1. The 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.
2. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle.
3. But 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 he cooked it for the traveler who had come to him."
5. David burned with anger against the rich man. He said to Nathan, "The man who did that is worthy of death. And that's just as sure as the Lord is alive.
6. The 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."