hath done this is worthy to
die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this
thing, and because he had no pity."

And 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; and if that had
been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such things.
Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do that which is
evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah 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. Now therefore, the sword shall never
depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken
the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife."

{433}{434}

[Illustration]
RUINS OF RABBATH AMMON

An important city in Moab, taken by David.
Used by special permission of the Palestine Exploration Fund.

It was during the long siege of this city that Uriah the Hittite,
whose wife David wished as his own, was killed. The army of Joab,
David's general, encamped about the city and finally by the capture
of the springs which supplied water to the people the strong walled
place fell. Joab sent for David, so that he was on the ground when
the last assault was made and the city was taken. Very rich spoil
fell into the hands of the victors
[End illustration]

{435}

And David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord."

And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou
shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that
is born unto thee shall surely die."

And Nathan departed to his house.

And the child which had been born to David was very sick. David
therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in,
and lay all night upon the earth. And 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 with them. 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 unto him, and he hearkened not to our voice: what
will he then do if we tell him that the child is dead?"

But when David saw that his servants whispered together, David
perceived