2 Samuel 9–20

DAVID’S KINDNESS TO MEPHIBOSHETH

9David asked, “Is there anyone remaining from the family of Saul I can show kindness^f to for Jonathan’s sake?”^{g 2}There was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba.^h They summoned him to David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

“I am your servant,” he replied.

³So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family that I can show the kindness of God to?”

Ziba said to the king, “There is still Jonathan’s son who was injured in both feet.”ⁱ

⁴The king asked him, “Where is he?”

Ziba answered the king, “You’ll find him in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.” ⁵So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

⁶Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, fell facedown, and paid homage. David said, “Mephibosheth!”

“I am your servant,” he replied.

⁷“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.”^j

⁸Mephibosheth paid homage and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog^k like me?”

⁹Then the king summoned Saul’s attendant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and his family. ¹⁰You, your sons, and your servants are to work the ground for him, and you are to bring in the crops so your master’s grandson will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all my lord the king commands.”

So Mephibosheth ate at David’s^A table just like one of the king’s sons. ¹²Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica.^l All those living in Ziba’s house were Mephibosheth’s servants. ¹³However, Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king’s table. His feet had been injured.

WAR WITH THE AMMONITES

10Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.^{m 2}Then David said, “I’ll show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.”

So David sent his emissaries to console Hanun concerning his father. However, when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites, ³the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent men with condolences for you, do you really believe he’s showing respect for your father? Instead, hasn’t David sent his emissaries in order to scout out the city, spy on it, and demolish it?”^{n 4}So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved off half their beards,^o cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.^p

⁵When this was reported to David, he sent someone to meet them, since they were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back; then return.”

⁶When the Ammonites realized they had become repulsive to David, they hired twenty thousand foot soldiers from the Arameans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, one thousand men from the king of Maacah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.

⁷David heard about it and sent Joab and all the elite troops. ⁸The Ammonites marched out and lined up in battle formation at the entrance to the city gate while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were in the field by themselves. ⁹When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some of Israel’s finest young men and lined up in formation to engage the Arameans. ¹⁰He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai. They lined up in formation to engage the Ammonites.

¹¹“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” Joab said, “then you will be my help. However, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I’ll come to help you. ¹²Be strong! Let’s prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God.^a May the Lord’s will be done.”^Bb

¹³Joab and his troops advanced to fight against the Arameans, and they fled before him. ¹⁴When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai and entered the city. So Joab withdrew from the attack against the Ammonites and went to Jerusalem.

¹⁵When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped. ¹⁶Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam with Shobach, commander of Hadadezer’s army, leading them.

¹⁷When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans lined up to engage David in battle and fought against him. ¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach commander of their army, who died there. ¹⁹When all the kings who were Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their subjects. After this, the Arameans were afraid to ever help the Ammonites again.

DAVID’S ADULTERY WITH BATHSHEBA

11In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.^c

²One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. ³So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba,^d daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah^e the Hethite?”^B

⁴David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness.^f Afterward, she returned home. ⁵The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, “I am pregnant.”

⁶David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hethite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. ⁸Then 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. ⁹But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.

¹⁰When it was reported to David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David questioned Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹Uriah answered David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers^C are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!”^g

¹²“Stay here today also,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.

URIAH’S DEATH ARRANGED

¹⁴The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵In the letter he wrote:

Put Uriah^h at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.

¹⁶When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. ¹⁷Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David’s soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hethite also died.

¹⁸Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle. ¹⁹He commanded the messenger, “When you’ve finished telling the king all the details of the battle—²⁰if the king’s anger gets stirred up and he asks you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? ²¹At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth?^AB Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died?^a Why did you get so close to the wall?’—then say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hethite is dead also.’ ” ²²Then the messenger left.

When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. ²³The messenger reported to David, “The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the city gate. ²⁴However, the archers shot down on your servants from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s servants died. Your servant Uriah the Hethite is also dead.”

²⁵David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him.”

²⁶When Uriah’s^b wife heard that her husband, Uriah, had died, she mourned for him.^{C 27}When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.^c

NATHAN’S PARABLE AND DAVID’S REPENTANCE

12So the Lord sent Nathan to David.^d When he arrived, he said to him:

There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had very large flocks and herds, ³but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. ⁴Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.^D

⁵David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”^e

⁷Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over…