2 Samuel 12 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

So Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said, "There were two men in a certain town — one rich, one poor.

The rich man had huge flocks and herds — more than he could count.

But the poor man had nothing at all except one tiny lamb he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children. It ate from his plate, drank from his cup, and slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man couldn't bring himself to take from his own flocks or herds to prepare a meal for his guest. So he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to visit him."

David's anger burned hot against the man. He said to Nathan, "As surely as Yahweh lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

He must pay back four times what the lamb was worth — because he did this thing, and because he had no compassion."

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel. I rescued you from Saul's power.

I gave you your master's household and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that wasn't enough, I would have given you even more.

Why did you treat Yahweh's word with contempt by doing what's evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You took his wife as your own. You killed him using the swords of the Ammonites.

So now, violence will never leave your household — because you treated me with contempt and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'

"This is what Yahweh says: 'Watch — I'm going to raise up disaster against you from within your own family. I will take your wives right in front of you and give them to someone close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.

You did what you did in secret, but I will do this in front of all Israel, in full daylight.'"

Then David said to Nathan, "I have failed Yahweh." Nathan replied, "Yahweh has also taken away your failure — you won't die.

However, because you've given Yahweh's enemies an opportunity to show total disrespect by doing this, the son born to you will die."

Then Nathan went home. And Yahweh struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became very sick.

David begged God for the child. He fasted and went inside and spent the night lying on the ground.

The senior officials of his household stood over him, trying to get him up from the ground, but he refused. He wouldn't even eat with them.

On the seventh day, the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him the child was dead. They said to each other, "Look — while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he wouldn't listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He might do something desperate."

But David noticed his servants whispering to each other, and he realized the child was dead. So David asked his servants, "Is the child dead?" They said, "He's dead."

Then David got up from the ground. He washed, put on lotions, changed his clothes, and went to Yahweh's house and worshiped. Then he went home and asked for food. They set it in front of him, and he ate.

His servants said to him, "What are you doing? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept. But now that the child is dead, you get up and eat?"

He said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, 'Who knows? Maybe Yahweh will be gracious to me and let the child live.'

But now that he's dead, why would I fast? Can I bring him back? I'll go to him one day, but he can't come back to me."

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Yahweh loved him,

and he sent word through Nathan the prophet, who named him Jedidiah — "Loved by Yahweh" — because Yahweh loved him.

Meanwhile, Joab had been fighting against Rabbah of the Ammonites and had captured the royal fortress.

Joab sent messengers to David saying, "I've fought against Rabbah and captured the water supply.

Now gather the rest of the army, set up camp against the city, and take it — otherwise I'll capture the city and it'll be named after me."

So David gathered the entire army, marched to Rabbah, fought against it, and captured it.

He took the crown from the head of their king — it weighed about seventy-five pounds of gold and had a precious stone in it — and it was placed on David's head. He also carried off a huge amount of plunder from the city.

He brought out the people who were in the city and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made them work at the brick kilns. He did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and the entire army returned to Jerusalem.