2 Samuel 12

1 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.2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds;3 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.4 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.5 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 worthy to die:6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.7 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;8 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.9 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.10 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.11 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.12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.13 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.14 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.15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.17 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.18 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: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead!19 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.20 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.21 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.22 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?23 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.

24 And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon. And Jehovah loved him;25 and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah’s sake.

26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah; yea, I have taken the city of waters.28 Now 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.29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.30 And he took the crown of 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.31 And 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 brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

2. Samuelsbok 12

Du er mannen

1  Herren sendte Natan til David. Han gikk inn til kongen og sa: «Det bodde to menn i en by. Den ene var rik og den andre fattig. 2 Den rike hadde småfe og storfe i mengde. 3 Den fattige eide ikke annet enn et eneste lite lam som han hadde kjøpt. Han alte det opp, og det vokste til sammen med barna hans. Det spiste av brødet hans, drakk av begeret hans og lå i fanget hans. Det var som en datter for ham.

4 En dag kom det en vandringsmann til den rike. Men han kvidde seg for å ta noe av sitt eget småfe eller storfe for å lage i stand for gjesten. Han tok lammet som den fattige eide, og laget det til for mannen som var kommet.»
5 Da ble David brennende harm på mannen og sa til Natan: «Så sant Herren lever, den mannen som har gjort dette, fortjener å dø! 6 t Og han skal betale firedobbelt for lammet fordi han gjorde dette og var så hjerteløs.» 7 t Da sa Natan til David: «Du er mannen! Så sier Herren, Israels Gud: Jeg salvet deg til konge over Israel og berget deg fra Sauls hånd. 8 Jeg ga deg din herres hus og hans koner i din favn. Jeg ga deg både Israels hus og Judas hus. Og om det var for lite, ville jeg ha lagt til både det ene og det andre. 9 t Hvorfor har du da foraktet Herrens ord og gjort det som er ondt i hans øyne? Hetitten Uria har du drept med sverd. Du lot ammonittene drepe ham, og du tok hans kone og giftet deg med henne. 10 Fra nå av skal sverdet aldri vike fra ditt hus, siden du har foraktet meg og tatt hetitten Urias kone. 11 t Så sier Herren: Se, jeg lar ulykke komme over deg fra ditt eget hus. Jeg vil ta konene dine like for øynene på deg og gi dem til en annen mann. Han skal ligge med dem midt på lyse dagen. 12 For du har handlet i det skjulte, men jeg vil la dette skje for øynene på hele Israel midt på lyse dagen.» 13 t Da sa David til Natan: «Jeg har syndet mot Herren.» Natan svarte: «Så har også Herren tatt bort din synd. Du skal ikke dø. 14 t Men fordi du gjorde dette og foraktet Herrens ord, skal han dø, sønnen du har fått.»

15 Så gikk Natan hjem.

Sønnen til Batseba dør

17 t De eldste ved hoffet kom og ville få ham til å reise seg fra jorden, men han nektet og ville heller ikke spise sammen med dem.
18 Den sjuende dagen døde gutten. Men tjenerne våget ikke å fortelle David at gutten var død. For de sa: «Når vi snakket til ham mens gutten ennå levde, hørte han ikke på oss. Hvordan skal vi da få sagt ham at gutten er død? Han kunne gjøre noe forferdelig.» 19 Men David så at tjenerne hvisket seg imellom, og han skjønte at gutten var død. Han spurte dem: «Er gutten død?» De svarte: «Ja.» 20 Da reiste David seg fra bakken. Han vasket og salvet seg og skiftet klær. Så gikk han inn i Herrens hus for å tilbe. Da han kom hjem, ba han om mat. Den ble satt fram, og han spiste. 21 Tjenerne sa til ham: «Hvordan er det du oppfører deg? Mens gutten ennå levde, fastet du og gråt. Og nå da han er død, står du opp og spiser!» 22 Han svarte: «Så lenge gutten levde, fastet jeg og gråt, for jeg tenkte: Hvem vet om ikke Herren forbarmer seg over meg og lar gutten leve?

23 t Men nå som han er død, hvorfor skulle jeg faste? Kan jeg hente ham tilbake? En gang må jeg dra dit han er, men han kommer aldri tilbake til meg.»

Salomo blir født

25 t Han sendte bud med profeten Natan om at gutten skulle kalles Jedidja – for Herrens skyld.

Krig mot ammonittene