12
1 And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto him and said to him, Two men were once in one city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had flocks and herds, in great abundance. 3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe, which he had bought; and he nourished it, and it grew up with him and with his children together; of his bread it used to eat, and out of his cup it used to drink, and in his bosom it used to lie, and it was to him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveler unto the rich man; and he felt compunction to take from his own flocks and from his own herds to dress for the wayfarer that was come to him; but he took the ewe of the poor man, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And the anger of David was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, surely the man that hath done this deserveth to die; 6 And the ewe he shall pay fourfold, for punishment that he hath done this thing, and because he had no compassion. 7 Then said Nathan to David, Thou art the man! Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, It is I who anointed thee as king over Israel, and it is I who delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave unto thee the house of thy master, and [put] the wives of thy master into thy bosom, and gave unto thee the house of Israel and Judah: and if this be too little, I could bestow on thee yet many more like these things. 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his eyes? Uriyah the Hittite hast thou smitten with the sword, and his wife hast thou taken unto thee for wife; but him hast thou slain with the sword of the children of 'Ammon. 10 And now, the sword shall not depart from thy house for ever; for the reason that thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriyah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will raise up against thee evil out of thy own house, and I will take away thy wives before thy eyes, and I will give them unto thy neighbor; and he shall lie with thy wives before the face of this sun. 12 For thou hast done it in secret; but I will surely do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13 Then said David unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, Also the Lord hath caused thy sin to pass away: thou shalt not die. 14 Nevertheless, because thou hast given great cause to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme through this thing, the child also that hath been born unto thee shall surely die. 15 And Nathan went to his house; and the Lord struck the child that Uriyah's wife had born unto David, that it became very sick. 16 And David besought God in behalf of the lad; and David kept a fast, and came home, and lay over night upon the earth. 17 And the elders of the house arose about him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, and he did not partake of any 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 would not hearken to our voice: how then shall we say to him, The child is dead! he might do [himself] a hurt. 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, David understood that the child was dead; wherefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, he is dead. 20 David then rose up from the earth, and washed and anointed himself, and changed his garments, and went into the house of the Lord and prostrated himself; and then he came to his own house, and asked that they should set food before him, and he ate. 21 And his servants then said unto him, What is this thing which thou hast done? On account of the child when living thou didst fast and weep; but as soon as the child was dead thou didst arise and eat bread! 22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; because I said, Who knoweth, but that the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast then? can I restore him again? I am going to him; but he will not return to me. 24 And David comforted Bath-sheba' his wife, and he went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore a son, and called his name Solomon; and the Lord loved him. 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name, Yedideyah in behalf of the Lord. 26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of 'Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David; and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have also captured the water-town. 28 And now gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and capture it: lest I capture the city myself, and it be called by my name. 29 And David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and captured it. 30 And he took the crown of Malkam from off his head, and its weight was a talent of gold, and [on it was] a precious stone, and it was set on the head of David; and the booty of the city he brought out in great abundance. 31 And the people that were therein he brought forward, and put them under saws, and under iron threshing-wagons, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through brick-kilns; and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of 'Ammon: and David returned with them with all the people unto Jerusalem.