2 Samuel 12, side by side

¹Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

¹And the LORD 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.

²The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle,

²The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

³but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.

³But 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 meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

⁴Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.”

⁴And 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.

⁵David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

⁵And 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:

⁶Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”

⁶And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁷And 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 out of the hand of Saul;

⁸I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

⁸And 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 unto thee such and such things.

⁹Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.

⁹Wherefore 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.

¹⁰Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

¹¹This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.

¹¹Thus saith the LORD, 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 neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

¹²You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

¹²For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

¹³Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.

¹³And 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.

¹⁴Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”

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

¹⁵After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

¹⁵And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

¹⁶David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.

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

¹⁷The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

¹⁷And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.”

¹⁸And 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 would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

¹⁹When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “He is dead,” they replied.

¹⁹But 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.

²⁰Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.

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

²¹“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.”

²¹Then 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.

²²David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’

²²And 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?

²³But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

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

²⁴Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child

²⁴And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.

²⁵and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him.

²⁵And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

²⁶Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.

²⁶And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

²⁷Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.

²⁷And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.

²⁸Now, therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.”

²⁸Now 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.

²⁹So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; and he fought against it and captured it.

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

³⁰Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.

³⁰And he took their king’s crown from off his head, the weight whereof 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.

³¹David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

³¹And 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 brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.