1And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4And a traveler came to the rich man, who spared to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. 5And David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah lives, the man who has done this is a son of death! 6And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he has done this thing and because he had no pity. 7And Nathan said to David, You are the man! Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you this and that! 9Why have you despised the Word of Jehovah, to do evil in His eyes? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the eyes of the sun. 12For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun. 13And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said to David, Jehovah also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14However, because of this matter in which you have caused contempt, for Jehovah to be spurned by His enemies, the child also who is born to you shall die the death. 15And Nathan departed to his house. And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and it became sick. 16David therefore besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17And the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18And on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child had died. For they said, Behold, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child has died? He may do some harm! 19But when David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child had died. Therefore David said to his servants, Has the child died? And they said, He has died. 20So David rose up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of Jehovah and prostrated himself. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21Then his servants said to him, What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child had died, you arose and ate food. 22And he said, While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, Who knows whether Jehovah will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. 24And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. And she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now Jehovah loved him, 25and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah. 26Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and I have captured the city of waters. 28Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and lay siege against the city and take it, lest I capture the city and it be called after my name. 29So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and captured it. 30And he took their king’s crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the spoils of the city in great abundance. 31And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them under saws, iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over into the brick kiln. Thus he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.