¹ And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

² The rich had very many flocks and herds;

³ but the poor man had nothing at all, but one little ewe lamb which he had bought, and was nourishing; and it grew up with him, and together with his children: it ate of his morsel, and drank of his own cup, and slept in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter.

⁴ And there came a traveller to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that had come to him; and he took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him.

⁵ Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this thing is worthy of death;

⁶ and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

⁷ And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man! Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

⁸ and 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] had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

⁹ Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah to do evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Urijah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

¹⁰ Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urijah the Hittite to be thy wife.

¹¹ Thus saith Jehovah: 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.

¹² For thou didst [it] secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.

¹³ And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said to David, Jehovah has also put away thy sin: thou shalt not die.

¹⁴ Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, even the child that is born to thee shall certainly die.

¹⁵ And Nathan departed to his house. And Jehovah smote the child that Urijah's wife bore to David, and it became very sick.

¹⁶ And David besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the earth.

¹⁷ And the elders of his house arose, [and went] to him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, and he ate no bread with them.

¹⁸ And 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 to him, and he would not hearken to our voice; and how shall we say to him, The child is dead? he may do some harm.

¹⁹ But David saw that his servants whispered, and David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

²⁰ Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing, and entered into the house of Jehovah and worshipped; then he came to his own house and required them to set bread before him, and he ate.

²¹ And his servants said to him, What thing is this which thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child alive; but as soon as the child is dead, thou dost rise and eat bread.

²² And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, Who knows? [perhaps] Jehovah will be gracious to me, that the child may live.

²³ But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

²⁴ And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her; and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon; and Jehovah loved him.

²⁵ And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake.

²⁶ And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

²⁷ And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.

²⁸ And now gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city and take it: lest I take the city and it be called by my name.

²⁹ And David gathered all the people, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it and took it.

³⁰ And he took the crown of their king from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold with [the] precious stones; and it was [set] on David's head; and he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

³¹ And he brought out the people that were in it, and put them under the saw, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkilns. And so did he to all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

¹ I made a covenant with mine eyes; and how should I fix my regard upon a maid?

² For what would have been [my] portion of +God from above, and what the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

³ Is not calamity for the unrighteous? and misfortune for the workers of iniquity?

⁴ Doth not he see my ways, and number all my steps?

⁵ If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot hath hasted to deceit,

⁶ (Let me be weighed in an even balance, and +God will take knowledge of my blamelessness;)

⁷ If my step have turned out of the way, and my heart followed mine eyes, and if any blot cleaveth to my hands;

⁸ Let me sow, and another eat; and let mine offspring be rooted out.

⁹ If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, so that I laid wait at my neighbour's door,

¹⁰ Let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her.

¹¹ For this is an infamy; yea, it is an iniquity [to be judged by] the judges:

¹² For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

¹³ If I have despised the cause of my bondman or of my bondmaid, when they contended with me,

¹⁴ What then should I do when ùGod riseth up? and if he visited, what should I answer him?

¹⁵ Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not One fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶ If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

¹⁷ Or have eaten my morsel alone, so that the fatherless ate not thereof,

¹⁸ (For from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and I have guided the [widow] from my mother's womb;)

¹⁹ If I have seen any perishing for want of clothing, or any needy without covering;

²⁰ If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my lambs;

²¹ If I have lifted up my hand against an orphan, because I saw my help in the gate:

²² [Then] let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone!

²³ For calamity from ùGod was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I was powerless.

²⁴ If I have made gold my hope, or said to the fine gold, My confidence!

²⁵ If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

²⁶ If I beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness,

²⁷ And my heart have been secretly enticed, so that my mouth kissed my hand:

²⁸ This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the ùGod who is above.

²⁹ If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, and exulted when evil befell him;

³⁰ (Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse;)

³¹ If the men of my tent said not, Who shall find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat? --

³² The stranger did not lodge without; I opened my doors to the pathway.

³³ If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴ Because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and went not out of the door, ...

³⁵ Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold my signature: let the Almighty answer me! And let mine opponent write an accusation!

³⁶ Would I not take it upon my shoulder? I would bind it on to me [as] a crown;

³⁷ I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I come near to him.

³⁸ If my land cry out against me, and its furrows weep together;

³⁹ If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have tormented to death the souls of its owners:

⁴⁰ Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and tares instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.