^{1 Ref} And Jehovah sendeth Nathan unto David, and he cometh unto him, and saith to him: `Two men have been in one city; One rich and one poor;

^{2 Ref} The rich hath flocks and herds very many;

^{3 Ref} And the poor one hath nothing, Except one little ewe-lamb, Which he hath bought, and keepeth alive, And it groweth up with him, And with his sons together; Of his morsel it eateth, And from his cup it drinketh, And in his bosom it lieth, And it is to him as a daughter;

^{4 Ref} And there cometh a traveller to the rich man, And he spareth to take Of his own flock, and of his own herd, To prepare for the traveller Who hath come to him, And he taketh the ewe-lamb of the poor man, And prepareth it for the man Who hath come unto him.'

^{5 Ref} And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, `Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death `is' the man who is doing this,

^{6 Ref} and the ewe-lamb he doth repay fourfold, because that he hath done this thing, and because that he had no pity.'

^{7 Ref} And Nathan saith unto David, `Thou `art' the man! Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I anointed thee for king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

^{8 Ref} and I give to thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord, into thy bosom, and I give to thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if little, then I add to thee such and such `things'.

^{9 Ref} `Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do the evil thing in His eyes? Uriah the Hittite thou hast smitten by the sword, and his wife thou hast taken to thee for a wife, and him thou hast slain by the sword of the Bene-Ammon.

^{10 Ref} `And now, the sword doth not turn aside from thy house unto the age, because thou hast despised Me, and dost take the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be to thee for a wife;

^{11 Ref} thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am raising up against thee evil, out of thy house, and have taken thy wives before thine eyes, and given to thy neighbour, and he hath lain with thy wives before the eyes of this sun;

^{12 Ref} for thou hast done `it' in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'

^{13 Ref} And David saith unto Nathan, `I have sinned against Jehovah.' And Nathan saith unto David, `Also -- Jehovah hath caused thy sin to pass away; thou dost not die;

^{14 Ref} only, because thou hast caused the enemies of Jehovah greatly to despise by this thing, also the son who is born to thee doth surely die.'

^{15 Ref} And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable;

^{16 Ref} and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth.

^{17 Ref} And the elders of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he hath not been willing, nor hath he eaten with them bread;

^{18 Ref} and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the lad dieth, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the lad is dead, for they said, `Lo, in the lad being alive we spake unto him, and he did not hearken to our voice; and how do we say unto him, The lad is dead? -- then he hath done evil.'

¹⁹ And David seeth that his servants are whispering, and David understandeth that the lad is dead, and David saith unto his servants, `Is the lad dead?' and they say, `Dead.'

^{20 Ref} And David riseth from the earth, and doth bathe and anoint `himself', and changeth his raiment, and cometh in to the house of Jehovah, and boweth himself, and cometh unto his house, and asketh and they place for him bread, and he eateth.

^{21 Ref} And his servants say unto him, `What `is' this thing thou hast done? because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.'

^{22 Ref} And he saith, `While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth? -- Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived;

^{23 Ref} and now, he hath died, why `is' this -- I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'

^{24 Ref} And David comforteth Bath-Sheba his wife, and goeth in unto her, and lieth with her, and she beareth a son, and he calleth his name Solomon; and Jehovah hath loved him,

^{25 Ref} and sendeth by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calleth his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah.

^{26 Ref} And Joab fighteth against Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and captureth the royal city,

^{27 Ref} and Joab sendeth messengers unto David, and saith, `I have fought against Rabbah -- also I have captured the city of waters;

^{28 Ref} and now, gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and capture it, lest I capture the city, and my name hath been called upon it.'

²⁹ And David gathereth all the people, and goeth to Rabbah, and fighteth against it, and captureth it;

^{30 Ref} and he taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and its weight `is' a talent of gold, and precious stones, and it is on the head of David; and the spoil of the city he hath brought out, very much;

^{31 Ref} and the people who `are' in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron, and hath caused them to pass over into the brick-kiln; and so he doth to all the cities of the Bene-Ammon; and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.

^{1 Ref} And Jehovah sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

^{2 Ref} The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds;

^{3 Ref} but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

^{4 Ref} And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

^{5 Ref} And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this is worthy to die:

^{6 Ref} and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

^{7 Ref} And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

^{8 Ref} 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 have added unto thee such and such things.

^{9 Ref} Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten 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 Ref} 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 Ref} Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house; and I 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 Ref} For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

^{13 Ref} And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said unto David, Jehovah also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

^{14 Ref} Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

^{15 Ref} And Nathan departed unto his house. And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

^{16 Ref} David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

^{17 Ref} And the elders of his house arose, `and stood' beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

^{18 Ref} 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 spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead!

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

^{20 Ref} Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of Jehovah, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

^{21 Ref} 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 and eat bread.

^{22 Ref} And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who knoweth whether Jehovah will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?

^{23 Ref} But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

^{24 Ref} And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. And Jehovah loved him;

^{25 Ref} and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake.

^{26 Ref} Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

^{27 Ref} And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah; yea, I have taken the city of waters.

^{28 Ref} Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.

²⁹ And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.

^{30 Ref} And he took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and `in it were' precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

^{31 Ref} And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.