2 Samuel 10–12

Chapter 10

¹And it came to pass after this that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. ²And David said, I will shew kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. ³And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Is it, in thine eyes, to honour thy father that David has sent comforters to thee? Is it not to search the city and to spy it out, and to overthrow it, that David has sent his servants to thee? ⁴And Hanun took David’s servants, and had the one half of their beards shaved off, and their raiment cut off in the midst, as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵And they told it to David; and he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Abide at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

⁶And the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David; and the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-Rehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men. ⁷And David heard of it, and he sent Joab, and all the host, the mighty men. ⁸And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entrance of the gate; and the Syrians of Zoba and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field. ⁹And Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind; and he chose out of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians; ¹⁰and the rest of the people he gave into the hand of Abishai his brother that he might array them against the children of Ammon. ¹¹And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; and if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. ¹²Be strong, and let us shew ourselves valiant for our people and for the cities of our God; and Jehovah do what is good in his sight. ¹³And Joab drew near, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians; and they fled before him. ¹⁴And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians fled, they fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. And Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵And when the Syrians saw that they were routed before Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶And Hadarezer sent, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river; and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them. ¹⁷And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him. ¹⁸And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven hundred in chariots, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. ¹⁹And all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were routed before Israel, and they made peace with Israel, and served them. And the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.

Chapter 11

¹And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go forth, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they laid waste the land of the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David abode at Jerusalem. ²And it came to pass at evening time that David arose from off his couch, 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; ³and David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Urijah the Hittite? ⁴And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her; and she had purified herself from her uncleanness; and she returned to her house. ⁵And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

⁶And David sent to Joab saying, Send me Urijah the Hittite. And Joab sent Urijah to David. ⁷And when Urijah had come to him, David asked how Joab prospered, and how the people prospered, and how the war prospered. ⁸And David said to Urijah, Go down to thy house and wash thy feet. And Urijah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him presents from the king. ⁹And Urijah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. ¹⁰And they had told David saying, Urijah did not go down to his house; and David said to Urijah, Art thou not come from a journey? why didst thou not go down to thy house? ¹¹And Urijah 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 fields: shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. ¹²And David said to Urijah, Abide here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. And Urijah abode in Jerusalem that day and the morrow. ¹³And David invited him, and he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but did not go down to his house.

¹⁴And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by Urijah. ¹⁵And he wrote in the letter saying, Set Urijah in the front of the thickest fight, and withdraw from him, that he may be smitten and die. ¹⁶And it came to pass as Joab watched the city, that he assigned Urijah to a place where he knew that the valiant men were. ¹⁷And the men of the city went out and fought with Joab; and there fell some of the people, of the servants of David; and Urijah the Hittite died also. ¹⁸Then Joab sent and told David all the matters of the war; ¹⁹and charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast ended telling the matters of the war to the king, ²⁰and if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say to thee, Why did ye go so near to the city to fight? did ye not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast the upper stone of a handmill from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why did ye go near the wall? —then say thou, Thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also. ²²And the messenger went; and he came and told David all that Joab had sent him for. ²³And the messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and came out against us into the field, and we were upon them as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴And the shooters shot from upon the wall against thy servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also. ²⁵Then David said to the messenger, Thus shalt thou say to Joab: Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devours one as well as another: make thy battle strong against the city, and overthrow it; —and encourage him. ²⁶And the wife of Urijah heard that Urijah her husband was dead, and she mourned for her husband. ²⁷And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her 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 Jehovah.

Chapter 12

¹And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ²The rich had very many flocks and herds; ³but the poor man had nothing at all, but one little ewe lamb which he had bought, and was nourishing; and it grew up with him, and together with his children: it ate of his morsel, and drank of his own cup, and slept in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter. ⁴And there came a traveller to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that had come to him; and he took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him. ⁵Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this thing is worthy of death; ⁶and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. ⁷And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man! Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. ⁹Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah to do evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Urijah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. ¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urijah the Hittite to be thy wife. ¹¹Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. ¹²For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. ¹³And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said to David, Jehovah has also put away thy sin: thou shalt not die. ¹⁴Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, even the child that is born to thee shall certainly die.

¹⁵And Nathan departed to his house. And Jehovah smote the child that Urijah’s wife bore to David, and it became very sick. ¹⁶And David besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the earth. ¹⁷And…