2 Samuel 11:1–17

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.