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2 Samuel 12
Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Sends Nathan to David

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

“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing except (C)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat his morsel of bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 Now a visitor came to the rich man,
And he [b]was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;
Rather 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 Yahweh lives, surely the man who has done this [c](D)deserves to die. 6 And he must make restitution for the lamb (E)fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”

7 Nathan then said to David, “(F)You are the man! Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(G)It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you (H)your master’s house and your master’s wives into your [d]care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9 Why (I)have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in His sight? (J)You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, (K)have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 So now, (L)the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; (M)I will even take your wives from before your sight and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 Indeed (N)you did it secretly, but (O)I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “(P)I have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has [e](Q)taken away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have (R)given occasion to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme, the son also that is born to you shall surely die.” 15 And Nathan went to his house.

David’s Child Dies

Then Yahweh smote the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore sought God about the boy; and David (S)fasted and went and (T)spent the night lying on the ground. 17 (U)And the elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise 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 the servants of David 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 our voice. How then can we tell him that the child has died? He might do himself harm!” 19 And David saw that his servants were whispering together, so David discerned that the child had died; so David said to his servants, “Has the child died?” And they said, “He has died.” 20 So David arose from the ground, (V)washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of Yahweh and (W)worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and he asked, and they set food before him, and he ate.

21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? [f]While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 Then he said, “While the child was still alive, (X)I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘(Y)Who knows, Yahweh may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ 23 But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? (Z)I will go to him, but (AA)he will not return to me.”

Solomon Is Born

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and [g](AB)he named him Solomon. Now Yahweh loved him 25 and sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him [h]Jedidiah for the sake of Yahweh.

Joab Fights Ammon

26 (AC)Then Joab fought against (AD)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon and captured the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28 So now, gather the rest of the people together and camp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city myself and it be named after me.” 29 So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, fought against it and captured it. 30 Then (AE)he took the crown of [i]their king from his head; and its weight was a [j]talent of gold, and in it [k]was a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in a very great amount. 31 He also brought out the people who were in it and (AF)set them up with saws, sharp iron instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass through the brickkiln. And thus he used to do to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 12:1 Lit said to him
  2. 2 Samuel 12:4 Lit spared
  3. 2 Samuel 12:5 Lit is a son of death
  4. 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit bosom
  5. 2 Samuel 12:13 Lit caused your sin to pass away
  6. 2 Samuel 12:21 Lit On account of
  7. 2 Samuel 12:24 Some mss she
  8. 2 Samuel 12:25 Lit beloved of Yahweh
  9. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or Malcam, cf. Zeph 1:5
  10. 2 Samuel 12:30 A talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
  11. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or were precious stones
Close CEB

2 Samuel 12
Common English Bible

Nathan pronounces God’s judgment

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor. 2 The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing—just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup—even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor.”

5 David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the one who did this is demonic![a] 6 He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over[b] because he did this and because he had no compassion.”

7 “You are that man!” Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from Saul’s power. 8 I gave your master’s house[c] to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house[d] of Israel and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. 9 Why have you despised the Lord’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him. 10 Because of that, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your own house.

11 “This is what the Lord says: I am making trouble come against you from inside your own family. Before your very eyes I will take your wives away and give them to your friend, and he will have sex with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did what you did secretly, but I will do what I am doing before all Israel in the light of day.”

13 “I’ve sinned against the Lord!” David said to Nathan.

“The Lord has removed your sin,” Nathan replied to David. “You won’t die. 14 However, because you have utterly disrespected the Lord[e] by doing this, the son born to you will definitely die.” 15 Then Nathan went home.

Bathsheba’s child dies

The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne for David, and he became very sick. 16 David begged God for the boy. He fasted and spent the night sleeping on the ground. 17 The senior servants of his house approached[f] him to lift him up off the ground, but he refused, and he wouldn’t eat with them either.

18 On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child had died. “David wouldn’t listen to us when we talked to him while the child was still alive,” they said. “How can we tell him the child has died? He’ll do something terrible!”

19 But when David saw his servants whispering, he realized the child had died.

“Is the child dead?” David asked his servants.

“Yes,” they said, “he is dead.”

20 Then David rose from the ground, bathed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He entered the Lord’s house and bowed down. Then he entered his own house. He requested food, which was brought to him, and he ate.

21 “Why are you acting this way?” his servants asked. “When the child was alive, you fasted and cried and kept watch,[g] but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat food!”

22 David replied, “While the child was alive I fasted and wept because I thought, Who knows? The Lord may have mercy on me and let the child live. 23 But he is dead now. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? No. I am going where he is, but he won’t come back to me.”

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had sex with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon.[h] The Lord loved him 25 and sent word by the prophet Nathan to name him Jedidiah[i] because of the Lord’s grace.[j]

Defeat of the Ammonites

26 Meanwhile, Joab fought the Ammonites at Rabbah and captured the royal city. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and captured the city’s water supply.[k] 28 So gather the rest of the troops, attack the city, and capture it. Otherwise, I will capture the city myself, and it will be named after me.”

29 So David gathered all the troops, marched to Rabbah, fought against it, and captured it. 30 David took Milcom’s[l] crown off his head. It weighed one kikkar of gold and was set with a valuable stone. It was placed on David’s head. The amount of loot David took from the city was huge. 31 He brought out the people who were in the city and put them to work making bricks. David demolished the city with saws, iron picks, and axes;[m] he did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 12:5 Or as good as dead; MT a son of death
  2. 2 Samuel 12:6 LXX; MT fourfold (cf Exod 22:1)
  3. 2 Samuel 12:8 Syr daughters
  4. 2 Samuel 12:8 Syr daughters
  5. 2 Samuel 12:14 MT the Lord’s enemies—a euphemism or ancient scribal correction (cf note at 1 Sam 25:22)
  6. 2 Samuel 12:17 LXXL, DSS(4QSama); MT stood over
  7. 2 Samuel 12:21 LXXL, OL; MT lacks kept watch.
  8. 2 Samuel 12:24 Qere; Kethib he (David) named
  9. 2 Samuel 12:25 Jedidiah means Loved by the Lord.
  10. 2 Samuel 12:25 Heb uncertain; some Heb and LXX manuscripts by the Lord’s word
  11. 2 Samuel 12:27 Heb uncertain
  12. 2 Samuel 12:30 LXX; MT their king’s crown
  13. 2 Samuel 12:31 Cf LXXL, OL, Tg, 1 Chron 20:3
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