2 Samuel Chapter 12

2 Samuel Chapter 12
1 Then the Lord sent Nathan unto David,
who came to 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 sheep and oxen:
3 But the poor had none at all, save one
little sheep which he had bought, and
nourished up: and it grew up with him,
and with his children also, and did eat of
his own morsels, and drank of his own
cup, and slept in his bosom, and was
unto him as his daughter.
4 Now there came a stranger unto the
rich man, who refused to take of his own
sheep, and of his own oxen to dress for
the stranger that was come unto him, but
took the poor man’s sheep, and dressed
it for the man that was come to him.
5 Then David was exceeding wroth with
the man, and said to Nathan, As the Lord
liveth, the man that hath done this thing,
shall surely die, 6 And he shall restore
the lamb four fold, because he did this
thing, and had no pity thereof.
7 Then Nathan said to David, Thou art
the man. Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel,
and delivered thee out of the hand of
Saul,
8 And gave thee thy lord’s house, and
thy lord’s wives into thy bosom, and
gave thee the house of Israel, and of
Judah, and would moreover ( if that had
been too little) have given thee such and
such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the
commandment of the Lord, to do evil in
his sight? Thou hast killed 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 thine house, because thou
hast despised me, and taken the wife of
Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus
saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up
evil against thee out of thine own house,
and 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 Then David said unto Nathan, I have
sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said
unto David, The Lord also hath put away
thy sin, thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit
because by this deed thou hast caused
the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,
the child that is born unto thee shall
surely die.
15 So Nathan departed unto his house:
and the Lord stroke the child that Uriah’s
wife bear unto David, and it was sick.
16 David therefore besought God for the
child, and fasted and went in, and lay all
night upon the earth.
17 Then the elders of his house arose to
come unto him, and to cause him to rise
from the ground: but he would not,
neither did he eat meat with them. 18 So
on the seventh day 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 alive, we
spake unto him, and he would not
hearken unto our voice: how then shall
we say unto him, The child is dead, to
vex him more?
19 But when David saw that his servants
whispered, David perceived that the
child was dead: therefore 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 came into the
house of the Lord, and worshiped, and
afterward came to his own house, and
bade that they should 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 up, and eat
meat.
22 And he said, While the child was yet
alive, I fasted, and wept: for I said, Who
can tell whether God will have mercy
on me, that the child may live?
23 But now being dead, wherefore
should I now fast? Can I bring him again
any more? I shall go to him, but he shall
not return to me.
24 And David comforted Bath-sheba his
wife, and went in unto her, and lay with
her, and she bear a son, and he called his
name Solomon: also the Lord loved him.
25 For the Lord had sent by Nathan the
prophet: therefore he called his name
Jedidiah, because the Lord loved him.
26 Then Joab fought against Rabbah of
the children of Ammon, and took the city
of the kingdom.
27 Therefore Joab sent messengers to
David, saying, I have fought against
Rabbah, and have taken the city of
waters.
28 Now therefore gather the rest of the
people together, and besiege the city,
that thou mayest take it, lest the victory
be attributed to me. 29 So David
gathered all the people together, and
went against Rabbah, and besieged it,
and took it.
30 And he took their king’s crown from
his head, (which weighed a talent of
gold, with precious stones) and it was
set on David’s head: and he brought
away the spoil of the city in exceeding
great abundance.
31 And he carried away the people that
was therein, and put them under saws,
and under iron harrows, and under axes
of iron, and cast them into the tile kiln:
even thus did he with all the cities of the
children of Ammon. Then David and all
the people returned unto Jerusalem.