2 Samuel

1At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

2At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at.

3David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?”

4David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.

5The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

6David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David.

7When Uriah had come to him, David asked him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.

8David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him.

9But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and didn’t go down to his house.

10When they had told David, saying, “Uriah didn’t go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come from a journey? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”

11Uriah said to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing!”

12David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next day.

13When David had called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. At evening, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn’t go down to his house.

14In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

15He wrote in the letter, saying, “Send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck and die.”

16When Joab kept watch on the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were.

17The men of the city went out and fought with Joab. Some of the people fell, even of David’s servants; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

18Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;

19and he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the things concerning the war to the king,

20it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he asks you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn’t you know that they would shoot from the wall?

21Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

22So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for.

23The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field; and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate.

24The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”

25Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Make your battle stronger against the city, and overthrow it.’ Encourage him.”

26When Uriah’s wife heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.

27When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

1And it cometh to pass, at the revolution of the year — at the time of the going out of the messengers — that David sendeth Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroy the Bene-Ammon, and lay siege against Rabbah. And David is dwelling in Jerusalem,

2and it cometh to pass, at evening-time, that David riseth from off his couch, and walketh up and down on the roof of the king's house, and seeth from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman [is] of very good appearance,

3and David sendeth and inquireth about the woman, and saith, 'Is not this Bath-Sheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah the Hittite?'

4And David sendeth messengers, and taketh her, and she cometh unto him, and he lieth with her — and she is purifying herself from her uncleanness — and she turneth back unto her house;

5and the woman conceiveth, and sendeth, and declareth to David, and saith, 'I [am] conceiving.'

6And David sendeth unto Joab, 'Send unto me Uriah the Hittite,' and Joab sendeth Uriah unto David;

7and Uriah cometh unto him, and David asketh of the prosperity of Joab, and of the prosperity of the people, and of the prosperity of the war.

8And David saith to Uriah, 'Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet;' and Uriah goeth out of the king's house, and there goeth out after him a gift from the king,

9and Uriah lieth down at the opening of the king's house, with all the servants of his lord, and hath not gone down unto his house.

10And they declare to David, saying, 'Uriah hath not gone down unto his house;' and David saith unto Uriah, 'Hast thou not come from a journey? wherefore hast thou not gone down unto thy house?'

11And Uriah saith unto David, 'The ark, and Israel, and Judah, are abiding in booths, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, on the face of the field are encamping; and I — I go in unto my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife! — thy life, and the life of thy soul — if I do this thing.'

12And David saith unto Uriah, 'Abide in this [place] also to-day, and to-morrow I send thee away;' and Uriah abideth in Jerusalem, on that day, and on the morrow,

13and David calleth for him, and he eateth before him, and drinketh, and he causeth him to drink, and he goeth out in the evening to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, and unto his house he hath not gone down.

14And it cometh to pass in the morning, that David writeth a letter unto Joab, and sendeth by the hand of Uriah;

15and he writeth in the letter, saying, 'Place ye Uriah over-against the front of the severest battle, and ye have turned back from after him, and he hath been smitten, and hath died.'

16And it cometh to pass in Joab's watching of the city, that he appointeth Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men [are];

17and the men of the city go out and fight with Joab, and there fall [some] of the people, of the servants of David; and there dieth also Uriah the Hittite.

18And Joab sendeth and declareth to David all the matters of the war,

19and commandeth the messenger, saying, 'At thy finishing all the matters of the war to speak unto the king,

20then, it hath been, if the king's fury ascend, and he hath said to thee, Wherefore did ye draw nigh unto the city to fight? did ye not know that they shoot from off the wall?

21Who smote Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast on him a piece of a rider from the wall, and he dieth in Thebez? why drew ye nigh unto the wall? that thou hast said, Also thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'

22And the messenger goeth, and cometh in, and declareth to David all that with which Joab sent him,

23and the messenger saith unto David, 'Surely the men have been mighty against us, and come out unto us into the field, and we are upon them unto the opening of the gate,

24and those shooting shoot at thy servants from off the wall, and [some] of the servants of the king are dead, and also, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.

25And David saith unto the messenger, 'Thus dost thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing be evil in thine eyes; for thus and thus doth the sword devour; strengthen thy warfare against the city, and throw it down — and strengthen thou him.'

26And the wife of Uriah heareth that Uriah her husband [is] dead, and lamenteth for her lord;

27and the mourning passeth by, and David sendeth and gathereth her unto his house, and she is to him for a wife, and beareth to him a son; and the thing which David hath done is evil in the eyes of Jehovah.