2 Samuel 9–20

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may ^ashow him ¹kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

²And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^bZiba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

He said, “At your service!”

³Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show ^cthe kindness of God?”

And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is ^dlame in his feet.”

⁴So the king said to him, “Where is he?”

And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of ^eMachir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”

⁵Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.

⁶Now when ^fMephibosheth ²the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?”

And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

⁷So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

⁸Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such ^ga dead dog as I?”

⁹And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, ^h“I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. ¹⁰You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son ⁱshall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had ^jfifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.”

“As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at ³my table like one of the king’s sons.” ¹²Mephibosheth had a young son ^kwhose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. ¹³So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, ^lfor he ate continually at the king’s table. And he ^mwas lame in both his feet.

The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated

10It happened after this that the ^aking of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ²Then David said, “I will show ^bkindness to Hanun the son of ^cNahash, as his father showed kindness to me.”

So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. ³And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?”

⁴Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, ^dat their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ¹ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”

⁶When the people of Ammon saw that they ^ehad made themselves repulsive to David, the people of Ammon sent and hired ^fthe Syrians of ^gBeth Rehob and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of ^hMaacah one thousand men, and from ⁱIsh-Tob twelve thousand men. ⁷Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of ^jthe mighty men. ⁸Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array at the entrance of the gate. And ^kthe Syrians of Zoba, Beth Rehob, Ish-Tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

⁹When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. ¹⁰And the rest of the people he put under the command of ^lAbishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of Ammon. ¹¹Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. ^12mBe of good courage, and let us ⁿbe strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may ^othe Lord do what is good in His sight.”

¹³So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. ¹⁴When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai, and entered the city. So Joab returned from the people of Ammon and went to ^pJerusalem.

¹⁵When the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered together. ¹⁶Then ²Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond ³the River, and they came to Helam. And ⁴Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army went before them. ¹⁷When it was told David, he gathered all Israel, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in battle array against David and fought with him. ¹⁸Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand ^qhorsemen of the Syrians, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, who died there. ¹⁹And when all the kings who were servants to ⁵Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and ^rserved them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the people of Ammon anymore.

David, Bathsheba, and Uriah

11It happened in the spring of the year, at the ^atime when kings go out to battle, that ^bDavid sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged ^cRabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

²Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed ^dand walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he ^esaw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. ³So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not ¹Bathsheba, the daughter of ²Eliam, the wife ^fof Uriah the ^gHittite?” ⁴Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and ^hhe lay with her, for she was ⁱcleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. ⁵And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

⁶Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. ⁸And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and ^jwash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. ⁹But Uriah slept at the ^kdoor of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”

¹¹And Uriah said to David, ^l“The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and ^mmy lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”

¹²Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him ⁿdrunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed ^owith the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴In the morning it happened that David ^pwrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the ³hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may ^qbe struck down and die.” ¹⁶So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

¹⁸Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, ¹⁹and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, ²⁰if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Who struck ^rAbimelech the son of ⁴Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go 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 by him. ²³And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”

²⁵Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing ⁵displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”

²⁶When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she ^sbecame his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done ^tdispleased ⁶the Lord.

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession

12Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And ^ahe came to him, and ^bsaid to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. ³But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own…