12
1 And Hashem sent Natan unto Dovid. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two anashim in one town; the one an oisher, and the other poor.
2 The oisher had exceeding many tzon and bakar; 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one kivsah ketanah (little ewe* lamb), which he had acquired and nourished; and she grew up together with him,† and with his banim; it did eat of his own bread, and drank of his own kos (cup), and slept in his kheyk (bosom), and was unto him as a bat. 4 And there came a helech (traveler) unto the oisher, and he refused to take of his own tzon and of his own bakar, to prepare for the ore'ach (wayfaring man, traveller, guest) that was come unto him; but took the poor manʼs kivsah (ewe lamb), and prepared her for the ish that was come to him.
5 And af Dovid (Dovidʼs anger) was greatly kindled against the ish; and he said to Natan, As Hashem liveth, the ish that hath done this thing is ben mavet (a son of death, worthy of death); 6 And he shall restore the kivsah fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no khamal (pity).
7 And Natan said to Dovid, Atah haIsh (thou art the Man). Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel: Meshachticha (I anointed thee) Melech over Yisroel, and I delivered thee out of the yad Sha'ul;
8 And I gave thee the bais adoneicha, and the nashim of adoneicha into thy kheyk (bosom), and gave thee Bais Yisroel and Yehudah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such as this and such as that. 9 Why hast thou despised the Davar Hashem, to do the rah in His eyes? Thou hast killed Uriyah the Chitti with the cherev, and hast taken his isha to be thy isha, and hast slain him with the cherev of the Bnei Ammon. 10 Now therefore the cherev shall not depart from thine Bais ad olam; because thou hast despised Me, hast taken the isha Uriyah the Chitti as thy isha. 11 Thus saith Hashem, Hineni, I will raise up ra'ah (adversity) against thee out of thine own Bais, and I will take thy nashim before thine eyes, and give them unto thy re'a, and he shall lie with thy nashim in the sight of this shemesh. 12 For thou didst it baseter (secretly); but I will do this thing before kol Yisroel, and before the shemesh.
13 And Dovid said unto Natan, I have sinned against Hashem. And Natan said unto Dovid, Hashem also hath put away thy chattat; thou shalt not die.
14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the oyevim of Hashem to ni'etz (deride, ridicule, revile, blaspheme), also haben (the son) that is born unto thee shall surely die.
15 And Natan departed unto his bais. And Hashem struck the yeled that Uriyahʼs isha bore unto Dovid, and it was very ill. 16 Dovid therefore pleaded with HaElohim for the na'ar; and Dovid did a tzom, and went in, and lay all night upon ha'aretz.
17 And the zekenim of his Bais arose, and went to him, to raise him up from ha'aretz; but he would not, neither did he eat lechem with them.
18 And it came to pass on the yom hashevi'i, that the yeled died. And the avadim of Dovid feared to tell him that the yeled was dead; for they said, Hinei, while the yeled was yet chai (alive), we spoke unto him, and he would not pay heed unto koleinu (our voice); so if we tell him that the yeled is dead, will he then do something horrendous?
19 But when Dovid saw that his avadim were mitlachashim (whisperers), Dovid perceived that the yeled was dead; therefore Dovid said unto his avadim, Is the yeled dead? And they said, Met (dead, he is dead).
20 Then Dovid arose from ha'aretz, and bathed,‡ and put on lotion, and changed his apparel, and came into the Bais Hashem, and worshiped; then he came to his own Bais; and when he requested, they set lechem before him, and he did eat.
21 Then said his avadim unto him, What davar is this that thou hast done? Thou didst undergo a tzom and weep for the sake of the yeled, while it was alive; but when the yeled was dead, thou didst rise and eat lechem. 22 And he said, While the yeled was yet chai, I underwent a tzom and wept; for I said, Who can tell whether Hashem will be gracious to me, that the yeled may live? 23 But now he is met (dead), why should I undergo a tzom? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
24 And Dovid§ comforted Bat-Sheva his isha, and went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore ben, and he called shmo Sh'lomo; and Hashem loved him. 25 And He sent by the yad Natan HaNavi; and he called shmo Yedidyah (Beloved of Hashem), for the sake of Hashem.
26 And Yoav fought against Rabbah of the Bnei Ammon, and captured ir hameluchah (the royal city). 27 And Yoav sent malachim to Dovid, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the Ir HaMayim.
28 Now therefore gather the rest of HaAm (the army) together, and encamp against the Ir, and capture it; lest I take the Ir, and it be called after my shem.
29 And Dovid gathered kol haAm together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and captured it. 30 And he took their melechʼs ateret from off his rosh, the weight whereof was a talent of zahav with the precious stones; and it was set on Dovidʼs rosh. And he brought forth the plunder of the ir (city) in great abundance. 31 And he brought forth ha'am that were therein, and put them under saws, and under threshing tools of barzel, and under axes of barzel, and made them go through the brickkilns; and thus did he unto all the towns of the Bnei Ammon. So Dovid and kol haAm returned unto Yerushalayim.
* 12:3 female † 12:3 the poor man ‡ 12:20 See 2Sm 11:2 § 12:24 David means Beloved