11:1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
11:3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
11:4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
11:5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
11:6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David.
11:7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going.
11:8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
11:9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
11:10 When David was told, “Uriah did not go home,” he asked him, “Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home?”
11:11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
11:12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
11:13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
11:14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
11:15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
11:16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were.
11:17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
11:18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle.
11:19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle,
11:20 the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall?
11:21 Who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Also, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
11:22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say.
11:23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance to the city gate.
11:24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
11:25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”
11:26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
11:27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.
11:1 And at the turn of the year, at the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent out Joab and his servants with him and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
11:2 And late one afternoon David rose from his bed and went for a walk on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at.
11:3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, This is none other than Bath-sheba the daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.
11:4 And David sent messengers and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) And she returned to her house.
11:5 And the woman conceived; and she sent word and told David and said, I am pregnant.
11:6 Then David sent word to Joab: Send me Uriah the Hittite. So Joab sent Uriah to David.
11:7 And Uriah came to him, and David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the battle was going.
11:8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. And Uriah went forth from the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king.
11:9 But Uriah lay down at the entrance to the king’s house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to his house.
11:10 And they told David, saying, Uriah did not go down to his house. Then David said to Uriah, Have you not just come from a journey? Why have you not gone down to your house?
11:11 And Uriah said to David, The Ark and Israel and Judah dwell in huts, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live and your soul lives, I shall by no means do this thing!
11:12 And David said to Uriah, Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the following.
11:13 Then David invited him to eat and drink in his presence, and he made him drunk. Then in the evening he went forth to lie down on his bed with the servants of his lord, and he did not go down to his house.
11:14 Then in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
11:15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Put Uriah in the forefront of the hardest battle, and withdraw from him that he may be struck down and die.
11:16 So when Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew the valiant men were.
11:17 And the men of the city went forth and fought with Joab; and some of the people, some of the servants of David, fell. And Uriah the Hittite died also.
11:18 And Joab sent a messenger to tell David all the things concerning the battle;
11:19 And he commanded the messenger, saying, When you have finished telling the king all the things concerning the battle,
11:20 If the king’s anger rises up and he says to you, Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?
11:21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone upon him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall? Then you shall say, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.
11:22 So the messenger went, and he came and told David all that Joab had sent him for.
11:23 And the messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.
11:24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants died. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.
11:25 Then David said to the messenger, Thus shall you say to Joab, Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your fighting against the city and overthrow it. And encourage him.
11:26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband.
11:27 And when the mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to his house; and she became his wife and bore a son to him. But the thing that David did displeased Jehovah.