2S 11:1And 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.
2S 11:2And 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.
2S 11:3And 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.
2S 11:4And 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.
2S 11:5And the woman conceived; and she sent word and told David and said, I am pregnant.
2S 11:6Then David sent word to Joab: Send me Uriah the Hittite. So Joab sent Uriah to David.
2S 11:7And Uriah came to him, and David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the battle was going.
2S 11:8And 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.
2S 11:9But 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.
2S 11:10And 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?
2S 11:11And 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!
2S 11:12And 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.
2S 11:13Then 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.
2S 11:14Then in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
2S 11:15And 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.
2S 11:16So when Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew the valiant men were.
2S 11:17And 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.
2S 11:18And Joab sent a messenger to tell David all the things concerning the battle;
2S 11:19And he commanded the messenger, saying, When you have finished telling the king all the things concerning the battle,
2S 11:20If 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?
2S 11:21Who 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.
2S 11:22So the messenger went, and he came and told David all that Joab had sent him for.
2S 11:23And 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.
2S 11:24Then 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.
2S 11:25Then 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.
2S 11:26And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband.
2S 11:27And 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.
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