2 Samuel 11 - 12
David and Bathsheba
11aNow it happened 1,bin the spring, at the time when 2kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and cbesieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.
2Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on athe roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. 3So David sent and 1inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not aBathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of bUriah the Hittite?” 4Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and ahe lay with her; band when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5And the woman became pregnant; and she sent and told David, and said, “aI am pregnant.”
6Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7When Uriah came to him, aDavid asked concerning the 1state of Joab and the 2state of the people and the 3state of the war. 8Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and awash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king went out after him. 9But Uriah lay down aat the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10Then they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” And David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11And Uriah said to David, “aThe ark and Israel and Judah are staying in 1booths, and my lord Joab and bthe servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” 12Then David said to Uriah, “aStay here today also, and tomorrow I will send you out.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the 1next. 13Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he amade him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed bwith his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.
14Now it happened in the morning that David awrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15aAnd he had written in the letter, saying, “1Place Uriah in the front line of the 2fiercest battle and withdraw from him, bso that he may be struck down and die.” 16So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17And the men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and aUriah the Hittite also died. 18Then Joab sent and told David all the events of the war. 19And he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, 20and if it happens that the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you approach the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21‘Who astruck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall so he died at Thebez? Why did you approach the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”
22So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23And the messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we 1pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. 24“And the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants died, and your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.” 25Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this thing be evil in your sight, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle against the city stronger and 1tear it down’; and so strengthen him.”
26Then the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband had died, so ashe lamented over her husband. 27Then the time of mourning passed by, and David sent and gathered her to his house and ashe became his wife; then she bore him a son. But bthe thing that David had done was evil in the sight of Yahweh.
Yahweh Sends Nathan to David
12Then Yahweh sent aNathan to David. And bhe came to him and 1said, “There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2“The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.3“But the poor man had nothing except aone little ewe lambWhich he bought and nourished;And it grew up together with him and his children.It would eat his morsel of bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,And was like a daughter to him.4“Now a visitor came to the rich man,And he 1was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”5Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives, surely the man who has done this 1,adeserves to die. 6“And he must make restitution for the lamb afourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7Nathan then said to David, “aYou are the man! Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘bIt is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8‘I also gave you ayour master’s house and your master’s wives into your 1care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9‘Why ahave you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in His sight? bYou have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, chave taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10‘So now, athe sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11“Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; aI will even take your wives from before your sight and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12‘Indeed ayou did it secretly, but bI will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’” 13Then David said to Nathan, “aI have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has 1,btaken away your sin; you shall not die. 14“However, because by this deed you have agiven occasion to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme, the son also that is born to you shall surely die.” 15And Nathan went to his house. David’s Child Dies Then Yahweh smote the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16David therefore sought God about the boy; and David afasted and went and bspent the night lying on the ground. 17aAnd the elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. 18Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice. How then can we tell him that the child has died? He might do himself harm!” 19And David saw that his servants were whispering together, so David discerned that the child had died; so David said to his servants, “Has the child died?” And they said, “He has died.” 20So David arose from the ground, awashed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of Yahweh and bworshiped. Then he came to his own house, and he asked, and they set food before him, and he ate.
21Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? 1While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22Then he said, “While the child was still alive, aI fasted and wept; for I said, ‘bWho knows, Yahweh may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ 23“But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? aI will go to him, but bhe will not return to me.”
Solomon Is Born
24Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and 1,ahe named him Solomon. Now Yahweh loved him 25and sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him 1Jedidiah for the sake of Yahweh.
Joab Fights Ammon
26aThen Joab fought against bRabbah of the sons of Ammon and captured the royal city. 27And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28“So now, gather the rest of the people together and camp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city myself and it be named after me.” 29So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, fought against it and captured it. 30Then ahe took the crown of 1their king from his head; and its weight was a 2talent of gold, and in it 3was a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in a very great amount. 31He also brought out the people who were in it and aset them up with saws, sharp iron instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass through the brickkiln. And thus he used to do to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.