2 Samuel 12
1 Therfor the Lord sente Nathan to Dauid; and whanne he hadde come to Dauid, he seide to Dauid, Answere thou doom to me; twei men weren in o citee; o man was riche, and the tother was pore.
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 riche man hadde ful many scheep, and oxun;
The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds;
3 sotheli the pore man hadde vttirli no thing, outakun o litil scheep, which he hadde bouyt, and nurschid, and which `hadde wexid at hym with hise sones, and eet togidere of his breed, and drank of his cuppe, and slepte in his bosum; and it was as a douyter to hym.
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 Forsothe whanne a pilgrym `hadde come to the riche man, he sparide to take of hise scheep and oxun, that he schulde make a feeste to that pilgrym, that cam to hym; and he took the scheep of the pore man, and `made redi metis to the man that cam to hym.
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 Forsothe Dauid was ful wrooth with indignacioun ayens that man, and seide to Nathan, The Lord lyueth, for the man that dide this is the sone of deeth;
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 he schal yelde the scheep in to foure folde, for he dide this word, and sparide not.
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 Forsothe Nathan seide to Dauid, Thou art thilke man, that hast do this thing. The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, Y anoyntide thee `in to kyng on Israel, and Y delyuerede thee fro the hond 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 Y yaf to thee the hows of thi lord, and the wyues of thi lord in thi bosum, and Y yaf to thee the hows of Israel, and of Juda; and if these thingis ben litil, Y schal adde to thee myche grettere thingis.
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 Whi therfor hast thou dispisid the word of the Lord, that thou didist yuels in my siyt? Thou hast smyte by swerd Vrye Ethei, and thou hast take his wijf in to wijf to thee, and thou hast slayn hym with the swerd of the sones of Amon.
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 Wherfor swerd schal not go awey fro thin hows til in to with outen ende; for thou dispysidist me, and tokist the wijf of Vrye Ethei, that sche schulde be thi wijf.
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 Therfor the Lord seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal reise on thee yuel of thin hows, and Y schal take thi wyues in `thin iyen, and Y schal yyue to thi neiybore, and he schal slepe with thi wyues in the iyen of this sunne, `that is, opynli bifor alle men, as in xv. chapitre.
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 hast do priueli; forsothe Y schal do this word in the siyt of al Israel, and in the siyt of this sunne.
You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun.
13 And Dauid seide to Nathan, Y haue synned to the Lord. And Nathan seide to Dauid, Also the Lord hath turned awei thi synne; thou schalt 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 Netheles for thou madist enemyes to blasfeme the name of the Lord, for this word the child which is borun to thee schal die bi deeth.
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 turnede ayen in to his hows. And the Lord smoot the litil child, whom the wijf of Vrye childide to Dauid, and he dispeiride.
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 And Dauid preiede the Lord for the litil child; and Dauid fastide bi fastyng, and entride asidis half, and lai on the erthe.
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 Sotheli the eldere men of his hows camen, and constreyneden hym `bi meke preieris, that he schulde rise fro the erthe; and he nolde, nethir he eet mete with hem.
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 Forsothe it bifelde in the seuenthe dai, that the yong child diede; and the seruauntis of Dauid dredde to telle to hym, that the litil child was deed; for thei seiden, Lo! whanne the litil child lyuede yit, we spaken to hym, and he herde not oure vois; hou myche more, if we seien the child is deed, he schal turment himsilf?
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 Therfore whanne Dauid hadde herd his seruauntis spekynge priueli, `ether moterynge, he understood that the yong child was deed; `and he seyde to his seruauntis, Whether the child is deed? Whiche answeriden to hym, He is deed.
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 Therfor Dauid roos fro the erthe, and was waischid, and anoyntid; and whanne he hadde chaungid cloth, he entride in to the hows of the Lord, and worschipide, and cam in to his hows; and he axide, that thei schulden sette breed to hym, and he eet.
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 Sothely his seruauntis seiden to hym, What is the word which thou hast do? Thou fastidist, and weptist for the yong child, whanne he lyuede yit; sotheli whanne the child was deed, thou risidist and etist breed?
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 Dauid seide, Y fastide and wepte for the yong child, whanne he lyuyde yit; for Y seide, Who woot, if perauenture the Lord yyue hym to me, and the yong child lyue?
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 `Now forsothe for he is deed, whi `fast Y? whether Y schal mow ayen clepe hym more? Y schal `go more to hym, but he schal not turne ayen to 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 Dauid coumfortid Bersabee, his wijf; and he entride to hir, and slepte with hir. And sche gendride a sone, and Dauid clepide his name Salomon; and the Lord louyde hym.
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 sente Salomon in the hond of Nathan, the prophete; and he clepide his name Amyable to the Lord, for the Lord louyde hym.
And he sent word by Nathan the prophet, who gave him the name Jedidiah, by the word of the Lord.
26 Therfor Joab fauyt ayens Rabath, of the sones of Amon, and he fauyt ayens the `kyngis citee.
Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town.
27 And Joab sente messangeris to Dauid, and seide, Y fauyte ayens Rabath, and the citee of watris schal be takun.
And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.
28 Now therfor gadere thou the tother part of the puple, and bisege thou the citee, and take thou it, lest whanne the citee is wastid of me, the victorie be arettid to 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 Therfor Dauid gaderide al the puple, and he yede forth ayens Rabath; and whanne he hadde fouyte, he took it.
Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it.
30 And he took the diademe of the kyng of hem fro his heed, bi weiyte a talent of gold, hauynge preciouseste peerlis; and it was put on the heed of Dauid, `that is, aftir that it was weldid and purgid bi fier; but also Dauid bar awey ful myche prey of the citee.
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 Also he ledde forth the puple therof, and sawide, and `dide aboute hem `yrun instrumentis of turment, and departide with knyues, and `ledde ouer bi the licnesse of tijl stoonus; so he dide to alle the citees of the sones of Amon. And Dauid turnede ayen, and al his oost, in to 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.
