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1 And the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David; and he went in to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 And the rich man had very many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had only one little ewe lamb, which he had purchased, and preserved, and reared; and it grew up with himself and his children in common; it ate of his bread and drank of his cup, and slept in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter. 4 And a traveller came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his flocks and of his herds, to dress for the traveller that came to him; and he took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that came to him. 5 And David was greatly moved with anger against the man; and David said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man that did this thing *shall surely die. 6 And he shall restore the lamb seven-fold, because he has not spared.
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man that has done this. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee to be king over Israel, and I rescued thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 and I gave thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord into thy bosom, and I gave to thee the house of Israel and Juda; and if that †had been little, I would have given thee yet more. 9 Why hast thou set at nought the word of the Lord, to do that which is evil in his eyes? thou hast slain Urias the Chettite with the sword, and thou hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and thou hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall not depart from thy house for ever, because thou hast set me at nought, and thou hast taken the wife of Urias the Chettite, to be thy wife. 11 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up against thee evil out of thy house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and will give them to thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and before this sun.
13 And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, And the Lord has put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Only because thou hast given great occasion of provocation to the enemies of the Lord by this thing, thy son also ‡that is born to thee shall surely die.
15 And Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord smote the child, which the wife of Urias the Chettite bore to David, and it was ill. 16 And David enquired of God concerning the child, and David fasted, and went in and lay all night upon the ground. 17 And the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the ground, but he would not rise, nor did he eat bread with them.
18 And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died: and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive we spoke to him, and he hearkened not to our voice; and how should we tell him that the child is dead?—so §would he do himself harm. 19 And David understood that his servants were whispering, and David perceived that the child was dead: and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, He is dead. 20 Then David rose up from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his raiment, and went into the house of God, and worshipped him; and went into his own house, and called for bread to eat, and they set bread before him and he ate. 21 And his servants said to him, What is this thing that thou hast done concerning the child? while it was yet living thou didst fast, and weep, and watch: and when the child was dead thou didst rise up, and didst eat bread, and drink. 22 And David said, While the child yet lived, I fasted and wept; for I said, Who knows if the Lord will pity me, and the child live? 23 But now it is dead, why should I fast thus? shall I be able to bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
24 And David comforted Bersabee his wife, and he went in to her, and lay with her; and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Solomon, and the Lord loved him. 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name Jeddedi, for the Lord's sake.
26 And Joab fought against Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbath, and taken the city of waters. 28 And now gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and take it beforehand; lest I take the city first, and my name be called upon it.
29 And David gathered all the people, and went to Rabbath, and fought against it, and took it. 30 And he took the crown of **Molchom their king from off his head, and the weight of it was a talent of gold, with precious stones, and it was upon the head of David; and he carried forth very much spoil of the city. 31 And he brought forth the people that were in it, and put them ††under the saw, and under iron harrows, and axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
* 12:5 Gr. is the son of death. † 12:8 Gr. is little, I will give, etc. ‡ 12:14 Gr. born. § 12:18 Gr. will. ** 12:30 Alex. rightly omits Molchom. 'Their king' in Heb. †† 12:31 Gr. in.