Nathan Rebukes David

¹And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms,1 and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” ⁵Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, ⁶and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. ⁸And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. ⁹Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 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 the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of 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 sight of this sun. ¹²For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” ¹³David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord,2 the child who is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵Then Nathan went to his house.

David's Child Dies

And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. ¹⁶David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. ¹⁸On the seventh day 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 did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” ¹⁹But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” ²⁰Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. ²¹Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” ²²He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ ²³But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Solomon's Birth

²⁴Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him ²⁵and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,3 because of the Lord.

Rabbah Is Captured

²⁶Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. ²⁷And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters. ²⁸Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.” ²⁹So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. ³⁰And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent4 of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. ³¹And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at5 the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Our Heavenly Dwelling

¹For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ²For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, ³if indeed by putting it on1 we may not be found naked. ⁴For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

⁶So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷for we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ¹²We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. ¹³For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.2 The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling3 the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

A Lament for the Princes of Israel

¹And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ²and say:

What was your mother? A lioness!

Among lions she crouched;

in the midst of young lions

she reared her cubs.

³And she brought up one of her cubs;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men.

⁴The nations heard about him;

he was caught in their pit,

and they brought him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

⁵When she saw that she waited in vain,

that her hope was lost,

she took another of her cubs

and made him a young lion.

⁶He prowled among the lions;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men,

⁷and seized1 their widows.

He laid waste their cities,

and the land was appalled and all who were in it

at the sound of his roaring.

⁸Then the nations set against him

from provinces on every side;

they spread their net over him;

he was taken in their pit.

⁹With hooks they put him in a cage2

and brought him to the king of Babylon;

they brought him into custody,

that his voice should no more be heard

on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard3

planted by the water,

fruitful and full of branches

by reason of abundant water.

¹¹Its strong stems became

rulers' scepters;

it towered aloft

among the thick boughs;4

it was seen in its height

with the mass of its branches.

¹²But the vine was plucked up in fury,

cast down to the ground;

the east wind dried up its fruit;

they were stripped off and withered.

As for its strong stem,

fire consumed it.

¹³Now it is planted in the wilderness,

in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots,

has consumed its fruit,

so that there remains in it no strong stem,

no scepter for ruling.

This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.

Hide Me from the Wicked

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

²Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

from the throng of evildoers,

³who whet their tongues like swords,

who aim bitter words like arrows,

⁴shooting from ambush at the blameless,

shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

⁵They hold fast to their evil purpose;

they talk of laying snares secretly,

thinking, “Who can see them?”

⁶They search out injustice,

saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”

For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

⁷But God shoots his arrow at them;

they are wounded suddenly.

⁸They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;

all who see them will wag their heads.

⁹Then all mankind fears;

they tell what God has brought about

and ponder what he has done.

¹⁰Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord

and take refuge in him!

Let all the upright in heart exult!

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

¹Praise is due to you,1 O God, in Zion,

and to you shall vows be performed.

²O you who hear prayer,

to you shall all flesh come.

³When iniquities prevail against me,

you atone for our transgressions.

⁴Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,

to dwell in your courts!

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

the holiness of your temple!

⁵By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

O God of our salvation,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas;

⁶the one who by his strength established the mountains,

being girded with might;

⁷who stills the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

the tumult of the peoples,

⁸so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

⁹You visit the earth and water it;2

you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water;

you provide their grain,

for so you have prepared it.

¹⁰You water its furrows abundantly,

settling its ridges,

softening it with showers,

and blessing its growth.

¹¹You crown the year with your bounty;

your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

¹²The pastures of the wilderness overflow,

the hills gird themselves with joy,

¹³the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

the valleys deck themselves with grain,

they shout and sing together for joy.