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¹ And the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.² The rich [man] had very numerous flocks and herds:³ But the poor [man] had nothing save one little ewe-lamb, which he had bought and nourished: and it grew up together with him, and with his children: it fed of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter.⁴ And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the way-faring man that had come to him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him.⁵ And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he 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 because he had no pity.⁷ And Nathan said to David, Thou [art] the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee from the hand of Saul;⁸ And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [that had been] too little, I would moreover have given to thee such and such things.⁹ Why 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 thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast 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 thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes, and give [them] to 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 And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said to David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.¹⁴ But, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also [that is] born to thee shall surely die.

¹⁵ And Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife 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 upon the earth.¹⁷ And the elders of his house arose, [and went] to him, to raise him from the earth: 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 hearken to our voice: how will he then be grieved, if we tell him that the child is dead?¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David 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 apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he ate.²¹ Then said his servants to him, What thing [is] this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, [while it was] alive; but after the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.²² And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted, and wept: for I said, Who can tell [whether] GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?²³ But now he is dead, Why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.²⁴ And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.²⁵ And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

²⁶ And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.²⁷ And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.²⁸ Now therefore collect the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.²⁹ And David collected all the people, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.³⁰ And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight of which [was] a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was [set] on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.³¹ And he brought forth the people that [were] in it, and put [them] under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.