[From “David and Bethsabe,” a Sacred Drama, by George Peel, 1599.]
Nathan. David.
Nath. Thus Nathan saith unto his Lord the King:
There were two men both dwellers in one town;
The one was mighty, and exceeding rich
In oxen, sheep, and cattle of the field;
The other poor, having nor ox, nor calf,
Nor other cattle, save one little lamb,
Which he had bought, and nourish’d by his hand.
And it grew up, and fed with him and his,
And ate and drank as he and his were wont,
And in his bosom slept, and was to live
As was his daughter or his dearest child.—
There came a stranger to this wealthy man,
And he refused and spared to take his own,
Or of his store to dress or make his meat,
But took the poor man’s sheep, partly poor man’s store;
And drest it for this stranger in his house.
What, tell me, shall be done to him for this?
Dav. Now, as the Lord doth live, this wicked man
Is judged, and shall became the child of death;
Fourfold to the poor man he shall restore,
That without mercy took his lamb away.
Nath. Thou art the man, and thou hast judged thyself.—
David, thus saith the Lord thy God by me:
I thee anointed King in Israel,
And saved thee from the tyranny of Saul;
Thy master’s house I gave thee to possess,
His wives unto thy bosom I did give,
And Juda and Jerusalem withal;
And might, thou know’st, if this had been too small,
Have given thee more.
Wherefore then hast thou gone so far astray,
And hast done evil, and sinned in my sight?
Urias thou hast killed with the sword,
Yea with the sword of the uncircumcised
Thou hast him slain; wherefore from this day forth
The sword shall never go from thee and thine:
For thou hast ta’en this Hithite’s wife to thee,
Wherefore behold I will, saith Jacob’s God,
In thine own house stir evil up to thee,
Yea I before thy face will take thy wives,
And give them to thy neighbour to possess.
This shall be done to David in the day,
That Israel openly may see thy shame.
Dav. Nathan, I have against the Lord, I have
Sinned, oh sinned grievously, and lo!
From heaven’s throne doth David throw himself,
And groan and grovel to the gates of hell.
Nath. David, stand up; thus saith the Lord by me,
David the King shall live, for he hath seen
The true repentant sorrow of thy heart;
But for thou hast in this misdeed of thine
Stirr’d up the enemies of Israel
To triumph and blaspheme the Lord of Hosts,
And say, “He set a wicked man to reign
Over his loved people and his tribes;”
The Child shall surely die, that erst was born,
His Mother’s sin, his Kingly Father’s scorn.
Dav. How just is Jacob’s God in all his works!
But must it die, that David loveth so?
O that the mighty one of Israel
Nill change his doom, and says the Babe must die
Mourn, Israel, and weep in Sion gates;
Wither, ye cedar trees of Lebanon;
Ye sprouting almonds with your flowing tops,
Droop, drown, and drench in Hebron’s fearful streams:
The Babe must die, that was to David born,
His Mother’s sin, his Kingly Father’s scorn.
C. L.
[182] The hum of Bees.
Dissertations on Doomsday.
For the Table Book.