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12 And Hashem sent Natan unto Dovid. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two anashim in one town; the one an oisher, and the other poor.

The oisher had exceeding many tzon and bakar;

But the poor man had nothing, except one kivsah ketanah (little ewe [female] lamb), which he had acquired and nourished; and she grew up together with him [the poor man], and with his banim; it did eat of his own bread, and drank of his own kos (cup), and slept in his kheyk (bosom), and was unto him as a bat.

And there came a helech (traveler) unto the oisher, and he refused to take of his own tzon and of his own bakar, to prepare for the ore’ach (wayfaring man, traveller, guest) that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s kivsah (ewe lamb), and prepared her for the ish that was come to him.

And af Dovid (Dovid’s anger) was greatly kindled against the ish; and he said to Natan, As Hashem liveth, the ish that hath done this thing is ben mavet (a son of death, worthy of death);

And he shall restore the kivsah fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no khamal (pity).

And Natan said to Dovid, Atah haIsh (thou art the Man). Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel: Meshachticha (I anointed thee) Melech over Yisroel, and I delivered thee out of the yad Sha’ul;

And I gave thee the bais adonecha, and the nashim of adonecha into thy kheyk (bosom), and gave thee Bais Yisroel and Yehudah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such as this and such as that.

Why hast thou despised the Davar Hashem, to do the rah in His eyes? Thou hast killed Uriyah the Chitti with the cherev, and hast taken his isha to be thy isha, and hast slain him with the cherev of the Bnei Ammon.

10 Now therefore the cherev shall not depart from thine Bais ad olam; because thou hast despised Me, hast taken the isha Uriyah the Chitti as thy isha.

11 Thus saith Hashem, Hineni, I will raise up ra’ah (adversity) against thee out of thine own Bais, and I will take thy nashim before thine eyes, and give them unto thy re’a, and he shall lie with thy nashim in the sight of this shemesh.

12 For thou didst it baseter (secretly); but I will do this thing before kol Yisroel, and before the shemesh.

13 And Dovid said unto Natan, I have sinned against Hashem. And Natan said unto Dovid, Hashem also hath put away thy chattat; thou shalt not die.

14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the oyevim of Hashem to ni’etz (deride, ridicule, revile, blaspheme), also haben (the son) that is born unto thee shall surely die.

15 And Natan departed unto his bais. And Hashem struck the yeled that Uriyah’s isha bore unto Dovid, and it was very ill.

16 Dovid therefore pleaded with HaElohim for the na’ar; and Dovid did a tzom, and went in, and lay all night upon ha’aretz.

17 And the zekenim of his Bais arose, and went to him, to raise him up from ha’aretz; but he would not, neither did he eat lechem with them.

18 And it came to pass on the yom hashevi’i, that the yeled died. And the avadim of Dovid feared to tell him that the yeled was dead; for they said, Hinei, while the yeled was yet chai (alive), we spoke unto him, and he would not pay heed unto koleinu (our voice); so if we tell him that the yeled is dead, will he then do something horrendous?

19 But when Dovid saw that his avadim were mitlachashim (whisperers), Dovid perceived that the yeled was dead; therefore Dovid said unto his avadim, Is the yeled dead? And they said, Met (dead, he is dead).

20 Then Dovid arose from ha’aretz, and bathed [See 2 Sm 11:2], and put on lotion, and changed his apparel, and came into the Bais Hashem, and worshiped; then he came to his own Bais; and when he requested, they set lechem before him, and he did eat.

21 Then said his avadim unto him, What davar is this that thou hast done? Thou didst undergo a tzom and weep for the sake of the yeled, while it was alive; but when the yeled was dead, thou didst rise and eat lechem.

22 And he said, While the yeled was yet chai, I underwent a tzom and wept; for I said, Who can tell whether Hashem will be gracious to me, that the yeled may live?

23 But now he is met (dead), why should I undergo a tzom? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

24 And Dovid [Beloved] comforted Bat-Sheva his isha, and went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore ben, and he called shmo Sh’lomo; and Hashem loved him.

25 And He sent by the yad Natan HaNavi; and he called shmo Yedidyah (Beloved of Hashem), for the sake of Hashem.

26 And Yoav fought against Rabbah of the Bnei Ammon, and captured ir hameluchah (the royal city).

27 And Yoav sent malachim to Dovid, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the Ir HaMayim.

28 Now therefore gather the rest of HaAm (the army) together, and encamp against the Ir, and capture it; lest I take the Ir, and it be called after my shem.

29 And Dovid gathered kol haAm together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and captured it.

30 And he took their melech’s ateret from off his rosh, the weight whereof was a talent of zahav with the precious stones; and it was set on Dovid’s rosh. And he brought forth the plunder of the ir (city) in great abundance.

31 And he brought forth ha’am that were therein, and put them under saws, and under threshing tools of barzel, and under axes of barzel, and made them go through the brickkilns; and thus did he unto all the towns of the Bnei Ammon. So Dovid and kol haAm returned unto Yerushalayim.

Nathan Rebukes David(A)

12 The Lord sent Nathan(B) to David.(C) When he came to him,(D) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

David(E) burned with anger(F) against the man(G) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,(H) the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over,(I) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!(J) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed(K) you(L) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you,(M) and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise(N) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down(O) Uriah(P) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed(Q) him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword(R) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household(S) I am going to bring calamity on you.(T) Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.(U) 12 You did it in secret,(V) but I will do this thing in broad daylight(W) before all Israel.’”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned(X) against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away(Y) your sin.(Z) You are not going to die.(AA) 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for[a] the Lord,(AB) the son born to you will die.”

15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck(AC) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying(AD) in sackcloth[b] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused,(AE) and he would not eat any food with them.(AF)

18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed,(AG) put on lotions and changed his clothes,(AH) he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept,(AI) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?(AJ) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’(AK) 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him,(AL) but he will not return to me.”(AM)

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba,(AN) and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon.(AO) The Lord loved him; 25 and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.[c](AP)

26 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah(AQ) of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. 28 Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

29 So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. 30 David took the crown(AR) from their king’s[d] head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent[e] of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.[f] David did this to all the Ammonite(AS) towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 12:14 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text for the enemies of
  2. 2 Samuel 12:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have in sackcloth.
  3. 2 Samuel 12:25 Jedidiah means loved by the Lord.
  4. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or from Milkom’s (that is, Molek’s)
  5. 2 Samuel 12:30 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
  6. 2 Samuel 12:31 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.