2 SamuelChapter 12
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1Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. Nathan came to him and said, "There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and the other was poor. 2The rich man had a huge number of sheep and cattle. 3But the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb he had bought. He raised it. It grew up with him and his children. It ate from his food and drank from his cup. It slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4Then a traveler came to visit the rich man. The rich man did not want to take one of his own sheep or cattle to cook for his visitor. Instead, he took the poor man's lamb. He cooked it for the man who had come to him." 5David burned with anger against the rich man. He said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6He did this and showed no pity. So he must pay back four lambs for that lamb." 7Then Nathan said to David, "You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel. I saved you from Saul's power. 8I gave you your master's house. I put your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the people of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you even more. 9So why have you looked down on the LORD's command? Why have you done what is evil in his eyes? You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You took his wife to be your own wife. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10So now the sword will never leave your family. This is because you looked down on me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' 11This is what the LORD says: 'I will bring trouble on you from your own family. Right in front of you I will take your wives and give them to another man. He will sleep with them in broad daylight. 12You did your sin in secret. But I will do this in broad daylight in front of all Israel.'" 13Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan answered, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You will not die. 14But by doing this, you have shown total disrespect for the word of the LORD. So the son born to you will surely die." 15Then Nathan went home. The LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David. And the child became sick. 16David begged God for the boy. He went without food. He went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground in sackcloth. 17The older leaders of his household stood beside him. They tried to get him up from the ground. But he would not get up. He would not eat any food with them. 18On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him the child was dead. They said, "Look, while the child was still alive, we talked to David. But he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even hurt himself." 19David saw his servants whispering to each other. So he knew the child was dead. He asked them, "Is the child dead?" "Yes, he is dead," they said. 20Then David got up from the ground. He washed and put oil on himself. He changed his clothes. He went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house. He asked for food, and they set it before him. And he ate. 21His servants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you went without food and cried. But now that he is dead, you get up and eat!" 22David answered, "While the child was alive, I went without food and cried. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be kind to me and let the child live.' 23But now he is dead. Why should I go without food? Can I bring him back? I will go to him, but he will not come back to me." 24Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and slept with her. She had a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved the child. 25He sent a message through Nathan the prophet. He said to name the baby Jedidiah, because the LORD loved him.a 26Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites. He captured the king's fortress. 27Then Joab sent messengers to David. They said, "I have fought against Rabbah. I have captured the city's water supply. 28So now gather the rest of the troops. Surround the city and capture it. If you don't, I will capture the city, and it will be named after me." 29So David gathered all the troops and went to Rabbah. He fought against it and captured it. 30He took the crown off their king's head. It weighed about 75 pounds of gold, and it was set with precious stones. It was put on David's head. David also took a huge amount of goods from the city.b 31David brought out the people who lived there. He put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. He made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops went back to Jerusalem.