2 Samuel 11:1-27
David and Bathsheba
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.
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, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 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. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
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. 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.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 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.
18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 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? 21 Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman drop 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, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 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 of the city gate. 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.”
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.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 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.
In the spring, when kings go out to war, David sent Joab, his officers, and all the Israelites out to destroy the Ammonites...Joab’s army surrounded their capital city, Rabbah...David stayed in Jerusalem...One evening he got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his house...From there he saw a woman bathing...She was very beautiful, so David sent for his officers and asked them who she was...An officer answered, “That is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam...She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”...David sent messengers to go and bring Bathsheba to him...She had just purified herself after her monthly time of bleeding...She went to David, he had sexual relations with her, and then she went back to her house...Later, Bathsheba became pregnant...She sent word to him saying, “I am pregnant.”...
David sent a message to Joab...“Send Uriah the Hittite to me.”...So Joab sent Uriah to David...When Uriah came, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were, and how the war was going...Then David said to Uriah, “Go home and relax.”...So Uriah left the king’s palace...The king also sent a gift to Uriah...But Uriah did not go home...He slept outside the door of the king’s palace, as the rest of the king’s servants did...The servants told David, “Uriah did not go home.”...Then David said to Uriah, “You came from a long trip...Why did you not go home?”...Uriah said to David, “The Holy Box and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents...My lord Joab and my lord’s officers are camping out in the field...So it is not right for me to go home to eat and drink and sleep with my wife...As surely as you live, I will not do this.”...David said to Uriah, “Stay here today...Tomorrow I will send you back to the battle.”...Uriah stayed in Jerusalem until the next morning...Then David called Uriah to come and see him...Uriah ate and drank with David...David got him drunk, but Uriah still did not go home...That evening, Uriah again slept at the palace with the rest of the king’s servants...The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and made Uriah carry the letter...In the letter David wrote: “Put Uriah on the front lines where the fighting is the hardest...Then leave him there alone, and let him be killed in battle.”...Joab watched the city and saw where the bravest Ammonites were...He chose Uriah to go to that place...The men of the city came out to fight against Joab...Some of David’s men were killed...Uriah the Hittite was one of them...
Then Joab sent a report to David about what happened in the battle...Joab told the messenger to tell King David what had happened in the battle...“The king might get upset and ask, ‘Why did Joab’s army go that close to the city to fight?...Surely he knows that there are men on the city walls who can shoot arrows down at his men?...Surely he remembers that at Thebez a woman killed Abimelech son of Jerub Besheth when she threw the top part of a grinding stone down from the wall...So why did he go that close to the wall?’...If King David says something like that, tell him, ‘Your officer, Uriah the Hittite, also died.’”...The messenger went in and told David everything Joab told him to say...The messenger told David, “The men of Ammon attacked us in the field...We fought them and chased them all the way to the city gate...Then the men on the city wall shot arrows at your officers...Some of your officers were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.”...David said to the messenger, “Give this message to Joab: ‘Don’t be too upset about this...A sword can kill one person as well as the next...Make a stronger attack against Rabbah and you will win.’...Encourage Joab with these words.”...
Bathsheba heard that her husband Uriah had died, so she mourned for him...After her time of sadness, David sent servants to bring her to his house...She became David’s wife and gave birth to a son for David...But the LORD did not like what David had done...