New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
2 Samuel 12
1
The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. When Nathan came to him, he said, "Two men lived in the same town. One was rich. The other was poor.
2
The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle.
3
But all the poor man had was one little female lamb. He had bought it. He raised it. It grew up with him and his children. It shared his food. It drank from his cup. It even slept in his arms. It was just like a daughter to him.
Reference
4
"One day a traveler came to the rich man. The rich man wanted to prepare a meal for him. But he didn't want to kill one of his own sheep or cattle. Instead, he took the little female lamb that belonged to the poor man. Then he cooked it for the traveler who had come to him."
Reference
Parallel theme
James 1:14
5
David burned with anger against the rich man. He said to Nathan, "The man who did that is worthy of death. And that's just as sure as the Lord is alive.
Reference
Parallel theme
Romans 2:1
Genesis 38:24
Luke 9:55
1 Samuel 20:31
References Lord
1 Samuel 26:16
1 Samuel 14:39
6
The man must pay back four times as much as that lamb was worth. How could he do such a thing? And he wasn't even sorry he had done it."
Reference
7
Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'I anointed you king over Israel. I saved you from Saul's powerful hand.
Reference
Kingdom
1 Samuel 13:13
1 Samuel 15:17
Parallel theme
Matthew 14:14
References David
1 Samuel 18:21
References God
1 Samuel 23:14
1 Samuel 23:7
References Lord
1 Samuel 16:13
2 Samuel 22:1
1 Kings 20:42
1 Kings 18:18
8
I gave you everything that belonged to your master Saul. I even put his wives into your arms. I made you king over the people of Israel and Judah. And if all of that had not been enough for you, I would have given you even more.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 84:11
2 Samuel 9:7
Romans 8:32
2 Samuel 7:19
2 Samuel 12:11
2 Samuel 2:4
References Israel
2 Samuel 5:5
9
" 'Why did you turn your back on what I told you to do? You did what is evil in my sight. You made sure that Uriah, the Hittite, would be killed in battle. You took his wife to be your own. You let the men of Ammon kill him with their swords.
Reference
Evil
1 Samuel 15:19
Jeremiah 18:10
Parallel theme
Psalm 90:8
2 Samuel 11:4
Word
Amos 2:4
1 Samuel 15:23
Isaiah 5:24
10
" 'So time after time members of your own royal house will be killed with swords. That's because you turned your back on me. You took the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be your own.'
Reference
11
"The Lord also says, 'I am going to bring trouble on you. It will come from your own family. I will take your wives away. Your own eyes will see it. I will give your wives to a man who is close to you. He will have sex with them in the middle of the day.
Reference
12
You committed your sins in secret. But I will make sure that the sin the man commits with your wives will take place in the middle of the day. Everyone in Israel will see it.' "
Reference
13
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You aren't going to die.
Reference
14
But you have dared to make fun of the Lord. So the son who has been born to you will die."
Reference
15
Nathan went home. Then the Lord made the child that had been born to Uriah's wife by David very sick.
Reference
16
David begged God to heal the child. David didn't eat anything. He spent his nights lying on the ground.
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Samuel 13:31
Acts 9:9
Isaiah 26:16
Psalm 50:15
Psalm 69:10
1 Kings 21:27
Esther 4:16
References God
Isaiah 22:12
Jonah 3:9
2 Samuel 12:22
17
His most trusted servants stood beside him. They wanted him to get up from the ground. But he refused to do it. And he wouldn't eat any food with them.
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Samuel 3:35
18
On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him the child was dead. They thought, "While the child was still alive, we spoke to David. But he wouldn't listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He might do something terrible to himself."
19
David saw that his servants were whispering to each other. Then he realized the child was dead. "Has the child died?" he asked. "Yes," they replied. "He's dead."
20
Then David got up from the ground. After he washed himself, he put on lotions. He changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped him. Then he went to his own house. He asked for some food. They served it to him. And he ate it.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ruth 3:3
Job 2:10
Ecclesiastes 9:8
Matthew 6:17
References Lord
2 Samuel 7:18
Worship
Job 1:20
21
His servants asked him, "Why are you acting like this? While the child was still alive, you wouldn't eat anything. You cried a lot. But now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!"
22
He answered, "While the child was still alive, I didn't eat anything. And I cried a lot. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord might show favor to me. He might let the child live.'
Reference
23
But now he's dead. So why should I go without eating? Can I bring him back to life again? Someday I'll go to him. But he won't return to me."
Reference
24
Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and made love to her. Some time later she had a son. He was given the name Solomon. The Lord loved him.
Reference
References David
Matthew 1:6
25
So the Lord sent a message through the prophet Nathan. It said, "Name the boy Jedidiah."
Reference
26
During that time, Joab fought against Rabbah. It was the royal city of the Ammonites. It had high walls around it. Joab was about to capture it.
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 3:11
27
He sent messengers to David. He told them to say, "I have fought against Rabbah. I've taken control of its water supply.
28
So bring the rest of the troops together. Surround the city and get ready to attack it. Then capture it. If you don't, I'll capture it myself. Then it will be named after me."
29
So David brought the whole army together and went to Rabbah. He attacked it and captured it.
30
He took the gold crown off the head of the king of Ammon. The crown weighed 75 pounds. It had jewels in it. It was placed on David's head. He took a huge amount of goods from the city.
Reference
Kingdom
1 Chronicles 20:2
31
He brought out the people who were there. He made them work with saws and iron picks and axes. He forced them to make bricks. He did that to all of the towns in Ammon. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
Reference
References David
1 Chronicles 20:3
Summary of 2 Samuel 12
2 Samuel 12 continues from where the previous chapter left off. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, caused her husband to be slain, and then took possession of her. David was perhaps successful in covering his tracks, but God knew what David had done.
The chapter opens with the Lord sending Nathan the prophet to David.
Nathan does not confront David immediately. Nathan recounts a parable involving two men in a city.
One man was rich and the other poor.
The rich man had many sheep and cattle. The poor man had nothing except a little ewe lamb that he had bought and raised. The lamb had grown with him and his children. It ate from his bread, drank from his cup, and laid in his bosom. It was like his daughter to him.
Then a traveler came to the house of the rich man.
The rich man was unwilling to take any of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the guest.
Instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for his meal.
At the story, David's wrath was kindled against the rich man.
He said that the rich man's deserved to die, and that he should make restitution to the poor man for the lamb that he had taken four times for the insult, because he had no pity.
Nathan then told David the answer that was required of him.
He said, "Thou art the man."
David had unknowingly condemned himself.
Nathan said that God had given David so much in providing him with an inheritance in Israel, delivering him out of the hands of Saul, and giving him the house of Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, God said He would have been even better.
But David had despised the commandment of the Lord.
Nathan said that David had taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite and that he had caused the man to be slain by the sword of the children of Ammon.
Nathan spoke concerning the punishment God had prepared for David.
The sword should never depart from David's house.
Although David had secretly taken his neighbor's wife, evil would come upon David's own family. God said that He would allow evil to arise against David from within his own house.
Nathan said that although David had acted secretly, God would make it known to everyone.
David immediately confessed.
He said, "I have sinned against the LORD."
Nathan told David that the Lord had put away his sin, and that he would not die.
However, the sin would not be without retribution.
Nathan said that because David's act had made it possible for the enemies of the Lord to curse Him, the child that Bathsheba bore should die.
Nathan then departed from David's presence.
The child fell sick.
David pleaded with God concerning the child to save it, and he fasted until the day that it died. He lay on the ground in grief, but the elders of his household entreated him to rise and take food. He refused, and when they saw that the child had died, he knew it when he saw that they were all whispering together.
David asked if the child was dead, and they said that he was. David then arose from the ground, washed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshipped and then went home and ate. They did not know what he had done.
They asked why he had fasted and wept over the child while it was alive, but now he had done as the living did when they rejoiced. He said that while the child was alive, he hoped that perhaps the Lord would show mercy and spare the child. But now that the child had died, he could do nothing to bring him back.
David said that one day he would return to the child, but the child would not return to him.
After this, David consoled Bathsheba and went to her, and she became pregnant again. She bore him another son, and David called him Solomon.
The Lord loved Solomon, and He sent word by Nathan to David. Nathan spoke concerning a different name for Solomon, Jedidiah, the beloved of the Lord.
The chapter turns back to the battle with Ammon, where Joab had been besieging Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. He took the city and sent word to David concerning it, saying that he should come to take it. Joab warned David that if he captured Rabbah, the victory would be remembered by David's name and not Joab's.
David gathered the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it. He took the city and took the crown from the head of the Ammonite king, a crown which was very valuable. It was a talent of gold and precious stones. David put it on his head.
He took much spoil from the city, and he carried the people there into bondage under his power.
After this, David and the army returned to Jerusalem.
The chapter closes the account of the war with Ammon while also showing that David has entered into a new stage of his life, one not quite as joyful as before chapter 11.
The most important part of the chapter was Nathan's use of the rich man's story.
David was able to recognize injustice in what had happened to the poor man and became angry with the rich man because he had been so selfish in not sharing what he had in abundance. David did not at first realize that the story was describing his own behavior. He had many wives and great wealth, and yet he took Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. The story forced David to realize what he had done.
Nathan also pointed out to David that his sin was not only a private matter between himself and Bathsheba. David had abused the power God had given him and had despised the commandment of the Lord.
David's response was brief and simple.
He did not argue with Nathan. He did not blame Bathsheba nor did he blame Uriah. He simply said, "I have sinned against the LORD."
The confession does not eliminate all consequences, but it shows that David realizes what he has done. Another important lesson from the chapter is the difference between forgiveness and consequences. Nathan told David that his sins had been put away, yet the child still died and God had promised to bring trouble to David's family. The chapter does not show that once God forgives us, all of our earthly troubles are forgotten. David received mercy from God, yet his sin still brought great trouble and grief to him and his family.
The death of the child was one of the most grievous moments in David's life. The passage shows the great prayer and fasting David did while he was sick. Once the child died, David accepted this and worshipped God. He said that he would go to the child, but the child would not return to him. Many have seen these words as an example of the hope of the resurrection, but the chapter shows that he understood death as a separation that he could not overcome in this life.
The birth of Solomon is also extremely important.
Solomon would eventually succeed David as king and have the great responsibility of building the house that David desired to build. The fact that God loved Solomon shows that David's failure did not stop God's plan for his family.
The final part of the chapter turns back to the war with Ammon. This can seem a change of subject after David's story, but it reminds the reader that David's responsibilities as king continue to demand his attention even as his personal life is being tested.
The chapter turns from the judgment of God on David to his grief and mercy and then back again to the matters of family and national leadership.
David's life was no longer as simple as it had seemed before chapter 11. David's sin will have consequences that will affect his family long after. But the chapter also shows that this failure has not caused God to entirely give up His purposes for David. David confessed his sin, received forgiveness, mourned his loss, and gave comfort to Bathsheba. He continued to be the king, but his life was no longer as easy as it had been.
2 Samuel 12 is a chapter of confronting sin and receiving God's mercy and continuing to live and govern in His ways. Nathan forced David to confront the truth about what he had done. David confessed, but he still had to live with the consequences of his sin. The chapter also shows the great mercy of God. David's sin was a great one, and it had many painful consequences, but God still allowed David's family to continue on in His purpose. Solomon was born, and God's plan for the house of David continued.
The story is a most important reminder that power does not excuse anyone from God's laws. David was a king chosen by God, but he was still held accountable to those laws. His greatest need at the moment was repentance and turning back to the Lord.
The chapter opens with the Lord sending Nathan the prophet to David.
Nathan does not confront David immediately. Nathan recounts a parable involving two men in a city.
One man was rich and the other poor.
The rich man had many sheep and cattle. The poor man had nothing except a little ewe lamb that he had bought and raised. The lamb had grown with him and his children. It ate from his bread, drank from his cup, and laid in his bosom. It was like his daughter to him.
Then a traveler came to the house of the rich man.
The rich man was unwilling to take any of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the guest.
Instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for his meal.
At the story, David's wrath was kindled against the rich man.
He said that the rich man's deserved to die, and that he should make restitution to the poor man for the lamb that he had taken four times for the insult, because he had no pity.
Nathan then told David the answer that was required of him.
He said, "Thou art the man."
David had unknowingly condemned himself.
Nathan said that God had given David so much in providing him with an inheritance in Israel, delivering him out of the hands of Saul, and giving him the house of Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, God said He would have been even better.
But David had despised the commandment of the Lord.
Nathan said that David had taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite and that he had caused the man to be slain by the sword of the children of Ammon.
Nathan spoke concerning the punishment God had prepared for David.
The sword should never depart from David's house.
Although David had secretly taken his neighbor's wife, evil would come upon David's own family. God said that He would allow evil to arise against David from within his own house.
Nathan said that although David had acted secretly, God would make it known to everyone.
David immediately confessed.
He said, "I have sinned against the LORD."
Nathan told David that the Lord had put away his sin, and that he would not die.
However, the sin would not be without retribution.
Nathan said that because David's act had made it possible for the enemies of the Lord to curse Him, the child that Bathsheba bore should die.
Nathan then departed from David's presence.
The child fell sick.
David pleaded with God concerning the child to save it, and he fasted until the day that it died. He lay on the ground in grief, but the elders of his household entreated him to rise and take food. He refused, and when they saw that the child had died, he knew it when he saw that they were all whispering together.
David asked if the child was dead, and they said that he was. David then arose from the ground, washed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshipped and then went home and ate. They did not know what he had done.
They asked why he had fasted and wept over the child while it was alive, but now he had done as the living did when they rejoiced. He said that while the child was alive, he hoped that perhaps the Lord would show mercy and spare the child. But now that the child had died, he could do nothing to bring him back.
David said that one day he would return to the child, but the child would not return to him.
After this, David consoled Bathsheba and went to her, and she became pregnant again. She bore him another son, and David called him Solomon.
The Lord loved Solomon, and He sent word by Nathan to David. Nathan spoke concerning a different name for Solomon, Jedidiah, the beloved of the Lord.
The chapter turns back to the battle with Ammon, where Joab had been besieging Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. He took the city and sent word to David concerning it, saying that he should come to take it. Joab warned David that if he captured Rabbah, the victory would be remembered by David's name and not Joab's.
David gathered the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it. He took the city and took the crown from the head of the Ammonite king, a crown which was very valuable. It was a talent of gold and precious stones. David put it on his head.
He took much spoil from the city, and he carried the people there into bondage under his power.
After this, David and the army returned to Jerusalem.
The chapter closes the account of the war with Ammon while also showing that David has entered into a new stage of his life, one not quite as joyful as before chapter 11.
The most important part of the chapter was Nathan's use of the rich man's story.
David was able to recognize injustice in what had happened to the poor man and became angry with the rich man because he had been so selfish in not sharing what he had in abundance. David did not at first realize that the story was describing his own behavior. He had many wives and great wealth, and yet he took Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. The story forced David to realize what he had done.
Nathan also pointed out to David that his sin was not only a private matter between himself and Bathsheba. David had abused the power God had given him and had despised the commandment of the Lord.
David's response was brief and simple.
He did not argue with Nathan. He did not blame Bathsheba nor did he blame Uriah. He simply said, "I have sinned against the LORD."
The confession does not eliminate all consequences, but it shows that David realizes what he has done. Another important lesson from the chapter is the difference between forgiveness and consequences. Nathan told David that his sins had been put away, yet the child still died and God had promised to bring trouble to David's family. The chapter does not show that once God forgives us, all of our earthly troubles are forgotten. David received mercy from God, yet his sin still brought great trouble and grief to him and his family.
The death of the child was one of the most grievous moments in David's life. The passage shows the great prayer and fasting David did while he was sick. Once the child died, David accepted this and worshipped God. He said that he would go to the child, but the child would not return to him. Many have seen these words as an example of the hope of the resurrection, but the chapter shows that he understood death as a separation that he could not overcome in this life.
The birth of Solomon is also extremely important.
Solomon would eventually succeed David as king and have the great responsibility of building the house that David desired to build. The fact that God loved Solomon shows that David's failure did not stop God's plan for his family.
The final part of the chapter turns back to the war with Ammon. This can seem a change of subject after David's story, but it reminds the reader that David's responsibilities as king continue to demand his attention even as his personal life is being tested.
The chapter turns from the judgment of God on David to his grief and mercy and then back again to the matters of family and national leadership.
David's life was no longer as simple as it had seemed before chapter 11. David's sin will have consequences that will affect his family long after. But the chapter also shows that this failure has not caused God to entirely give up His purposes for David. David confessed his sin, received forgiveness, mourned his loss, and gave comfort to Bathsheba. He continued to be the king, but his life was no longer as easy as it had been.
2 Samuel 12 is a chapter of confronting sin and receiving God's mercy and continuing to live and govern in His ways. Nathan forced David to confront the truth about what he had done. David confessed, but he still had to live with the consequences of his sin. The chapter also shows the great mercy of God. David's sin was a great one, and it had many painful consequences, but God still allowed David's family to continue on in His purpose. Solomon was born, and God's plan for the house of David continued.
The story is a most important reminder that power does not excuse anyone from God's laws. David was a king chosen by God, but he was still held accountable to those laws. His greatest need at the moment was repentance and turning back to the Lord.