CHAPTER 11
In the spring,
at the time when
kings
march out to war,
David
sent
Joab
with
his servants
and
the whole army
of Israel.
They destroyed
the Ammonites
and besieged
Rabbah,
but David
remained
in Jerusalem.
One evening
David
got up
from
his bed
and strolled around
on
the roof
of the palace.
And from
the roof
he saw
a woman
bathing—
a very
beautiful
woman.
So David
sent
and inquired
about the woman,
and he was told,
“This
is Bathsheba,
the daughter
of Eliam
and the wife
of Uriah
the Hittite.”
Then David
sent
messengers
to get her,
and when she came
to him,
he slept
with her.
(Now she
had just purified herself
from her uncleanness.)
Then she returned
home.
Then he
said
to Uriah,
“Go down
to your house
and wash
your feet.”
So Uriah
left
the palace,
and a gift
from the king
followed
him.
But Uriah
slept
at the door
of the palace
with
all
his master’s
servants;
he did not
go down
to
his house.
When David
was told,
“Uriah
did not
go
home,”
he
questioned
Uriah,
“Have you not
just come
from a journey?
Why
did you not
go
home?”
Uriah
answered,
“The ark
and Israel
and Judah
are dwelling
in tents,
and my master
Joab
and his
soldiers
are camped
in
the open field.
How can I
go
to
my house
to eat
and drink
and sleep
with
my wife?
As surely as you live,
and as your soul
lives,
I will not
do
such a thing!"
“Stay
here
one more day,”
David
said
to
Uriah,
“and tomorrow
I will send you back.”
So Uriah
stayed
in Jerusalem
that
day
and the next.
Then David
invited
Uriah to eat
and drink
with him,
and he got Uriah drunk.
And in the evening
he went out
to lie down
on his cot
with
his master’s
servants,
but he did not
go
home.
In the letter
he wrote:
“Put
Uriah
at
the front
of the fiercest
battle;
then withdraw
from him,
so that he may be struck down
and die.”
So as
Joab
besieged
the city,
he assigned
Uriah
to
a place
where
he saw
the strongest enemy soldiers.
And when the men
of the city
came out
and fought
against
Joab,
some of
David’s
servants
fell,
and Uriah
the Hittite
also
died.
and instructed
the messenger,
“When you have finished
giving
the king
all
the details
of the battle,
if
the king’s
anger
flares,
he may ask you,
‘Why
did you get so close
to
the city
to fight?
Did you not
realize
they would shoot
from atop
the wall?
Who was the one
to strike
Abimelech
son
of Jerubbesheth?
Was it not
a woman
who dropped
an upper millstone
on him
from
the wall,
so that he died
in Thebez?
Why
did you get so close
to
the wall?’
If so, then you are to say,
‘Your servant
Uriah
the Hittite
is dead
as well.'"
The messenger
said
to
David,
“The men
overpowered us
and came out
against
us in the field,
but we drove them back
to
the entrance
of the gate.
Then the archers
shot
at
your servants
from
the wall,
and some of the king’s
servants
were killed.
And your servant
Uriah
the Hittite
is dead
as well.”
Then David
told
the messenger,
“Say
this
to
Joab:
‘Do not
let this
matter
upset
you,
for
the sword
devours
one
as well as another.
Strengthen
your attack
against
the city
and demolish it.'
Encourage him with these words."
And when 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
that
David
had done
was evil
in the sight
of the LORD.