Nathan Rebukes David

12 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.²The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle,³but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

⁵David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die!⁶He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.⁸I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.⁹Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.¹⁰Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹¹“This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.¹²You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

¹³Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.¹⁴But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.”

¹⁵After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.¹⁶David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground.¹⁷The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

¹⁹David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

²⁰Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

²¹His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

²²He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’²³But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

²⁴Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him;²⁵and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.

²⁶Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel.²⁷Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply.²⁸Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

²⁹So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it.³⁰David took the crown from their king’s head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city³¹and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.²They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.³They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.⁴I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,⁵but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’⁶Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.⁷But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.⁸When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:⁹about sin, because people do not believe in me;¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;¹¹and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

¹²“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.¹³But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.¹⁴He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.¹⁵All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

¹⁶Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

¹⁷At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”¹⁸They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

¹⁹Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?²⁰Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.²¹A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.²²So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.²³In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

²⁵“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.²⁶In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.²⁷No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.²⁸I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

²⁹Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.³⁰Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

³¹“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.³²“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

³³“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

⁶⁵Do good to your servant
    according to your word, LORD.
⁶⁶Teach me knowledge and good judgment,
    for I trust your commands.
⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I went astray,
    but now I obey your word.
⁶⁸You are good, and what you do is good;
    teach me your decrees.
⁶⁹Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,
    I keep your precepts with all my heart.
⁷⁰Their hearts are callous and unfeeling,
    but I delight in your law.
⁷¹It was good for me to be afflicted
    so that I might learn your decrees.
⁷²The law from your mouth is more precious to me
    than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

⁷³Your hands made me and formed me;
    give me understanding to learn your commands.
⁷⁴May those who fear you rejoice when they see me,
    for I have put my hope in your word.
⁷⁵I know, LORD, that your laws are righteous,
    and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
⁷⁶May your unfailing love be my comfort,
    according to your promise to your servant.
⁷⁷Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
    for your law is my delight.
⁷⁸May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause;
    but I will meditate on your precepts.
⁷⁹May those who fear you turn to me,
    those who understand your statutes.
⁸⁰May I wholeheartedly follow your decrees,
    that I may not be put to shame.

⁴The LORD works out everything to its proper end—
    even the wicked for a day of disaster.

⁵The LORD detests all the proud of heart.
    Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.