²⁰ Then Ehud came in to him while he was seated by himself in his summer-house. And Ehud said, I have a word from God for you. And he got up from his seat.

¹⁵ And I will send destruction on the winter house with the summer house; the ivory houses will be falling down and the great houses will come to an end, says the Lord.

¹⁹ But he himself, turning back from the stone images at Gilgal, said, I have something to say to you in secret, O king. And he said, Let there be quiet. Then all those who were waiting before him went out.

¹ And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.

² The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds;

³ But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.

⁴ Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come.

⁵ And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this:

⁶ And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity.

⁷ And Nathan said to David, You are that man. The Lord God of Israel says, I made you king over Israel, putting holy oil on you, and I kept you safe from the hands of Saul;

⁸ I gave you your master's daughter and your master's wives for yourself, and I gave you the daughters of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you such and such things.

⁹ Why then have you had no respect for the word of the Lord, doing what is evil in his eyes? You have put Uriah the Hittite to death with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife; you have put him to death with the sword of the children of Ammon.

¹⁰ So now the sword will never be turned away from your family; because you have had no respect for me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

¹¹ The Lord says, From those of your family I will send evil against you, and before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he will take your wives to his bed by the light of this sun.

¹² You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun.

¹³ And David said to Nathan, Great is my sin against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord has put away your sin; death will not come on you.

¹⁴ But still, because you have had no respect for the Lord, death will certainly overtake the child who has newly come to birth.

¹⁵ Then Nathan went back to his house. And the hand of the Lord was on David's son, the child of Uriah's wife, and it became very ill.

¹² Go and say to David, The Lord says, Three things are offered to you: say which of them you will have, and I will do it to you.

¹ <A Psalm. Of David.> Give to the Lord, you sons of the gods, give to the Lord glory and strength.

⁷ Who would not have fear of you, O King of the nations? for it is your right: for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

⁹ The voice of the Lord is crying out to the town: Give ear, you tribes and the meeting of the town.