2 Samuel 12

Nathan Rebukes David

1Then the Lord sent 1Nathan to David. And 2he came to him and 3said, “There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.2The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds.3But the poor man had nothing at all except 4one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nurtured; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat 5scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie 6in his lap, And was like a daughter to him.4Now a visitor came to the wealthy man, And he could not bring himself to take any animal from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the traveler who had come to him; So he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this certainly 78deserves to die! 6So he must make restitution for the lamb 9four times over, since he did this thing and 10had no compassion.”

7Nathan then said to David, “11You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘12It is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8I also gave you 13your master’s house and put your master’s wives 14into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you 15many more things like these! 9Why 16have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? 17You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you 18have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10Now then, 19the sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; 20I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in 21broad daylight. 12Indeed, 22you did it secretly, but 23I will do this thing before all Israel, and 24in open daylight.’” 13Then David said to Nathan, “25I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has 26allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14However, since by this deed you have 27shown utter disrespect for the 28Lord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.”

Loss of a Child

15Then Nathan went to his house.

Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s 29widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David 30fasted and went and 31lay all night on the ground. 1732The elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. 18Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to 33us. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm?” 19But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20So David got up from the ground, 34washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and 35worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and when he asked, they served him food, and he ate.

21Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was 36alive; but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” 22And he said, “While the child was still alive, 37I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘38Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ 23But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? 39I am going to him, but 40he will not return to me.”

Solomon Born

24Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and slept with her; and she gave birth to a son, and 4142he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him 43Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.

War Again

2644Now Joab fought against 45Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28Now then, gather the rest of the people and camp opposite the city and capture it, or I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” 29So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. 30Then 46he took the crown of 47their king from his head; and its weight was a 48talent of gold, and it had a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the plunder of the city in great amounts. 31He also brought out the people who were in it, and 49put some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made 50others 51serve at the brick 52works. And he did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.