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.
The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds;
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.
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.
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 {Hebrew: a son of death.}worthy to die:
and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
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.
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.
And Nathan departed unto his house.
And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
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.
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: {Or, how then shall we tell him that the child is dead, so that he do himself some harm?}how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead!
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and {Another reading is, she called.}he called his name Solomon. And Jehovah loved him;
and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name {That is, Beloved of Jehovah.}Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake.
Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah; yea, I have taken the city of waters.
Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and {Hebrew: my name be called upon it.}it be called after my name.
And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.
And he took the crown of {Or, Malcam See Zephaniah 1:5}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.
And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them {Or, to}under saws, and {Or, to}under harrows of iron, and {Or, to}under axes of iron, and {Or, with a slight change in the Hebrew text, made them labor at}made them pass through the {Or, brick-mould}brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
Querverweise zu 2. Samuel 12,14 2Sam 12,14
Also I said, The thing that ye do is not good: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?
If they {Hebrew: profane.}break my statutes,And keep not my commandments;
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,And their iniquity with stripes.
But my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him,Nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach?Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O {Hebrew: Jah.}Jehovah,And teachest out of thy law;
Now therefore, what do I here, saith Jehovah, seeing that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them do howl, saith Jehovah, and my name continually all the day is blasphemed.
My son, despise not the {Or, instruction}chastening of Jehovah;Neither be weary of his reproof:
And when they came unto the nations, whither they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and are gone forth out of his land.
But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they went.
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: {Or, I work not for &c.}I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye went.
And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before {Or, according to another reading, your}their eyes.
For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth;Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh!
You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, {Isaiah 52:5.}even as it is written.
But {Or, when we are judged of the Lord, we are chastened.}when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.