2 Samuel 12-14, Psalm 80

When we last left King David, he had slept with another man’s wife, and when it came to light that she was pregnant, he designed a conspiracy to kill Uriah in order to cover up his own adultery. Today Nathan comes to David with a word from the Lord. Because of his sin, the Lord says that he will take David’s wives and give them to another before all of Israel, and by the end of our next reading, that prophecy comes true. David’s sons begin to perpetuate their father’s wickedness, as Amnon lusts after Tamar, his own half-sister. When David discovers that Tamar has been raped by Amnon, he is furious, but does nothing to intervene.