CHAPTER 12
Then the LORD
sent
Nathan
to
David,
and when he arrived,
he said,
“There were
two
men
in a certain
city,
one
rich
and the other
poor.
but the poor
man had nothing
except
one
small
ewe lamb
that
he had bought.
He raised it,
and it grew up
with him
and his children.
It shared
his food
and drank
from his cup;
it slept
in his arms
and was
like a daughter
to him.
Now a traveler
came
to the rich
man,
who refrained from taking
one of his own sheep
or cattle
to prepare
for the traveler
who had come
to him.
Instead, he took
the poor
man’s
lamb
and prepared it
for his guest.”
David
burned
with anger
against the man
and said
to
Nathan:
“As surely as the LORD
lives,
the man
who did
this
deserves to die!
Then Nathan
said
to
David,
“You
are that man!
This is what
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
says:
‘I
anointed
you king
over
Israel,
and I
delivered you
from the hand
of Saul.
I gave
your master’s
house to you
and your master’s
wives
into your arms.
I gave
you
the house
of Israel
and Judah,
and if
that was not enough,
I would have given
you
even more.
Why
then have you despised
the command
of the LORD
by doing
evil
in His sight?
You struck down
Uriah
the Hittite
with the sword
and took
his wife
as your own,
for you have slain him
with the sword
of the Ammonites.
Now, therefore,
the sword
will never
depart
from your house,
because
you have despised Me
and have taken
the wife
of Uriah
the Hittite
to be
your own.’
This is what
the LORD
says:
‘I will raise up
adversity
against you
from your own house.
Before your very eyes
I will take
your wives
and give
them to another,
and he will lie
with them
in broad daylight.
Then David
said
to
Nathan,
“I have sinned
against the LORD.”
“The LORD
has taken away
your sin,”
Nathan
replied.
“You will not
die.
Nevertheless,
because
by
this deed
you have treated
the LORD
with utter contempt,
the son
born
to you
will surely
die.”
After Nathan
had gone
home,
the LORD
struck
the child
that
Uriah’s
wife
had borne
to David,
and he became ill.
David
pleaded
with God
for
the boy.
He
fasted
and went into his house
and spent the night
lying in sackcloth
on the ground.
The elders
of his household
stood
beside him
to help him up
from
the ground,
but he was unwilling
and would not
eat
anything with them.
On the seventh
day
the child
died.
But David’s
servants
were afraid
to tell
him
that
the child
was dead,
for
they said,
“Look,
while the child
was
alive,
we spoke
to him,
and he would not
listen to us.
So how
can we tell
him
the child
is dead?
He may even harm himself."
When David
saw
that
his servants
were whispering to each other,
he
perceived
that
the child
was dead.
So he
asked
his servants,
“Is the child
dead?”
“He is dead,”
they replied.
Then David
got up
from the ground,
washed
and anointed himself,
changed
his clothes,
and went into
the house
of the LORD
and worshiped.
Then he went
to
his own house,
and at his request
they set
food
before him,
and he ate.
“What is
this
you have done?”
his servants
asked.
“While
the child
was alive,
you fasted
and wept,
but when
he
died,
you got up
and ate.”
David answered,
“While
the child
was alive,
I fasted
and wept,
for
I said,
‘Who
knows?
The LORD
may be gracious
to me
and let him live.’
But now
that he is dead,
why
should I
fast?
Can
I bring him back
again?
I will
go
to him,
but he
will not
return
to me.”
Then David
comforted
his wife
Bathsheba,
and he went
to her
and lay
with her.
So she gave birth to
a son,
and they named him
Solomon.
Now the LORD
loved the child
Then Joab
sent
messengers
to
David
to say,
“I have fought
against Rabbah
and have also
captured
the water supply.
Now, therefore,
assemble
the rest
of the troops,
lay siege
to
the city,
and capture it.
Otherwise
I
will capture
the city,
and it will be named
after me.”
Then he took
the crown
from
the head
of their king.
It weighed
a talent
of gold
and was set with precious
stones,
and it was
placed on
David’s
head.
And David took
a great amount
of plunder
from the city.
David brought out
the people
who were
there
and put them to work
with saws,
iron
picks,
and axes,
and he made them work
at the brick kilns.
He did
the same
to all
the Ammonite
cities.
Then David
and all
his troops
returned
to Jerusalem.