2 Samuel 11
11
David and Bathsheba
1 #
1 Chr 20.1
The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem.
2One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked about up there, he saw a woman having a bath. She was very beautiful. 3So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learnt that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 4David sent messengers to fetch her; they brought her to him and he made love to her. (She had just finished her monthly ritual of purification.) Then she went back home. 5Afterwards she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him.
6David then sent a message to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. 7When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going. 8Then he said to Uriah, “Go home and rest a while.” Uriah left, and David sent a present to his home. 9But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards. 10When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he asked him, “You have just returned after a long absence; why didn't you go home?”
11Uriah answered, “The men of Israel and Judah are away at the war, and the Covenant Box is with them; my commander Joab and his officers are camping out in the open. How could I go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By all that's sacred, I swear that I could never do such a thing!”
12So David said, “Then stay here the rest of the day, and tomorrow I'll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13David invited him to supper and made him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket#11.13 blanket; or bunk. in the palace guardroom.
14The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. 15He wrote: “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed.” 16So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong. 17The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah.
18Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle, 19and he instructed the messenger, “After you have told the king all about the battle, 20he may get angry and ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight them? Didn't you realize that they would shoot arrows from the walls? 21#Judg 9.53Don't you remember how Abimelech son of Gideon was killed? It was at Thebez, where a woman threw a millstone down from the wall and killed him. Why, then, did you go so near the wall?’ If the king asks you this, tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah was also killed.’ ”
22So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say. 23He said, “Our enemies were stronger than we were and came out of the city to fight us in the open, but we drove them back to the city gate. 24Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed.”
25David said to the messenger, “Encourage Joab and tell him not to be upset, since you never can tell who will die in battle. Tell him to launch a stronger attack on the city and capture it.”
26When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. 27When the time of mourning was over, David sent for her to come to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the LORD was not pleased with what David had done.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
2 Samuel 11
11
David and Bathsheba
(1 Chronicles 20.1a)
1 #
1 Ch 20.1. It was now spring, the time when kings go to war.#11.1 when … war: Or “when the messengers had gone to Ammon” (see 10.2) or “the time when the kings had gone to war” (see 10.6-8). David sent out the whole Israelite army under the command of Joab and his officers. They destroyed the Ammonite army and surrounded the capital city of Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem.
2-4Late one afternoon, David got up from a nap and was walking around on the flat roof of his palace. A beautiful young woman was down below in her courtyard, bathing as her religion required.#11.2-4 as … required: This bathing was often a requirement for worshiping God. David happened to see her, and he sent one of his servants to find out who she was.
The servant came back and told David, “Her name is Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
David sent some messengers to bring her to his palace. She came to him, and he slept with her. Then she returned home. 5But later, when she found out that she was going to have a baby, she sent someone to David with this message: “I'm pregnant!”
6David sent a message to Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.”
Joab sent Uriah 7to David's palace, and David asked him, “Is Joab well? How is the army doing? And how about the war?” 8Then David told Uriah, “Go home and clean up.”#11.8 and clean up: Or “and sleep with your wife.” Uriah left the king's palace, and David had dinner sent to Uriah's house. 9But Uriah didn't go home. Instead, he slept outside the entrance to the royal palace, where the king's guards slept.
10Someone told David that Uriah had not gone home. So the next morning David asked him, “Why didn't you go home? Haven't you been away for a long time?”
11Uriah answered, “The sacred chest and the armies of Israel and Judah are camping out somewhere in the fields#11.11 somewhere in the fields: Or “at Succoth.” with our commander Joab and his officers and troops. Do you really think I would go home to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? I swear by your life that I would not!”
12Then David said, “Stay here in Jerusalem today, and I will send you back tomorrow.”
Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day. Then the next day, 13David invited him for dinner. Uriah ate with David, who gave him so much to drink that he got drunk. But Uriah still did not go home. He went out and slept on his mat near the palace guards. 14Early the next morning, David wrote a letter and told Uriah to deliver it to Joab. 15The letter said: “Put Uriah on the front line where the fighting is the worst. Then pull the troops back from him, so that he will be wounded and die.”
16Joab had been carefully watching the city of Rabbah, and he put Uriah in a place where he knew there were some of the enemy's best soldiers. 17When the men of the city came out, they fought and killed some of David's soldiers—Uriah the Hittite was one of them.
18Joab sent a messenger to tell David everything that was happening in the war. 19He gave the messenger these orders:
When you finish telling the king everything that has happened, 20he may get angry and ask, “Why did you go so near the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21#Jg 9.53. Don't you know how Abimelech the son of Gideon#11.21 Gideon: The Hebrew text has Jerubbesheth, which stands for “Jerubbaal,” another name for Gideon. See Judges 6.32 and the note on “bosheth” at 2.8 (“besheth” means the same as “bosheth”). was killed at Thebez? Didn't a woman kill him by dropping a large rock from the top of the city wall? Why did you go so close to the city walls?”
Then tell him, “One of your soldiers who was killed was Uriah the Hittite.”
22The messenger went to David and reported everything Joab had told him. 23He added, “The enemy chased us from the wall and out into the open fields. But we pushed them back as far as the city gate. 24Then they shot arrows at us from the top of the wall. Some of your soldiers were killed, and one of them was Uriah the Hittite.”
25David replied, “Tell Joab to cheer up and not to be upset about what happened. You never know who will be killed in a war. Tell him to strengthen his attack against the city and break through its walls.”#11.25 break … walls: Or “destroy it.”
26When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27Then after the time for mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to the palace. She became David's wife, and they had a son.
The Lord's Message for David
The Lord was angry because of what David had done,
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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