Second Book of Samuel 12

¹ Yahweh sent Nathan the prophet to David. He came to him and said: ‘In the same town were two men, one rich, the other poor.

² The rich man had flocks and herds in great abundance;

³ the poor man had nothing but a ewe lamb, one only, a small one he had bought. This he fed, and it grew up with him and his children, eating his bread, drinking from his cup, sleeping on his breast; it was like a daughter to him.

⁴ When there came a traveller to stay, the rich man refused to take one of his own flock or herd to provide for the wayfarer who had come to him. Instead he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.’

⁵ David’s anger flared up against the man. ‘As Yahweh lives,’ he said to Nathan ‘the man who did this deserves to die!

⁶ He must make fourfold restitution for the lamb, for doing such a thing and showing no compassion.’

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man. Yahweh the God of Israel says this, “I anointed you king over Israel; I delivered you from the hands of Saul;

⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, his wives into your arms; I gave you the House of Israel and of Judah; and if this were not enough, I would add as much again for you.

⁹ Why have you shown contempt for Yahweh, doing what displeases him? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, taken his wife for your own, and killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

¹⁰ So now the sword will never be far from your House, since you have shown contempt for me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.”

¹¹ ‘Thus Yahweh speaks, “I will stir up evil for you out of your own House. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

¹² You worked in secret, I will work this in the face of all Israel and in the face of the sun.”‘

¹³ David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against Yahweh’. Then Nathan said to David, ‘Yahweh, for his part, forgives your sin; you are not to die.

¹⁴ Yet because you have outraged Yahweh by doing this, the child that is born to you is to die.’

¹⁵ Then Nathan went home.

¹⁶ David pleaded with Yahweh for the child; he kept a strict fast and went home and spent the night on the bare ground, covered with sacking.

¹⁷ The officials of his household came and stood round him to get him to rise from the ground, but he refused, nor would he take food with them.

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. David’s officers were afraid to tell him the child was dead. ‘Even when the child was alive’ they thought ‘we reasoned with him and he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He will do something desperate.’

¹⁹ David, however, noticed that his officers were whispering among themselves, and realised that the child was dead. ‘Is the child dead?’ he asked the officers. They answered, ‘He is dead’.

²⁰ David got up from the ground, bathed and anointed himself and put on fresh clothes. Then he went into the sanctuary of Yahweh and prostrated himself. On returning to his house he asked for food to be set before him, and ate.

²¹ His officers said, ‘Why are you acting like this? When the child was alive you fasted and wept; now the child is dead you get up and take food.’

²² ‘When the child was alive’ he answered ‘I fasted and wept because I kept thinking, “Who knows? Perhaps Yahweh will take pity on me and the child will live.”

²³ But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him but he cannot come back to me.’

²⁴ David consoled his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and slept with her. She conceived and gave birth to a son whom she named Solomon. Yahweh loved him

²⁵ and made this known through the prophet Nathan who named him Jedidiah in accordance with the word of Yahweh.[*a]

²⁶ Joab attacked Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the water town.

²⁷ He then sent messengers to tell David, ‘I have stormed Rabbah and captured the water town.

²⁸ So now muster the rest of the troops and pitch camp against the town and take it, unless you want me to capture the town and give it my name.’

²⁹ So David mustered the whole army and marched on Rabbah; he stormed the town and captured it.

³⁰ He took the crown from the head of Milcom;[*b] it weighed one talent of gold, and in it was set a precious stone which made an ornament for David’s head. He carried off great quantities of spoil from the town.

³¹ He brought away its population and set them to work with saws, iron picks and iron axes, and employed them in brickmaking. He treated all the Ammonite towns in the same way. Then David and the whole army returned to Jerusalem.