2 Samuel 9–20

9And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may ^ashew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? ²And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was ^bZiba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. ³And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew ^cthe kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is ^dlame on his feet. ⁴And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in ^eLo-debar. ⁵Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from ^eLo-debar. ⁶Now when ^||Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! ⁷And David said unto him, Fear not: ^ffor I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. ⁸And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such ^ga dead dog as I am? ⁹Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. ¹⁰Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master’s son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master’s son ^hshall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had ⁱfifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, ^ksaid the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons. ¹²And Mephibosheth had a young son, ^lwhose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. ¹³So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet.

10^aAnd it came to pass after this, that the king of the ^bchildren of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. ²Then said David, ^cI will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto 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 unto Hanun their lord, ^†Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? ⁴Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, ^deven to their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. ⁶And when the children of Ammon saw that they ^estank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired ^fthe Syrians of ^fBeth-rehob, and ^gthe Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king ^hMaacah a thousand men, and of ^||Ish-tob twelve thousand men. ⁷And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of ⁱthe mighty men. ⁸And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and Ish-tob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. ⁹When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: ¹⁰And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon. ¹¹And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. ^12jBe of good courage, and let us ^kplay the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and ^lthe Lord do that which seemeth him good. ¹³And Joab drew nigh, 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 were fled, then fled they also before ^mAbishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

^15*And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶And ⁿHadarezer sent, and brought out 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 when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over 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 ^othe men of seven ^phundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand ^||horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. ¹⁹And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, they ^qmade peace with Israel, and ^rserved them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.

11^*And it came to pass, ^†after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed ^athe children of Ammon, and besieged ^bRabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. ²And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon ^cthe roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very ^dbeautiful to look upon. ³And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this ^||Bath-sheba, the daughter of ^||Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? ⁴And David sent messengers, and took her; and she ^ecame in unto him, and he lay with her; ^||for she was ^fpurified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto 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 Uriah ^gthe Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him ^†how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. ⁸And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and ^hwash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there ^†followed him ⁱa mess of meat from the king. ⁹But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. ¹⁰And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? ¹¹And Uriah said unto David, ^jThe ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and ^kthe servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and ^las thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. ¹²And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. ¹³And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him ^mdrunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. ¹⁴And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the ^†hottest battle, and retire ye ^†from him, that he may ⁿbe smitten, and die. ¹⁶And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that 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 Uriah the Hittite died also. ¹⁸Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; ¹⁹And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, ²⁰And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Who smote ^oAbimelech the son of ^||Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. ²²So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for. ²³And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. ²⁴And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king’s servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. ²⁵Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing ^†displease thee, for the sword devoureth ^†one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him. ²⁶And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she ^pbecame his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done ^†displeased the Lord.

12And the Lord sent ^aNathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, ^bThere were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ²The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: ³But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb,…