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2 Samuel 12 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Nathan Rebukes David
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:1 - So the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:2 - The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:3 - The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:4 - One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:5 - David was furious. “As surely as the LORD lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:6 - He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:7 - Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The LORD, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:8 - I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:9 - Why, then, have you despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:10 - From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:11 - “This is what the LORD says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:12 - You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”
David Confesses His Guilt
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:13 - Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan replied, “Yes, but the LORD has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:14 - Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the LORD[fn] by doing this, your child will die.”
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:15 - After Nathan returned to his home, the LORD sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:16 - David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:17 - The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:18 - Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?”
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:19 - When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:20 - Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions,[fn] and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the LORD. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:21 - His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.”
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:22 - David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.’
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:23 - But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:24 - Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David[fn] named him Solomon. The LORD loved the child
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:25 - and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the LORD”), as the LORD had commanded.[fn]
David Captures Rabbah
(1Ch 20:1–3 )
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:26 - Meanwhile, Joab was fighting against Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, and he captured the royal fortifications.[fn]
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:27 - Joab sent messengers to tell David, “I have fought against Rabbah and captured its water supply.[fn]
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:28 - Now bring the rest of the army and capture the city. Otherwise, I will capture it and get credit for the victory.”
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:29 - So David gathered the rest of the army and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:30 - David removed the crown from the king’s head,[fn] and it was placed on his own head. The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and it weighed seventy-five pounds.[fn] David took a vast amount of plunder from the city.
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 12:31 - He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with[fn] saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to work in the brick kilns.[fn] That is how he dealt with the people of all the Ammonite towns. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
NLT Footnotes
As in Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text reads the LORD’s enemies.
Hebrew anointed himself.
Hebrew he; an alternate Hebrew reading and some Hebrew manuscripts read she.
As in Greek version; Hebrew reads because of the LORD.
Or the royal city.
Or captured the city of water.
Or from the head of Milcom (as in Greek version). Milcom, also called Molech, was the god of the Ammonites.
Hebrew 1 talent [34 kilograms].
Or He also brought out the people of Rabbah and put them under.
Or and he made them pass through the brick kilns.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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