2 Samuel 9–20

¹And David saith, ‘Is there yet any left to the house of Saul, and I do with him kindness because of Jonathan?’ ²And the house of Saul hath a servant, and his name is Ziba, and they call for him unto David; and the king saith unto him, ‘Art thou Ziba?’ and he saith, ‘Thy servant.’ ³And the king saith, ‘Is there not yet a man to the house of Saul, and I do with him the kindness of God?’ And Ziba saith unto the king, ‘Jonathan hath yet a son—lame.’ ⁴And the king saith to him, ‘Where is he?’ and Ziba saith unto the king, ‘Lo, he is in the house of Machir, son of Ammiel, in Lo-Debar.’ ⁵And king David sendeth, and taketh him out of the house of Machir son of Ammiel, of Lo-Debar, ⁶and Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, son of Saul, cometh unto David, and falleth on his face, and doth obeisance, and David saith, ‘Mephibosheth;’ and he saith, ‘Lo, thy servant.’ ⁷And David saith to him, ‘Be not afraid; for I certainly do with thee kindness because of Jonathan thy father, and have given back to thee all the field of Saul thy father, and thou dost eat bread at my table continually.’ ⁸And he boweth himself, and saith, ‘What is thy servant, that thou hast turned unto the dead dog—such as I?’

⁹And the king calleth unto Ziba servant of Saul, and saith unto him, ‘All that was to Saul and to all his house, I have given to the son of thy lord, ¹⁰and thou hast served for him the land, thou and thy sons, and thy servants, and hast brought in, and there hath been to the son of thy lord bread, and he hath eaten it; and Mephibosheth son of thy lord doth eat continually bread at my table;’ and Ziba hath fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹And Ziba saith unto the king, ‘According to all that my lord the king commandeth his servant, so doth thy servant;’ as to Mephibosheth, ‘he is eating at my table (saith the king) as one of the sons of the king.’ ¹²And Mephibosheth hath a young son, and his name is Micha, and every one dwelling in the house of Ziba are servants to Mephibosheth. ¹³And Mephibosheth is dwelling in Jerusalem, for at the table of the king he is eating continually, and he is lame of his two feet.

Chapter 10

¹And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the king of the Bene-Ammon dieth, and Hanun his son reigneth in his stead, ²and David saith, ‘I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did with me kindness;’ and David sendeth to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David come in to the land of the Bene-Ammon. ³And the heads of the Bene-Ammon say unto Hanun their lord, ‘Is David honouring thy father in thine eyes because he hath sent to thee comforters? for to search the city, and to spy it, and to overthrow it, hath not David sent his servants unto thee?’ ⁴And Hanun taketh the servants of David, and shaveth off the half of their beard, and cutteth off their long robes in the midst—unto their buttocks, and sendeth them away; ⁵and they declare it to David, and he sendeth to meet them, for the men have been greatly ashamed, and the king saith, ‘Abide in Jericho till your beard doth spring up—then ye have returned.’

⁶And the Bene-Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the Bene-Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and Ish-Tob with twelve thousand men; ⁷and David heareth, and sendeth Joab, and all the host—the mighty men. ⁸And the Bene-Ammon come out, and set battle in array, at the opening of the gate, and Aram of Zoba, and Rehob, and Ish-Tob, and Maacah, are by themselves in the field; ⁹and Joab seeth that the front of the battle hath been unto him before and behind, and he chooseth of all the chosen in Israel, and setteth in array to meet Aram, ¹⁰and the rest of the people he hath given into the hand of Abishai his brother, and setteth in array to meet the Bene-Ammon. ¹¹And he saith, ‘If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation, and if the Bene-Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have come to give salvation to thee; ¹²be strong and strengthen thyself for our people, and for the cities of our God, and Jehovah doth that which is good in His eyes.’ ¹³And Joab draweth nigh, and the people who are with him, to battle against Aram, and they flee from his presence; ¹⁴and the Bene-Ammon have seen that Aram hath fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go in to the city; and Joab turneth back from the Bene-Ammon, and cometh in to Jerusalem.

¹⁵And Aram seeth that it is smitten before Israel, and they are gathered together; ¹⁶and Hadadezer sendeth, and bringeth out Aram which is beyond the River, and they come in to Helam, and Shobach head of the host of Hadadezer is before them. ¹⁷And it is declared to David, and he gathereth all Israel, and passeth over the Jordan, and cometh in to Helam, and Aram setteth itself in array to meet David, and they fight with him; ¹⁸and Aram fleeth from the presence of Israel, and David slayeth of Aram seven hundred charioteers, and forty thousand horsemen, and Shobach head of its host he hath smitten, and he dieth there. ¹⁹And all the kings—servants of Hadadezer—see that they have been smitten before Israel, and make peace with Israel, and serve them; and Aram is afraid to help any more the Bene-Ammon.

Chapter 11

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…