< 2 Samuel 12 >

1 And Jehovah sendeth Nathan unto David, and he cometh unto him, and saith to him: 'Two men have been in one city; One rich and one poor;
The Lord sent Nathan to see David. When he got there, he said, “Once there were two men living in the same town. One was rich, and one was poor.
2 The rich hath flocks and herds very many;
The rich man had many thousands of sheep and cattle,
3 And the poor one hath nothing, Except one little ewe-lamb, Which he hath bought, and keepeth alive, And it groweth up with him, And with his sons together; Of his morsel it eateth, And from his cup it drinketh, And in his bosom it lieth, And it is to him as a daughter;
but the poor man didn't have anything but one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He cared for it, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his plate and drank from his cup. It slept on his lap and was like a daughter to him.
4 And there cometh a traveller to the rich man, And he spareth to take Of his own flock, and of his own herd, To prepare for the traveller Who hath come to him, And he taketh the ewe-lamb of the poor man, And prepareth it for the man Who hath come unto him.'
One day the rich man had a visitor. He didn't want to take one of his own sheep or cattle to feed his visitor. He took the poor man's lamb instead to prepare a meal for his visitor.”
5 And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, 'Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death [is] the man who is doing this,
David became absolutely furious with what that man did, and angrily told Nathan. “As the Lord lives, the man who did this should be put to death!
6 and the ewe-lamb he doth repay fourfold, because that he hath done this thing, and because that he had no pity.'
He must repay that lamb with four of his own for doing this, for being so heartless.”
7 And Nathan saith unto David, 'Thou [art] the man! Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I anointed thee for king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
“You are that man!” Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel, and I saved you from Saul.
8 and I give to thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord, into thy bosom, and I give to thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if little, then I add to thee such and such [things].
I gave your master's house to you and placed your master's wives in your lap. I gave you the kingdom of Israel and Judah, and if that hadn't been enough, I would have given you so much more.
9 'Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do the evil thing in His eyes? Uriah the Hittite thou hast smitten by the sword, and his wife thou hast taken to thee for a wife, and him thou hast slain by the sword of the Bene-Ammon.
So why have you treated what Lord said with contempt by doing evil in his sight? You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword and stole his wife—you killed him using the sword of the Ammonites.
10 'And now, the sword doth not turn aside from thy house unto the age, because thou hast despised Me, and dost take the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be to thee for a wife;
So your descendants will always face the sword that kills because you treated me with contempt and stole Uriah's wife.
11 thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am raising up against thee evil, out of thy house, and have taken thy wives before thine eyes, and given to thy neighbour, and he hath lain with thy wives before the eyes of this sun;
This is what the Lord says: I'm going to bring disaster in you from your own family. I will take your wives before your very eyes and give them to someone else, and he will sleep openly with your wives where everyone can see.
12 for thou hast done [it] in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'
You did it all in secret, but I will do it openly where everyone in all of Israel can see.”
13 And David saith unto Nathan, 'I have sinned against Jehovah.' And Nathan saith unto David, 'Also — Jehovah hath caused thy sin to pass away; thou dost not die;
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” “The Lord has forgiven your sins. You're not going to die,” Nathan replied.
14 only, because thou hast caused the enemies of Jehovah greatly to despise by this thing, also the son who is born to thee doth surely die.'
“But because by doing this you have treated the Lord with complete contempt, the son you have will die.”
15 And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable;
Then Nathan went home. The Lord made the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David become very sick.
16 and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth.
David pleaded with God on behalf of the boy. He fasted, went to his bedroom, and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.
17 And the elders of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he hath not been willing, nor hath he eaten with them bread;
His senior officials approached him and tried to help him up from the ground, but he didn't want to, and he refused their appeals to eat.
18 and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the lad dieth, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the lad is dead, for they said, 'Lo, in the lad being alive we spake unto him, and he did not hearken to our voice; and how do we say unto him, The lad is dead? — then he hath done evil.'
On the seventh day the child died. But David's officials were scared to tell him that the child was dead, for they said to each other, “Look, while the child was still alive, we talked with him, and he refused to listen to us. How on earth can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something really bad!”
19 And David seeth that his servants are whispering, and David understandeth that the lad is dead, and David saith unto his servants, 'Is the lad dead?' and they say, 'Dead.'
But David saw his officials were whispering among themselves, he realized that the child was dead. So he asked his officials, “Did the child die?” “Yes, he died,” they replied.
20 And David riseth from the earth, and doth bathe and anoint [himself], and changeth his raiment, and cometh in to the house of Jehovah, and boweth himself, and cometh unto his house, and asketh and they place for him bread, and he eateth.
David got up from the ground, washed and put on scented oils, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Afterwards he went back home, and asked for some food. So they served him a meal which he ate.
21 And his servants say unto him, 'What [is] this thing thou hast done? because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.'
“Why are you acting like this?” his officials asked him. “While the child was still alive, you fasted and cried aloud, but now that he's dead, you get up and eat.”
22 And he saith, 'While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth? — Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived;
David replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and cried aloud, for I thought to myself, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will be gracious to me and let him live.’
23 and now, he hath died, why [is] this — I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'
But now that he's dead, what's the point for me to go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? One day I will die and go to him, but he will never come back to me.”
24 And David comforteth Bath-Sheba his wife, and goeth in unto her, and lieth with her, and she beareth a son, and he calleth his name Solomon; and Jehovah hath loved him,
David consoled his wife Bathsheba, and he made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child,
25 and sendeth by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calleth his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah.
so he sent a message through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him.
26 And Joab fighteth against Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and captureth the royal city,
At this time Joab had been fighting against the Ammonite town of Rabbah, and had captured the royal fortress.
27 and Joab sendeth messengers unto David, and saith, 'I have fought against Rabbah — also I have captured the city of waters;
Joab sent messengers to David to tell him, “I have attacked Rabbah and I have also captured its water supply.
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 hath been called upon it.'
So please call up the rest of the army, besiege the town, and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city, and I will get the credit.”
29 And David gathereth all the people, and goeth to Rabbah, and fighteth against it, and captureth it;
So David called up the rest of the army and marched on Rabbah. He attacked it and captured it.
30 and he taketh 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 the spoil of the city he hath brought out, very much;
He took the crown from the head of their king, and it was placed on David's head. It weighed a talent of gold and was decorated with precious stones. David took a large amount of plunder from the town.
31 and the people who [are] in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron, and hath caused them to pass over into the brick-kiln; and so he doth to all the cities of the Bene-Ammon; and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.
David took the inhabitants and forced them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he also made them work making bricks. He did the same in all the Ammonite towns. Then David and the whole Israelite army returned to Jerusalem.

< 2 Samuel 12 >