David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan: 'As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this deserveth to die; 6and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.'
7And Nathan said to David: 'Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that were too little, then would I add unto thee so much more. 9Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do that which is evil in My sight? Uriah the Hittite thou hast smitten with the sword, and his wife thou hast taken to be thy wife, and him thou hast slain with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised Me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.' 13And David said unto Nathan: 'I have sinned against the Lord.' And Nathan said unto David: 'The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast greatly blasphemed the enemies of the Lord, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.' 15And Nathan departed unto his house.
And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore unto David, and it was very sick. 16David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and as often as he went in, he lay all night upon the earth. 17And the elders of his house arose, and stood beside him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. 18And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said: 'Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice; how then shall we tell him that the child is dead, so that he do himself some harm?' 19But when David saw that his servants whispered together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said unto his servants: 'Is the child dead?' And they said: 'He is dead.' 20Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped; then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21Then said his servants unto him: 'What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.' 22And he said: 'While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said: Who knoweth whether the Lord will not be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.'
24And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore a son, and
379
