2 Samuel 12
12
Nathan Rebukes David
1Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and #12:1 Lit said to himsaid,
“There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.
2“The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds.
3“But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat #12:3 Lit his piecescraps from him and drink from his cup and lie #12:3 Or on his chestin his lap,
And was like a daughter to him.
4“Now 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 #12:5 Lit is a son of deathdeserves to die! 6So he must make restitution for the lamb four times over, since he did this thing and #12:6 Or showed no considerationhad no compassion.”
7Nathan then said to David, “You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘It 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 your master’s house and put your master’s wives #12:8 Lit on your lap; or chestinto 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 #12:8 Lit like these and like thesemany more things like these! 9Why have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10Now then, the 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; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in #12:11 Lit the sight of this sunbroad daylight. 12Indeed, you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and #12:12 Lit before the sunin open daylight.’ ” 13Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14However, since by this deed you have shown utter disrespect for the #12:14 Lit enemies of the Lord (a euphemistic reference to God); DSS word of the LordLord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.” 15Then Nathan went to his house.
Loss of a Child
Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s #12:15 Lit wifewidow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground. 17The 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 #12:18 Lit our voiceus. 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, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. 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 #12:21 Some ancient versions still alivealive; but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” 22And 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.’ 23But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I am going to him, but he 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 #12:24 Some mss shehe named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him #12:25 I.e., beloved of the LordJedidiah for the Lord’s sake.
War Again
26Now Joab fought against Rabbah 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 he took the crown of #12:30 Or Milcom; MT Malcam, prob. a variant spelling of Milcom; cf. Zeph 1:5their king from his head; and its weight was a #12:30 About 75 lb. or 34 kgtalent 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 put some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made #12:31 Lit themothers #12:31 Another reading of MT lit pass throughserve at the brick #12:31 Lit mold; i.e., for molding bricksworks. And he did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
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2 Samuel 12: NASB2020
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