2 Samuel 11–12

¹And it cometh to pass, at the revolution of the year—at the time of the going out of the messengers—that David sendeth Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroy the Bene-Ammon, and lay siege against Rabbah. And David is dwelling in Jerusalem, ²and it cometh to pass, at evening-time, that David riseth from off his couch, and walketh up and down on the roof of the king’s house, and seeth from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman is of very good appearance, ³and David sendeth and inquireth about the woman, and saith, ‘Is not this Bath-Sheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah the Hittite?’ ⁴And David sendeth messengers, and taketh her, and she cometh unto him, and he lieth with her—and she is purifying herself from her uncleanness—and she turneth back unto her house; ⁵and the woman conceiveth, and sendeth, and declareth to David, and saith, ‘I am conceiving.’

⁶And David sendeth unto Joab, ‘Send unto me Uriah the Hittite,’ and Joab sendeth Uriah unto David; ⁷and Uriah cometh unto him, and David asketh of the prosperity of Joab, and of the prosperity of the people, and of the prosperity of the war. ⁸And David saith to Uriah, ‘Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet;’ and Uriah goeth out of the king’s house, and there goeth out after him a gift from the king, ⁹and Uriah lieth down at the opening of the king’s house, with all the servants of his lord, and hath not gone down unto his house. ¹⁰And they declare to David, saying, ‘Uriah hath not gone down unto his house;’ and David saith unto Uriah, ‘Hast thou not come from a journey? wherefore hast thou not gone down unto thy house?’ ¹¹And Uriah saith unto David, ‘The ark, and Israel, and Judah, are abiding in booths, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, on the face of the field are encamping; and I—I go in unto my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife!—thy life, and the life of thy soul—if I do this thing.’ ¹²And David saith unto Uriah, ‘Abide in this place also to-day, and to-morrow I send thee away;’ and Uriah abideth in Jerusalem, on that day, and on the morrow, ¹³and David calleth for him, and he eateth before him, and drinketh, and he causeth him to drink, and he goeth out in the evening to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, and unto his house he hath not gone down.

¹⁴And it cometh to pass in the morning, that David writeth a letter unto Joab, and sendeth by the hand of Uriah; ¹⁵and he writeth in the letter, saying, ‘Place ye Uriah over-against the front of the severest battle, and ye have turned back from after him, and he hath been smitten, and hath died.’ ¹⁶And it cometh to pass in Joab’s watching of the city, that he appointeth Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men are; ¹⁷and the men of the city go out and fight with Joab, and there fall some of the people, of the servants of David; and there dieth also Uriah the Hittite. ¹⁸And Joab sendeth and declareth to David all the matters of the war, ¹⁹and commandeth the messenger, saying, ‘At thy finishing all the matters of the war to speak unto the king, ²⁰then, it hath been, if the king’s fury ascend, and he hath said to thee, Wherefore did ye draw nigh unto the city to fight? did ye not know that they shoot from off the wall? ²¹Who smote Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast on him a piece of a rider from the wall, and he dieth in Thebez? why drew ye nigh unto the wall? that thou hast said, Also thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’ ²²And the messenger goeth, and cometh in, and declareth to David all that with which Joab sent him, ²³and the messenger saith unto David, ‘Surely the men have been mighty against us, and come out unto us into the field, and we are upon them unto the opening of the gate, ²⁴and those shooting shoot at thy servants from off the wall, and some of the servants of the king are dead, and also, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead. ²⁵And David saith unto the messenger, ‘Thus dost thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing be evil in thine eyes; for thus and thus doth the sword devour; strengthen thy warfare against the city, and throw it down—and strengthen thou him.’ ²⁶And the wife of Uriah heareth that Uriah her husband is dead, and lamenteth for her lord; ²⁷and the mourning passeth by, and David sendeth and gathereth her unto his house, and she is to him for a wife, and beareth to him a son; and the thing which David hath done is evil in the eyes of Jehovah.

Chapter 12

¹And Jehovah sendeth Nathan unto David, and he cometh unto him, and saith to him: ‘Two men have been in one city; One rich and one poor; ²The rich hath flocks and herds very many; ³And the poor one hath nothing, Except one little ewe-lamb, Which he hath bought, and keepeth alive, And it groweth up with him, And with his sons together; Of his morsel it eateth, And from his cup it drinketh, And in his bosom it lieth, And it is to him as a daughter; ⁴And there cometh a traveller to the rich man, And he spareth to take Of his own flock, and of his own herd, To prepare for the traveller Who hath come to him, And he taketh the ewe-lamb of the poor man, And prepareth it for the man Who hath come unto him.’ ⁵And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, ‘Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death is the man who is doing this, ⁶and the ewe-lamb he doth repay fourfold, because that he hath done this thing, and because that he had no pity.’ ⁷And Nathan saith unto David, ‘Thou art the man! Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I anointed thee for king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸and I give to thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord, into thy bosom, and I give to thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if little, then I add to thee such and such things.

⁹‘Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do the evil thing in His eyes? Uriah the Hittite thou hast smitten by the sword, and his wife thou hast taken to thee for a wife, and him thou hast slain by the sword of the Bene-Ammon.

¹⁰‘And now, the sword doth not turn aside from thy house unto the age, because thou hast despised Me, and dost take the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be to thee for a wife; ¹¹thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am raising up against thee evil, out of thy house, and have taken thy wives before thine eyes, and given to thy neighbour, and he hath lain with thy wives before the eyes of this sun; ¹²for thou hast done it in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ ¹³And David saith unto Nathan, ‘I have sinned against Jehovah.’ And Nathan saith unto David, ‘Also—Jehovah hath caused thy sin to pass away; thou dost not die; ¹⁴only, because thou hast caused the enemies of Jehovah greatly to despise by this thing, also the son who is born to thee doth surely die.’

¹⁵And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable; ¹⁶and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth. ¹⁷And the elders of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he hath not been willing, nor hath he eaten with them bread; ¹⁸and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the lad dieth, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the lad is dead, for they said, ‘Lo, in the lad being alive we spake unto him, and he did not hearken to our voice; and how do we say unto him, The lad is dead?—then he hath done evil.’ ¹⁹And David seeth that his servants are whispering, and David understandeth that the lad is dead, and David saith unto his servants, ‘Is the lad dead?’ and they say, ‘Dead.’ ²⁰And David riseth from the earth, and doth bathe and anoint himself, and changeth his raiment, and cometh in to the house of Jehovah, and boweth himself, and cometh unto his house, and asketh and they place for him bread, and he eateth. ²¹And his servants say unto him, ‘What is this thing thou hast done? because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.’ ²²And he saith, ‘While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth?—Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived; ²³and now, he hath died, why is this—I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.’ ²⁴And David comforteth Bath-Sheba his wife, and goeth in unto her, and lieth with her, and she beareth a son, and he calleth his name Solomon; and Jehovah hath loved him, ²⁵and sendeth by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calleth his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah.

²⁶And Joab fighteth against Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and captureth the royal city, ²⁷and Joab sendeth messengers unto David, and saith, ‘I have fought against Rabbah—also I have captured the city of waters; ²⁸and now, gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and capture it, lest I capture the city, and my name hath been called upon it.’ ²⁹And David gathereth all the people, and goeth to Rabbah, and fighteth against it, and captureth it; ³⁰and he taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and its weight is a talent of gold, and precious stones, and it is on the head of David; and the spoil of the city he hath brought out, very much; ³¹and the people who are in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron, and hath caused them to pass over into the brick-kiln; and so he doth to all the cities of the Bene-Ammon; and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.

Chapter 13