1 Herren sendte Natan til David. Natan kom til ham og sa: Det var to menn i samme by, den ene var rik og den andre fattig.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.

2 Den rike mannen hadde mange saueflokker og storfe.

The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds;

3 Men den fattige mannen hadde bare ett lite lam, som han hadde kjøpt og stelt pent med. Den vokste opp hos ham som en av hans egne barn. Den spiste av hans brød, drakk av hans kopp, og lå i fanget hans. Den var som en datter for ham.

But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.

4 Så kom en reisende til den rike mannen. Men han ville ikke ta noe av sine egne dyr for å lage til et måltid for den reisende som hadde kommet til ham. I stedet tok han det fattige mannens lam og forberedte det for gjesten.

Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come.

5 Da ble David rasende og sa til Natan: Så sant Herren lever, den mannen som har gjort dette fortjener å dø!

And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this:

6 Han skal betale fire ganger verdien av lammet fordi han gjorde dette og ikke viste medfølelse.

And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity.

7 Natan sa til David: Du er den mannen. Herren, Israels Gud, sier: Jeg salvet deg til konge over Israel og reddet deg fra Sauls hånd.

And Nathan said to David, You are that man. The Lord God of Israel says, I made you king over Israel, putting holy oil on you, and I kept you safe from the hands of Saul;

8 Jeg ga deg din herres hus og dine herres koner i dine armer. Jeg ga deg Israels og Judas hus. Og hvis det ikke var nok, ville jeg ha gitt deg enda mer.

I gave you your master's daughter and your master's wives for yourself, and I gave you the daughters of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you such and such things.

9 Hvorfor har du da foraktet Herrens ord ved å gjøre det som er ondt i hans øyne? Du har drept hetitten Uria med sverdet, og tatt hans kone til kone for deg. Du har drept ham med ammonittenes sverd.

Why then have you had no respect for the word of the Lord, doing what is evil in his eyes? You have put Uriah the Hittite to death with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife; you have put him to death with the sword of the children of Ammon.

10 Nå skal sverdet aldri vike fra din slekt fordi du har foraktet meg og tatt Uria hetittens kone til din kone.

So now the sword will never be turned away from your family; because you have had no respect for me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

11 Herren sier: Fra ditt eget hus skal jeg bringe ulykker over deg. Foran dine egne øyne vil jeg ta dine koner og gi dem til en annen, og han skal ligge med dem i fullt dagslys.

The Lord says, From those of your family I will send evil against you, and before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he will take your wives to his bed by the light of this sun.

12 Du gjorde dette i hemmelighet, men jeg vil gjøre dette foran hele Israel og i solens lys.

You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun.

13 Davids sa til Natan: Jeg har syndet mot Herren. Natan svarte: Herren har tatt bort din synd; du skal ikke dø.

And David said to Nathan, Great is my sin against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord has put away your sin; death will not come on you.

14 Likevel, fordi du ikke viste respekt for Herren, skal barnet som nettopp er født for deg, dø.

But still, because you have had no respect for the Lord, death will certainly overtake the child who has newly come to birth.

15 Da gikk Natan hjem. Herrens hånd lå tungt på det barnet som var født av Urias kone til David, og det ble meget sykt.

Then Nathan went back to his house. And the hand of the Lord was on David's son, the child of Uriah's wife, and it became very ill.

16 Så ba David til Gud for barnet. Han fastet strengt og lå på jorden hele natten.

So David made prayer to God for the child; and he took no food day after day, and went in and, stretching himself out on the earth, was there all night.

17 De eldste i hans hus prøvde å få ham til å reise seg fra jorden, men han ville ikke og spiste heller ikke mat sammen med dem.

And the chief men of his house got up and went to his side to make him get up from the earth, but he would not; and he would not take food with them.

18 Den syvende dagen døde barnet. Davids tjenere fryktet for å fortelle ham det: For mens barnet ennå levde, ville han ikke høre på oss. Hvordan skal vi så si til ham at barnet er dødt? Han kan skade seg selv.

And then on the seventh day the child's death took place. And David's servants were in fear of giving him the news of the child's death: for they said, Truly, while the child was still living he gave no attention when we said anything to him: what will he do to himself if we give him word that the child is dead?

19 Men da David så at tjenerne hvisket sammen, forstod han at barnet var dødt. Han spurte: Er barnet dødt? De svarte: Ja, det er dødt.

But when David saw that his servants were talking together quietly, he was certain that the child was dead: and he said to his servants, Is the child dead? and they said, He is.

20 Så reiste David seg fra jorden, vasket seg, salvet seg og skiftet klær. Han gikk inn i Herrens hus og tilbad. Deretter gikk han hjem, og ba om mat, og han spiste.

Then David got up from the earth, and after washing and rubbing himself with oil and changing his clothing, he went into the house of the Lord and gave worship: then he went back to his house, and at his order they put food before him and he had a meal.

21 Tjenerne hans spurte: Hvorfor oppfører du deg slik? Mens barnet levde sørget du og fastet; men nå som det er dødt, står du opp og spiser.

Then his servants said to him, Why have you been acting in this way? you were weeping and going without food while the child was still living; but when the child was dead, you got up and had a meal.

22 Han svarte: Mens barnet ennå levde, fastet jeg og gråt. Jeg tenkte: Kanskje vil Herren gi meg nåde og la barnet leve.

And he said, While the child was still living I went without food and gave myself up to weeping: for I said, Who is able to say that the Lord will not have mercy on me and give the child life?

23 Men nå som det er dødt, hvorfor skulle jeg da faste? Kan jeg bringe det tilbake? Jeg vil gå til det, men det vil ikke vende tilbake til meg.

But now that the child is dead there is no reason for me to go without food; am I able to make him come back to life? I will go to him, but he will never come back to me.

24 David trøstet sin kone Batseba. Han gikk inn til henne og var sammen med henne, og hun fødte en sønn. De kalte ham Salomo, og Herren elsket ham.

And David gave comfort to his wife Bath-sheba, and he went in to her and had connection with her: and she had a son to whom she gave the name Solomon. And he was dear to the Lord.

25 Herren sendte bud gjennom profeten Natan, og ga ham navnet Jedidja, etter Herrens mening.

And he sent word by Nathan the prophet, who gave him the name Jedidiah, by the word of the Lord.

26 Joab kjempet mot Rabba i ammonittenes land, og han tok vanntårnet.

Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town.

27 Joab sendte bud til David og sa: Jeg har kjempet mot Rabba og tatt vanntårnet.

And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.

28 Samle nå resten av folket, sett leir mot byen og innta den, eller vil jeg selv ta den, og den vil bli kalt ved mitt navn.

So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name.

29 David samlet hele folket, dro til Rabba, kjempet der og inntok byen.

Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it.

30 Han tok kronen fra Milkoms hode, som veide en talent gull, med edelstener, og satte den på sitt eget hode. Han tok også en stor mengde bytte fra byen.

And he took the crown of Milcom from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were stones of great price; and it was put on David's head. And he took a great store of goods from the town.

31 Han tok folket ut derfra og satte dem til å arbeide med sag og andre redskaper av jern og bronse og ved teglproduksjon. Dette gjorde han med alle ammonittenes byer. Så vendte David og hele folket tilbake til Jerusalem.

And he took the people out of the town and put them to work with wood-cutting instruments, and iron grain-crushers, and iron axes, and at brick-making: this he did to all the towns of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people went back to Jerusalem.