2 Samuel 11:1–17

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.