2Samuel:12

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* And the Lord sent Nathan unto David , and he came unto him and said to him , Two men were once in one city , the one rich and the other poor . * The rich man had flocks and herds , in great abundance . * But the poor man had nothing , save one little ewe , which he had bought ; and he nourished it , and it grew up with him and with his children together ; of his bread it used to eat , and out of his cup it used to drink , and in his bosom it used to lie , and it was to him as a daughter . * And there came a traveler unto the rich man ; and he felt compunction to take from his own flocks and from his own herds to dress for the wayfarer that was come to him ; but he took the ewe of the poor man , and dressed it for the man that was come to him . * And the anger of David was greatly kindled against the man ; and he said to Nathan , As the Lord liveth , surely the man that hath done this deserveth to die ; * And the ewe he shall pay fourfold , for punishment that he hath done this thing , and because he had no compassion . * Then said Nathan to David , Thou art the man ! Thus hath said the Lord , the God of Israel , It is I who anointed thee as king over Israel , and it is I who delivered thee out of the hand of Saul ; * And I gave unto thee the house of thy master , and the wives of thy master into thy bosom , and gave unto thee the house of Israel and Judah : and if this be too little , I could bestow on thee yet many more like these things . * Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his eyes ? Uriyah the Hittite hast thou smitten with the sword , and his wife hast thou taken unto thee for wife ; but him hast thou slain with the sword of the children of ‘Ammon . * And now , the sword shall not depart from thy house for ever ; for the reason that thou hast despised me , and hast taken the wife of Uriyah the Hittite to be thy wife . * Thus hath said the Lord , Behold , I will raise up against thee evil out of thy own house , and I will take away thy wives before thy eyes , and I will give them unto thy neighbor ; and he shall lie with thy wives before the face of this sun . * For thou hast done it in secret ; but I will surely do this thing before all Israel , and before the sun . * Then said David unto Nathan , I have sinned against the Lord . And Nathan said to David , Also the Lord hath caused thy sin to pass away : thou shalt not die . * Nevertheless , because thou hast given great cause to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme through this thing , the child also that hath been born unto thee shall surely die . * And Nathan went to his house ; and the Lord struck the child that Uriyah ’s wife had born unto David , that it became very sick . * And David besought God in behalf of the lad ; and David kept a fast , and came home , and lay over night upon the earth . * And the elders of the house arose about him , to raise him up from the earth ; but he would not , and he did not partake of any bread with them . * And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died ; and the servants of David were afraid 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 then shall we say to him , The child is dead ! he might do a hurt . * But when David saw that his servants were whispering to each other , David understood that the child was dead ; wherefore David said unto his servants , Is the child dead ? and they said , he is dead . * David then rose up from the earth , and washed and anointed himself , and changed his garments , and went into the house of the Lord and prostrated himself ; and then he came to his own house , and asked that they should set food before him , and he ate . * And his servants then said unto him , What is this thing which thou hast done ? On account of the child when living thou didst fast and weep ; but as soon as the child was dead thou didst arise and eat bread ! * And he said , While the child was yet alive , I fasted and wept ; because I said , Who knoweth , but that the Lord will be gracious to me , that the child may live ? * But now he is dead , wherefore should I fast then ? can I restore him again ? I am going to him ; but he will not return to me . * And David comforted Bath –sheba ’ his wife , and he went in unto her , and lay with her ; and she bore a son , and called his name Solomon ; and the Lord loved him . * And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet , and called his name , Yedideyah in behalf of the Lord . * And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of ‘Ammon , and captured the royal city . * And Joab sent messengers to David ; and said , I have fought against Rabbah , and have also captured the water –town . * And now gather the rest of the people together , and encamp against the city , and capture it : lest I capture the city myself , and it be called by my name . * And David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah , and fought against it , and captured it . * And he took the crown of Malkam from off his head , and its weight was a talent of gold , and a precious stone , and it was set on the head of David ; and the booty of the city he brought out in great abundance . * And the people that were therein he brought forward , and put them under saws , and under iron threshing –wagons , and under axes of iron , and made them pass through brick –kilns ; and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of ‘Ammon : and David returned with them with all the people unto Jerusalem .

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