Nathan Rebukes David

12 Then the Lord sent (A)Nathan to David. And (B)he came to him and [a]said,

“There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.
The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds.
But the poor man had nothing at all except (C)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat [b]scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie [c]in his lap,
And was like a daughter to him.
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.”

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 [d](D)deserves to die! So he must make restitution for the lamb (E)four times over, since he did this thing and [e]had no compassion.”

Nathan then said to David, “(F)You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘(G)It is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 12:1 Lit said to him
  2. 2 Samuel 12:3 Lit his piece
  3. 2 Samuel 12:3 Or on his chest
  4. 2 Samuel 12:5 Lit is a son of death
  5. 2 Samuel 12:6 Or showed no consideration

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