Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David.^(A) When he arrived, he said to him:

There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very large flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.^[a]

⁵ David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”^(B)

⁷ Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel,^(C) and I rescued you from Saul.

⁸ but the priest Zadok,^(A) Benaiah son of Jehoiada,^(B) the prophet Nathan,^(C) Shimei,^(D) Rei, and David’s royal guard^[a](E) did not side with Adonijah.

⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep, goats, cattle, and fattened cattle near the stone of Zoheleth, which is next to En-rogel.^(F) He invited all his royal brothers and all the men of Judah, the servants of the king,^{(G) 10} but he did not invite the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, the royal guard, or his brother Solomon.^(H)

Nathan’s and Bathsheba’s Appeals

¹¹ Then Nathan^(I) said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother,^(J) “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king^(K) and our lord David does not know it?^(L)

³⁴ There, the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan are to anoint him as king over Israel.^(A) You are to blow the ram’s horn^(B) and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ^{(C) 35} You are to come up after him, and he is to come in and sit on my throne. He is the one who is to become king in my place; he is the one I have commanded to be ruler^(D) over Israel and Judah.”^(E)

³⁶ “Amen,” Benaiah son of Jehoiada replied to the king. “May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so affirm it.^{(F) 37} Just as the Lord was with my lord the king,^(G) so may he^[a] be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”^(H)

³⁸ Then the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites^(I) went down, had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. ³⁹ The priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon.^(J) Then they blew the ram’s horn,^(K) and all the people proclaimed, “Long live King Solomon!” ^{(L) 40} All the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing with such a great joy^(M) that the earth split open from the sound.^[b]

Adonijah Hears of Solomon’s Coronation

⁴¹ Adonijah and all the invited guests who were with him^(N) heard the noise as they finished eating. Joab heard the sound of the ram’s horn and said, “Why is the town in such an uproar?” ^{(O) 42} He was still speaking when Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest,^(P) suddenly arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are an important man, and you must be bringing good news.”^(Q)

⁴³ “Unfortunately not,” Jonathan answered him. “Our lord King David has made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ And with Solomon, the king has sent the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have had him ride on the king’s mule. ⁴⁵ The priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king in Gihon.^(R) They have gone up from there rejoicing. The town has been in an uproar; that’s the noise you heard.

Solomon’s Death

²⁹ The remaining events^(A) of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Events of the Prophet Nathan, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Visions of the Seer Iddo concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat.^(B)

²⁵ Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres^(A) according to the command of David,^(B) Gad the king’s seer,^(C) and the prophet Nathan.^(D) For the command was from the Lord through his prophets.