1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,
“There were two men in a city, the one wealthy and the other poor.
2 The wealthy man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nurtured;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat scraps from him and drink from his cup and lie in his lap,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 Now a visitor came to the wealthy man,
And he could not bring himself to take any animal from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;
So he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this certainly deserves to die! 6 So he must make restitution for the lamb four times over, since he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘It is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you your master’s house and put your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now then, the sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 Indeed, you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and in open daylight.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. 14 However, since by this deed you have shown utter disrespect for the Lord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.
Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. 18 Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to us. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm?” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20 So David got up from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and when he asked, they served him food, and he ate.
21 Then 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 got up and ate food.” 22 And he said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ 23 But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I am going to him, but he will not return to me.”
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and slept with her; and she gave birth to a son, and he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.
26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27 Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28 Now then, gather the rest of the people and camp opposite the city and capture it, or I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” 29 So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. 30 Then he took the crown of their king from his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and it had a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the plunder of the city in great amounts. 31 He also brought out the people who were in it, and put some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made others serve at the brick works. And he did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
1 For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked. 4 For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade people, but we are well known to God; and I hope that we are also well known in your consciences. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. 13 For if we have lost our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 “As for you, take up a song of mourning for the leaders of Israel 2 and say,
‘What was your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions,
She raised her cubs.
3 When she brought up one of her cubs,
He became a young lion,
And he learned to tear his prey;
He devoured people.
4 Then nations heard about him;
He was caught in their trap,
And they brought him with hooks
To the land of Egypt.
5 When she saw, as she waited,
That her hope was lost,
She took another of her cubs
And made him a young lion.
6 And he walked about among the lions,
He became a young lion;
He learned to tear his prey;
He devoured people.
7 He destroyed their palaces
And laid waste their cities;
And the land and its fullness were appalled
Because of the sound of his roaring.
8 Then nations set against him
On every side from their provinces,
And they spread their net over him;
He was caught in their trap.
9 They put him in a wooden collar with hooks
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in hunting nets
So that his voice would no longer be heard
On the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and thick with branches
Because of abundant waters.
11 And it had strong stems fit for scepters of rulers,
And its height was raised above the clouds
So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
12 But it was uprooted in fury;
It was thrown down to the ground;
And the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong stem was torn out
So that it withered;
The fire consumed it.
13 And now it is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
14 And fire has gone out from its stem;
It has consumed its shoots and fruit,
So that there is no strong stem in it,
A scepter to rule.’”
This is a song of mourning, and has become a song of mourning.
1 Hear my voice, God, in my complaint;
Protect my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret discussion of evildoers,
From the restlessness of the workers of injustice,
3 Who have sharpened their tongues like a sword.
They aimed bitter speech as their arrows,
4 To shoot from concealment at the innocent;
Suddenly they shoot at him, and do not fear.
5 They make firm for themselves an evil purpose;
They talk of setting snares secretly;
They say, “Who can see them?”
6 They devise injustices, saying,
“We are ready with a well-conceived plot”;
For the inward thought and the heart of a person are deep.
7 But God will shoot an arrow at them;
Suddenly they will be wounded.
8 So they will make him stumble;
Their own tongue is against them;
All who see them will shake their heads.
9 Then all people will fear,
And they will declare the work of God,
And will consider what He has done.
10 The righteous person will be glad in the Lord and take refuge in Him;
And all the upright in heart will boast.
1 There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, God,
And the vow will be fulfilled for You.
2 You who hear prayer,
To You all mankind comes.
3 Wrongdoings prevail against me;
As for our offenses, You forgive them.
4 Blessed is the one You choose and allow to approach You;
He will dwell in Your courtyards.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, God of our salvation,
You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth and the farthest sea;
6 Who establishes the mountains by His strength,
Who is encircled with might;
7 Who stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the turmoil of the nations.
8 They who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the sunrise and the sunset shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and cause it to overflow;
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their grain, for so You prepare the earth.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
You settle its ridges,
You soften it with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You have crowned the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with fatness.
12 The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the hills encircle themselves with rejoicing.
13 The meadows are clothed with flocks
And the valleys are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, yes, they sing.
