2 Samuel 10–12

War with the Ammonites

10Some time later the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place. ⁱ²Then 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?” ^j4So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved off half their beards, ^kcut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away. ^l

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 20,000 foot soldiers from the Arameans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, 1,000 men from the king of Maacah, and 12,000 men from Tob.

⁷David heard about it and sent Joab and all the fighting men. 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 men out of all the elite troops of Israel and lined up in battle formation to engage the Arameans. ¹⁰He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai who lined up in battle 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! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. ^mMay the Lord’s will be done.” ^no

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 across 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 in formation to engage David in battle and fought against him. ¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed 700 of their charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. ^pHe 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. ^q

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 reported, “This is Bathsheba, ^rdaughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah ^sthe Hittite.” ^t

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. ^uAfterward, she returned home. ⁵The woman conceived and sent word to inform David: “I am pregnant.”

⁶David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” 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 ^vare 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!” ^w

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 ^xat 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 Hittite 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? ^yzDidn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? ^aWhy did you get so close to the wall?’—then say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite 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 gate. ²⁴However, the archers shot down on your soldiers from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite 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 ^bwife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him. ^c27When 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. ^d

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance

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

There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle, ³but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up, living with him and his children. It shared his meager food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms, and it 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. ^f

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.” ^g

⁷Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, ^hand I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, ⁱand I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹Why then have you despised the command of the Lord by doing what I consider ^jevil? ^kYou struck down Uriah ^lthe Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword. ^m10Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house ⁿbecause you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife.’

¹¹“This is what the Lord says, ^o‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another ^pbefore your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly. ^q12You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’ ” ^r

¹³David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” ^s

Then Nathan replied to David, “The Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die. ^t14However, because you treated ^uthe Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.” ^v15Then Nathan went home.

The Death of Bathsheba’s Son

The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s ^wwife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went home, and spent the night lying on the ground. ^x17The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

¹⁸On the seventh day the baby died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him the baby was dead. They said, “Look, while the baby was alive, we spoke to him, and he wouldn’t listen to us. So how can we tell him the baby is dead? He may do something desperate.”

¹⁹When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?”

“He is dead,” they replied.

²⁰Then David got up from the ground. He…