2Sa 12 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then the Lord sent Nathan to David . And he came to him and said , “There were two men in a city , the one wealthy and the other poor .

2 Samuel 12

Nathan Rebukes David

1 Then the Lord sent ^aNathan to David. And ^bhe came to him and ^{▼▼Lit said to him}said,

“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 ^done little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat ^{▼▼Lit his piece}scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie ^{▼▼Or on his chest}in 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.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this certainly ^{▼▼Lit is a son of death
,} ^hdeserves to die! 6 So he must make restitution for the lamb ⁱfour times over, since he did this thing and ^{▼▼Or showed no consideration}had no compassion.”

7 Nathan then said to David, “ ^kYou yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘ ^lIt is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you ^myour master’s house and put your master’s wives ^{▼▼Lit on your lap; or chest}into 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 ^{▼▼Lit like these and like these}many more things like these! 9 Why ^phave you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? ^qYou have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you ^rhave taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now then, ^sthe sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; ^tI will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in ^{▼▼Lit the sight of this sun}broad daylight. 12 Indeed, ^vyou did it secretly, but ^wI will do this thing before all Israel, and ^{▼▼Lit before the sun}in open daylight.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “ ^yI have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has ^zallowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14 However, since by this deed you have ^aashown utter disrespect for the ^{▼▼Lit enemies of the Lord (a euphemistic reference to God); DSS word of the Lord}Lord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house. Loss of a Child

Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s ^{▼▼Lit wife}widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David ^adfasted and went and ^aelay all night on the ground. 17 ^afThe 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. 18 Then 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 ^{▼▼Lit our voice}us. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm?” 19 But 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.” 20 So David got up from the ground, ^ahwashed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and ^aiworshiped. Then he went to his own house, and when he asked, they served him food, and he ate.

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

Solomon Born

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and slept with her; and she gave birth to a son, and ^{▼▼Some mss she
,} ^aphe named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him ^{▼▼I.e., beloved of the Lord}Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.

War Again

26 ^arNow Joab fought against ^asRabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27 Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28 Now 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.” 29 So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. 30 Then ^athe took the crown of ^{▼▼Or Milcom; MT Malcam, prob. a variant spelling of Milcom; cf. Zeph 1:5}their king from his head; and its weight was a ^{▼▼About 75 lb. or 34 kg}talent 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. 31 He also brought out the people who were in it, and ^awput some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made ^{▼▼Lit them}others ^{▼▼Another reading of MT lit pass through}serve at the brick ^{▼▼Lit mold; i.e., for molding bricks}works. And he did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.