Nathan Rebukes David
And the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and one poor.
The rich man had flocks and herds, very many.
But the poor man had nothing at all except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. And he kept it alive, and it grew up with him and with his sons together; it ate from his morsel, and drank from his cup, and lay in his bosom — and it was like a daughter to him.
And a traveler came to the rich man, and he spared taking from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; and he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
And David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who did this is a son of death!
And he shall repay the ewe lamb fourfold — because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
And Nathan said to David: “You are the man. Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I myself anointed you as king over Israel, and I myself delivered you from the hand of Saul.
And I gave you the house of your lord, and the wives of your lord into your bosom, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that were too little, I would have added to you as much again, and as much again.
Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do the evil in my eyes? Uriah the Hittite you struck down with the sword, and his wife you took for yourself as a wife — and him you killed with the sword of the sons of Ammon.
Now then, the sword shall not depart from your house forever — because you despised me, and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
Thus says the LORD: Look — I am raising up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
For you acted in secret; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”
David’s Loss and Repentance
And David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
Only, because by this thing you have utterly scorned the enemies of the LORD, the son born to you shall surely die.”
And Nathan went to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and it became sick.
And David sought God for the boy; and David fasted a fast, and went in and spent the night lying on the ground.
And the elders of his house stood over him, to raise him up from the ground; but he was not willing, and he would not eat bread with them.
And it was 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: “Look — while the child was alive we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice. How can we say to him, ‘The child is dead’? He may do harm.”
And David saw that his servants were whispering, and David understood that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”
And David rose from the ground, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his garments; and he came into the house of the LORD and prostrated himself. And he came to his own house, and asked, and they set bread before him, and he ate.
And his servants said to him, “What is this thing you have done? For the sake of the living child you fasted and wept; and when the child died, you rose and ate bread.”
And he said: “While the child was still alive I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’
But now he is dead — why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back again? I am going to him, but he will not return to me.”
Solomon’s Birth
And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and came to her and lay with her; and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him,
and he sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah, for the LORD’s sake.
The Capture of Rabbah
And Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and he captured the royal city.
And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; I have also captured the city of waters.
Now then, gather the rest of the people, and camp against the city and capture it — lest I capture the city myself, and my name be called over it.”
And David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and fought against it and captured it.
And he took the crown of their king from his head — its weight was a talent of gold, with a precious stone — and it was set on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, very much.
And the people who were in it he brought out, and set them to the saws, and to the iron picks, and to the iron axes, and made them pass over to the brickwork; and so he did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.