12 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came and said to him, There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds,
3 But the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb which he had bought and brought up, and it grew up with him and his children. It ate of his own morsel, drank from his own cup, lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him.
4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, and to avoid taking one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.
5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is a son [worthy] of death.
6 He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no pity.
7 Then Nathan said to David, You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king of Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
8 And I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added that much again.
9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, doing evil in His sight? You have slain Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife. You have murdered him with the sword of the Ammonites.(A)
10 Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because [you have not only despised My command, but] you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
11 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your [a]own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. [Fulfilled in II Sam. 16:21, 22.]
13 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.(B)
14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord and given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born to you shall surely die.
15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, and he was very sick.
16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted and went in and lay all night [repeatedly] on the floor.
17 His older house servants arose [in the night] and went to him to raise him up from the floor, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
18 And on the seventh day the child died. David’s servants feared to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, While the child was yet alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voices; will he then harm himself if we tell him the child is dead?
19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, he perceived that the child was dead. So he said to them, Is the child dead? And they said, He is.
20 Then David arose from the floor, washed, anointed himself, changed his apparel, and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.
21 Then his servants said to him, What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept while the child was alive, but when the child was dead, you arose and ate food.
22 David said, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live?
23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.
24 David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went to her and lay with her; and she bore a son, and she called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved [the child];
25 He sent [a message] by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and [Nathan] called the boy’s [special] name Jedidiah [beloved of the Lord], because the Lord [loved the child].
26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city.
27 And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.
28 Now therefore assemble the rest of the men, encamp against the city, and take it, lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.
29 So David gathered all the men, went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it.
30 And he took the crown of their king [of Malcham] from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth exceedingly much spoil from the city.
31 And he brought forth the people who were there, and put them to [work with] saws and iron threshing sledges and axes, and made them labor at the brickkiln. And he did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then [he] and all the men returned to Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 12:11 This sentence was fulfilled in the agony brought on David by his lawless children: Amnon’s scandalous behavior with his half sister Tamar (13:14) and his consequent murder by his brother Absalom (13:28, 29); Absalom’s escape to a foreign land (13:38) and his return after three years; Absalom without recognition by David for two more years (14:28); Absalom’s deliberate, rebellious attempt to win the hearts of the people and supplant his father (15:6); David’s flight from Jerusalem, with the mass of the people against him (15:14), the terrible battle in the forest of Ephraim, won by David’s forces, with Absalom killed in flight (18:6ff.). David’s agony of heart is echoed repeatedly in the history of these tragedies II Sam. 13:1-19:8 and in some of his psalms. Even when the great king was dying, his son Adonijah was attempting to usurp the throne, and was later executed as a traitor (II Kings 1:5; 2:25).