2 Samuel 12

12 ¹ Our Father sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain city, one rich and one poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his plate, drink from his cup, and lie in his arms; it was like a daughter to him.

⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man, but he was unwilling to take from his own flock or herd to prepare a meal for the guest 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.

⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as our Father lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ He must pay for the lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and showed no pity."

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what our Father, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from Saul's power. ⁸ I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have added to you as much again. ⁹ Why then have you despised my word by doing what is evil in my sight? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own; you killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.

¹¹ This is what our Father says: I am going to bring disaster on you from within your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did this in secret, but I will do this thing before all Israel, in broad daylight."

David Confesses and Mourns His Son

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against our Father." Nathan replied, "Our Father has also taken away your sin; you will not die.

¹⁴ But because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for our Father, the son born to you will die."

¹⁵ Then Nathan went home. And our Father struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became gravely ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with our Father for the boy. He fasted, and he went in and spent the nights lying on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him to raise him from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, "While the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do himself harm."

¹⁹ But David saw that his servants were whispering together, and he realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, "Is the child dead?" "He is dead," they said.

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes, and he went into the house of our Father and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.

²¹ His servants said to him, "What is this you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat."

²² He said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I thought, 'Who knows? Our Father may 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 will go to him, but he will not return to me."

The Father Loves Solomon

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and slept with her, and she bore a son, and he named him Solomon. Our Father loved him, ²⁵ and he sent word through Nathan the prophet, who named him Jedidiah, for the sake of our Father. ¹ 1 v25 Jedidiah means "beloved of our Father" — the name echoes the love our Father had just set on the child.

David Captures Rabbah

²⁶ Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city. ²⁷ Joab sent messengers to David and said, "I have fought against Rabbah and have captured its water supply. ²⁸ Now then, gather the rest of the army, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me."

²⁹ So David gathered all the army and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. ³⁰ He took the crown from their king's head. It weighed about seventy-five pounds of gold and was set with a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. He also carried off a great quantity of plunder from the city. ³¹ He brought out the people who were there and set them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and he put them to labor at the brick kilns. This is what he did to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.