‘loved by Yahweh’, ] because Yahweh loved him.
26 And Joab fought against Rabbah, of the sons of Ammon, —and captured the royal city.
(Meanwhile/While all that was happening), Joab’s [soldiers] attacked Rabbah, [the capital city] of the Ammon people-group; and they captured the king’s fortress.
27 Then Joab sent messengers unto David, —and said—I have fought against Rabbah, I have also captured the city of the waters.
Then Joab sent messengers to David, to tell him this: “My troops are attacking Rabbah, and we have captured the city’s water supply.
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.
Now gather your troops and come and surround the city and capture it. If you do not do that, my troops will capture the city and it will then be named ‘the City of Joab’.”
29 So David gathered together all the people, and went to Rabbah, —and fought against it, and captured it.
So David gathered all his troops. They went [with David] to Rabbah and attacked it and captured 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;
Then David took the crown from the head of the king of Rabbah (OR, from the head of [Milcom] the god of Rabbah) and put it on his own head. It [was very heavy; it] weighed (75 pounds/34 kg.), and it had many very valuable stones fastened to it. His soldiers also took many other valuable things from the city.
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.
Then they brought the people of Rabbah out of the city and forced them to [work for them] using saws and iron picks and axes. David’s troops also forced them to make bricks. David’s soldiers did this in all the towns of the Ammon people-group. Then David and all of his army returned to Jerusalem.
