| 1 And Jehovah sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said
unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds; 3 but the poor man
had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up:
and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his
own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him
as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he
spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the
wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man's lamb, and
dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And David's anger was
greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth,
the man that hath done this is worthy to die: 6 and he shall restore the
lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith Jehovah, the God
of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the
hand of Saul; 8 and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives
into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that
had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is
evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and
hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the
children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy
house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the
Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will raise up
evil against thee out of thine own house; and I will take thy wives before
thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives
in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do
this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13 And David said unto
Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said unto David, Jehovah
also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by
this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to
blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. 15 And
Nathan departed unto his house.
And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was
very sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David
fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 17 And the elders
of his house arose, and stood beside him, to raise him up from the
earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. 18 And it
came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of
David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold,
while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto
our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is
dead! 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together,
David perceived that the child was dead; and David said unto his servants, Is
the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 20 Then David arose from the
earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came
into the house of Jehovah, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and
when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said
his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst
fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead,
thou didst rise and eat bread. 22 And he said, While the child was yet
alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who knoweth whether Jehovah will not be
gracious to me, that the child may live? 23 But now he is dead, wherefore
should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not
return to me.
24 And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay
with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. And Jehovah
loved him; 25 and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called
his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake.
26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the
royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought
against Rabbah; yea, I have taken the city of waters. 28 Now therefore
gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take
it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name. 29 And David
gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it,
and took it. 30 And he took the crown of their king from off his head; and
the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and in it were precious
stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the
city, exceeding much. 31 And he brought forth the people that were
therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes
of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all
the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned
unto Jerusalem.
Genesis - Public
Domain
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