2Sam 11
1
And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out [to
battle], that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they
destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem.
2
And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon
the roof of the king`s house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman
was very beautiful to look upon.
3
And David send and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba,
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4
And David 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.
5
And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
6
And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to
David.
7
And when Uriah was come to him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people
fared, and how the war prospered.
8
And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. And Uriah departed
out of the king`s house, and there followed him a mess [of food] from the king.
9
But Uriah slept at the door of the king`s house with all the servants of his lord,
and went not down to his house.
10
And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down to his house, David said
to Uriah, Art you not come from a journey? wherefore did you not go down to your house?
11
And Uriah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in booths; 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.
12
And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let you depart.
So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.
13
And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk:
and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went
not down to his house.
14
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it
by the hand of Uriah.
15
And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set you Uriah in the forefront of the hottest
battle, and retire you from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
16
And it came to pass, when Joab kept watch upon the city, that he assigned Uriah to
the place where he knew that valiant men were.
17
And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the
people, even of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
18
Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;
19
and he charged the messenger, saying, When you have made an end of telling all the
things concerning the war to the king,
20
it shall be that, if the king`s anger arise, and he say to you, Wherefore went you
so nigh to the city to fight? knew you not that they would shoot from the wall?
21
who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast an upper millstone
upon him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? why went you so nigh the wall?
then shall you say, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
22
So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for.
23
And the messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and came out to us
into the field, and we were upon them even to the entrance of the gate.
24
And the 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 dead also.
25
Then David said to the messenger, Thus shall you say to Joab, Let not this thing displease
you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle more strong against
the city, and overthrow it: and encourage you him.
26
And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation
for her husband.
27
And when the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she
became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased
YHWH.