Natã repreende David
1-2O Senhor mandou o profeta Natã contar esta história a David: “Havia dois homens numa cidade. Um deles era bastante rico, possuindo rebanhos de cordeiros e manadas de vacas. 3O outro, muito pobre, tinha apenas uma pequena ovelha que conseguira comprar e que criara em casa. Crescera com os seus próprios filhos; muitas vezes tirara alimento do seu prato para lhe dar; dera-lhe a beber do seu copo; dormira no seu regaço como uma filha.
4Certo dia, chegou a casa do rico um hóspede. Em vez de matar um cordeiro do seu rebanho para o jantar do viajante, foi buscar a ovelha do pobre, assou-a e serviu-a ao convidado.”
5David ficou furioso ao ouvir aquilo: “Tão certo como vive o Senhor, que quem quer que tenha feito uma coisa dessas deve morrer. 6Deverá pagar quatro ovelhas pela que roubou e por não ter tido misericórdia.”
7“Tu és esse homem!”, disse-lhe Natã. “O Senhor Deus de Israel manda dizer: ‘Consagrei-te rei de Israel e salvei-te do poder de Saul. 8Dei-te a família e as mulheres do teu senhor, e os reinos de Israel e de Judá. Se isso não bastasse, dar-te-ia muito mais. 9Porque é que então desprezaste a palavra do Senhor, e praticaste uma ação tão má? Enviaste Urias para ser morto em batalha, por intermédio da espada dos amonitas, e roubaste-lhe a mulher. 10Por isso, o assassínio será uma constante ameaça no seio da tua família daqui em diante, pois insultaste-me, tomando para ti a mulher de Urias.
11Garanto-te que, em razão daquilo que fizeste, a tua própria casa se revoltará contra ti. Darei as tuas mulheres a outro homem, que dormirá com elas à luz do dia. 12Enquanto tu o fizeste secretamente, eu tomarei providências para que tal se passe abertamente, para que sirva de sinal a todo o Israel.’ ”
13“Pequei contra o Senhor”, confessou David a Natã. Este respondeu: “Sim, mas o Senhor perdoou-te. Não morrerás por causa deste pecado. 14No entanto, deste uma grande oportunidade aos inimigos do Senhor para que o desprezem e blasfemem dele. Por isso, a criança que nasceu morrerá.”
15Natã retirou-se. O Senhor permitiu que o menino de Bate-Seba ficasse muito doente. 16David implorou a Deus que poupasse o filho; deixou de comer e ficou prostrado no chão, a noite inteira. 17Os responsáveis pela sua casa imploravam-lhe que se levantasse e fosse comer com eles, mas sempre recusou.
18Então, ao fim de sete dias, o bebé morreu. Os criados tinham receio de lho ir dizer: “Se estava daquela maneira quando a criança se encontrava doente, o que não será quando lhe comunicarmos que já faleceu?”
19David, no entanto, reparando naqueles sussurros, percebeu o que acontecera. “A criança morreu?”, perguntou. “Sim, já faleceu.”
20Então levantou-se, foi-se lavar, arranjou o cabelo, mudou de roupa, dirigiu-se ao tabernáculo e adorou o Senhor. Regressou ao palácio e comeu.
21Os criados estavam atónitos: “Não percebemos nada”, disseram. “Enquanto a criança estava com vida, choraste e recusaste comer; agora que está morta, acabaste com o choro e tornaste a comer.”
22“Se jejuei e chorei, enquanto a criança vivia, é porque pensava assim: Pode ser que o Senhor me conceda a graça de permitir que o bebé sobreviva. 23Por que razão haveria de continuar a jejuar depois de ele morrer? Poderia fazê-lo ressuscitar? Eu sim, poderei ir ter com ele, mas o menino não vem mais ter comigo.”
24Depois foi consolar Bate-Seba. Tornando a dormir com ela, nasceu-lhe outro filho a quem chamou Salomão. O Senhor amou a criança. 25Mandou abençoá-la através do profeta Natã. O rei chamou ao menino Jedidias, que quer dizer “amado do Senhor”, devido ao interesse que o Senhor manifestou.
A conquista de Rabá
(1 Cr 20.1-3)
26Entretanto, Joabe e o exército de Israel estavam a terminar vitoriosamente o assalto a Rabá, capital dos amonitas. 27O general mandou mensageiros a David: “Rabá, com o seu depósito de água, é já nossa! 28Traz o resto do exército e finaliza o combate, para que recebas o crédito da vitória e não eu.”
29David conduziu o exército até Rabá e capturou-a. 30Deslocando-se ao local da batalha, tirou a coroa da cabeça do rei de Rabá, que se chamava Milcom, e colocou-a na sua própria cabeça. Era feita toda de ouro, com pedras preciosas incrustadas, e pesava 34 quilos. Levou também da cidade grande despojo. 31Obrigou ainda o povo da cidade a trabalhar com serras, machados e picaretas e como fabricantes de tijolos. Foi desta forma que capturou todas as cidades dos amonitas. David e todo o seu exército regressaram a Jerusalém.
Nathan Tells David He Has Sinned
1The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. When Nathan came to him, he said, “Two men lived in the same town. One was rich. The other was poor. 2The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle. 3But all the poor man had was one little female lamb. He had bought it. He raised it. It grew up with him and his children. It shared his food. It drank from his cup. It even slept in his arms. It was just like a daughter to him.
4“One day a traveler came to the rich man. The rich man wanted to prepare a meal for him. But he didn’t want to kill one of his own sheep or cattle. Instead, he took the little female lamb that belonged to the poor man. Then the rich man cooked it for the traveler who had come to him.”
5David was very angry with the rich man. He said to Nathan, “The man who did this must die! And that’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. 6The man must pay back four times as much as that lamb was worth. How could he do such a thing? And he wasn’t even sorry he had done it.”
7Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I anointed you king over Israel. I saved you from Saul. 8I gave you everything that belonged to your master Saul. I even put his wives into your arms. I made you king over all the people of Israel and Judah. And if all of that had not been enough for you, I would have given you even more. 9Why did you turn your back on what I told you to do? You did what is evil in my sight. You made sure that Uriah, the Hittite, would be killed in battle. You took his wife to be your own. You let the men of Ammon kill him with their swords. 10So time after time members of your own royal house will be killed with swords. That’s because you turned your back on me. You took the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be your own.’
11“The Lord also says, ‘I am going to bring trouble on you. It will come from your own family. I will take your wives away. Your own eyes will see it. I will give your wives to a man who is close to you. He will sleep with them in the middle of the day. 12You committed your sins in secret. But I will make sure that the man commits his sin in the middle of the day. Everyone in Israel will see it.’ ”
13Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You aren’t going to die. 14But you have dared to show great disrespect for the Lord. So the son who has been born to you will die.”
15Nathan went home. Then the Lord made David’s child very sick. That was the child David had by Uriah’s wife. 16David begged God to heal the child. David didn’t eat anything. He spent his nights lying on the ground. He put on the rough clothes people wear when they’re sad. 17His most trusted servants stood beside him. They wanted him to get up from the ground. But he refused to do it. And he wouldn’t eat any food with them.
18On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him the child was dead. They thought, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to David. But he wouldn’t listen to us. So how can we now tell him the child is dead? He might do something terrible to himself.”
19David saw that his attendants were whispering to one another. Then he realized the child was dead. “Has the child died?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied. “He’s dead.”
20Then David got up from the ground. After he washed himself, he put on lotions. He changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped him. Then he went to his own house. He asked for some food. They served it to him. And he ate it.
21His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting like this? While the child was still alive, you wouldn’t eat anything. You cried a lot. But now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
22He answered, “While the child was still alive, I didn’t eat anything. And I cried a lot. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord might have mercy on me. He might let the child live.’ 23But now he’s dead. So why should I continue to go without food? Can I bring him back to life again? Someday I’ll go to him. But he won’t return to me.”
24Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and slept with her. Some time later she had a son. He was given the name Solomon. The Lord loved him. 25So the Lord sent a message through Nathan the prophet. The Lord said, “Name the boy Jedidiah.”
26During that time, Joab fought against Rabbah. It was the royal city of the Ammonites. It had high walls around it. Joab was about to capture it. 27He sent messengers to David. He told them to say, “I have fought against Rabbah. I’ve taken control of its water supply. 28So bring the rest of the troops together. Surround the city and get ready to attack it. Then capture it. If you don’t, I’ll capture it myself. Then it will be named after me.”
29So David brought together the whole army and went to Rabbah. He attacked it and captured it. 30David took the gold crown off the head of the king of Ammon. Then the crown was placed on David’s head. The crown weighed 75 pounds. It had jewels in it. David took a huge amount of goods from the city. 31He brought out the people who were there. He made them work with saws and iron picks and axes. He forced them to make bricks. David did that to all the towns in Ammon. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
