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¹ AND the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to David. And he came to him and said to him, There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.² The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds;³ But the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb which he had bought; and it lived together with him and with his children; it did eat of his food and drink from his cup and lie in his bosom, and it was to him like a daughter.⁴ And there came a guest to the rich man, and he refused to take of his own herds or flocks to make a banquet for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor mans ewe lamb and prepared it for the guest who had come to him.⁵ And Davids anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said, As the LORD lives, the man who has done this thing is worthy of death;⁶ And he shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.⁷ And Nathan said to David, You are the man. Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I anointed you king over my people Israel and I delivered you out of the hands of Saul,⁸ And I gave you your masters daughters and your masters wives into your bosom, and I also gave you the daughters of Israel and of Judah; and if they were too few you should have told me, and I would have added to you twice that many.⁹ Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD and have done that which is evil in the sight of the LORD? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.¹⁰ Now therefore the sword shall not depart from your house for ever; because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.¹¹ Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with them in the broad daylight.¹² For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, in the daytime.¹³ And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said to David, The LORD also has put away your transgression; you shall not die.¹⁴ Nevertheless, because by this deed you have made the enemies of the LORD to boast, the son also that is born to you shall surely die.

¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house. And the LORD struck the child that the wife of Uriah the Hittite bore to David, and it was very sick.¹⁶ David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.¹⁷ And the eiders of his household arose and tried to raise him up from the ground, but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.¹⁸ And it came to pass on the seventh day that 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 yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us; how then shall we tell him now that the child is dead? He may react violently.¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead; therefore he said to 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 garments and went into the house of the LORD and worshipped; then he came to his own house and asked for food, and they set it before him and he did eat.²¹ Then his servants said to him, What is this that you have done? While the child was still alive, you were fasting and praying, but when he was dead, you did rise up and eat food.²² David said to them, While the child was still alive, I fasted and prayed; for I said, Who knows whether God will 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 shall go to him, but he cannot return to me.²⁴ And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her; and she bore a son, and she called his name Solomon; and the LORD loved the child.²⁵ Then he sent for Nathan the prophet; and he named the child Jedidah because the LORD loved him.

²⁶ And Joab fought against Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.²⁷ And Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbath and I have also taken the royal city.²⁸ Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and come and encamp against the city and take it; lest I take the city, and it shall be called after my name.²⁹ So David gathered all the people together and went against Rabbath, and fought against it and took it.³⁰ And he took their kings crown from off his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on Davids head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.³¹ And he brought forth the people who were in it, and put them in iron bands and in chains, and made them pass through the measuring line; and thus did he to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.