2 Samuel 10–12

David Defeats Ammon and Syria

10^sAfter this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ²And David said, “I will deal loyally¹ with Hanun the son of ^tNahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the Ammonites. ³But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” ⁴So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, ^uat their hips, and sent them away. ⁵When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”

⁶When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of ^vBeth-rehob, and ^wthe Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^xMaacah with 1,000 men, and the men of ^yTob, 12,000 men. ⁷And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of ^zthe mighty men. ⁸And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and ^wthe Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and ^ythe men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

⁹When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. ¹⁰The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. ¹¹And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. ^12aBe of good courage, and ^blet us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and ^cmay the Lord do what seems good to him.” ¹³So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. ¹⁴And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond ^dthe Euphrates.² They came to Helam, with ^eShobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. ¹⁸And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded ^fShobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. ¹⁹And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel ^gand became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.

David and Bathsheba

11^hiIn the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged ^jRabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

²It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on ^kthe roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. ³And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this ^lBathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^mUriah the Hittite?” ⁴So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (ⁿNow she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. ⁵And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

⁶So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. ⁸Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and ^owash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. ⁹But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹Uriah said to David, ^p“The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and ^qthe servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and ^ras your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” ¹²Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, ^sso that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with ^qthe servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴In the morning David ^twrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, ^uthat he may be struck down, and die.” ¹⁶And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. ¹⁹And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, ²⁰then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ^21vWho killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ”

²²So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. ²³The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. ²⁴Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” ²⁵David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”

²⁶When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. ²⁷And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and ^wshe became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David

12And the Lord sent ^xNathan to David. He came to him and said to him, ^y“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms,¹ and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” ⁵Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ^z“As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, ⁶and he shall restore the lamb ^afourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^b‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. ⁸And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. ^9cWhy have you despised the word of the Lord, ^dto do what is evil in his sight? ^eYou have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and ^fhave taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹²For you did it secretly, ^gbut I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ” ^13hDavid said to Nathan, ⁱ“I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, ^j“The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly ^kscorned the Lord,² the child who is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵Then Nathan went to his house.

David’s Child Dies

And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. ¹⁶David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David ^lfasted and went in ^mand lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. ¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet…