“You Are the Man”

¹The LORD sent Nathan to David. Nathan came to him and said, "There were two men living in the same city; one was rich and the other was poor." ²The rich man owned enormous flocks and herds. ³But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children, eating from his plate, drinking from his cup, and sleeping in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. ⁴A traveler came to visit the rich man, and instead of taking from his own flock and herd to prepare a meal for his guest, the rich man took the poor man's lamb and cooked it for his visitor. ⁵David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who did this thing shall surely die." ⁶And he must repay four times the value of the lamb, because he did this thing and had no pity. ⁷Nathan looked at David and said, "You are that man. This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel. I rescued you from Saul. ⁸I gave you your master's household and your master's wives. I gave you all of Israel and Judah. And if that hadn't been enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹So why did you despise the commandment of the LORD and do evil in his sight? You killed 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 shall never leave your house, because you have despised me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. ¹¹"The LORD also says this: 'I am going to bring disaster on you from within your own household. Right before your eyes, I will take your wives and give them to someone close to you, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight. ¹²You did what you did in secret, but I will make this happen in full view of all Israel, under the open sun.'" ¹³David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You will not die. ¹⁴However, because by this deed you have given the enemies of the LORD a great occasion to blaspheme, the child born to you will surely die. ¹⁵Then Nathan went home. The LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and the boy became very sick.