Font Size
2 Samuel 10-11
New King James Version
2 Samuel 10-11
New King James Version
The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated(A)
10 It happened after this that the (B)king of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. 2 Then David said, “I will show (C)kindness to Hanun the son of (D)Nahash, 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. 3 And 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?”
4 Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, (E)at their buttocks, and sent them away. 5 When they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly [a]ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”
6 When the people of Ammon saw that they (F)had made themselves repulsive to David, the people of Ammon sent and hired (G)the Syrians of (H)Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers; and from the king of (I)Maacah one thousand men, and from (J)Ish-Tob twelve thousand men. 7 Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of (K)the mighty men. 8 Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array at the entrance of the gate. And (L)the Syrians of Zoba, Beth Rehob, Ish-Tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.
9 When 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. 10 And the rest of the people he put under the command of (M)Abishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of Ammon. 11 Then 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. 12 (N)Be of good courage, and let us (O)be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may (P)the Lord do what is good in His sight.”
13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 14 When 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 (Q)Jerusalem.
15 When the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered together. 16 Then [b]Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond [c]the River, and they came to Helam. And [d]Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army went before them. 17 When 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. 18 Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand (R)horsemen of the Syrians, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, who died there. 19 And when all the kings who were servants to [e]Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and (S)served them. So the Syrians were afraid to help the people of Ammon anymore.
David, Bathsheba, and Uriah
11 It happened in the spring of the year, at the (T)time when kings go out to battle, that (U)David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged (V)Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed (W)and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he (X)saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not [f]Bathsheba, the daughter of [g]Eliam, the wife (Y)of Uriah the (Z)Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and (AA)he lay with her, for she was (AB)cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. 8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and (AC)wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the (AD)door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 So 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?”
11 And Uriah said to David, (AE)“The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and (AF)my 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.”
12 Then 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. 13 Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him (AG)drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed (AH)with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
14 In the morning it happened that David (AI)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the [h]hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may (AJ)be struck down and die.” 16 So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 Then 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.
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, 19 and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, 20 if 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? 21 Who struck (AK)Abimelech the son of [i]Jerubbesheth? 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.’ ”
22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. 23 And 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. 24 The 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.”
25 Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing [j]displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she (AL)became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done (AM)displeased[k] the Lord.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 10:5 humiliated
- 2 Samuel 10:16 Heb. Hadarezer
- 2 Samuel 10:16 The Euphrates
- 2 Samuel 10:16 Shophach, 1 Chr. 19:16
- 2 Samuel 10:19 Heb. Hadarezer
- 2 Samuel 11:3 Bathshua, 1 Chr. 3:5
- 2 Samuel 11:3 Ammiel, 1 Chr. 3:5
- 2 Samuel 11:15 fiercest
- 2 Samuel 11:21 Jerubbaal (Gideon), Judg. 6:32ff.
- 2 Samuel 11:25 Lit. be evil in your sight
- 2 Samuel 11:27 Lit. was evil in the eyes of
2 Samuel 10-11
New International Version
2 Samuel 10-11
New International Version
David Defeats the Ammonites(A)
10 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. 2 David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash,(B) just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father.
When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out(C) and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard,(D) cut off their garments at the buttocks,(E) and sent them away.
5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”
6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious(F) to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean(G) foot soldiers from Beth Rehob(H) and Zobah,(I) as well as the king of Maakah(J) with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.(K)
7 On hearing this, David sent Joab(L) out with the entire army of fighting men. 8 The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country.
9 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai(M) his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong,(N) and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”(O)
13 Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites(P) realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
15 After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.
17 When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. 18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers.[a] He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject(Q) to them.
So the Arameans(R) were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.
David and Bathsheba
11 In the spring,(S) at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab(T) out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.(U) They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.(V) But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof(W) of the palace. From the roof he saw(X) a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,(Y) the daughter of Eliam(Z) and the wife of Uriah(AA) the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her.(AB) She came to him, and he slept(AC) with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)(AD) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah(AE) the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”(AF) So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah said to David, “The ark(AG) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[b] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love(AH) to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter(AI) to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down(AJ) and die.(AK)”
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek(AL) son of Jerub-Besheth[c]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall,(AM) so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning(AN) was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased(AO) the Lord.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 10:18 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 19:18); Hebrew horsemen
- 2 Samuel 11:11 Or staying at Sukkoth
- 2 Samuel 11:21 Also known as Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon)
Proverbs 24:23-34
New King James Version
Proverbs 24:23-34
New King James Version
Further Sayings of the Wise
23 These things also belong to the wise:
(A)It is not good to [a]show partiality in judgment.
24 (B)He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Him the people will curse;
Nations will abhor him.
25 But those who rebuke the wicked will have (C)delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.
26 He who gives a right answer kisses the lips.
27 (D)Prepare your outside work,
Make it fit for yourself in the field;
And afterward build your house.
28 (E)Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
[b]For would you deceive with your lips?
29 (F)Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me;
I will render to the man according to his work.”
30 I went by the field of the lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
31 And there it was, (G)all overgrown with thorns;
Its surface was covered with nettles;
Its stone wall was broken down.
32 When I saw it, I considered it well;
I looked on it and received instruction:
33 (H)A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;
34 (I)So shall your poverty come like [c]a prowler,
And your need like [d]an armed man.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 24:23 Lit. recognize faces
- Proverbs 24:28 LXX, Vg. Do not deceive
- Proverbs 24:34 Lit. one who walks about
- Proverbs 24:34 Lit. a man with a shield
Proverbs 24:23-34
New International Version
Proverbs 24:23-34
New International Version
Further Sayings of the Wise
23 These also are sayings of the wise:(A)
To show partiality(B) in judging is not good:(C)
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”(D)
will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.
25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and rich blessing will come on them.
26 An honest answer
is like a kiss on the lips.
27 Put your outdoor work in order
and get your fields ready;
after that, build your house.
28 Do not testify against your neighbor without cause(E)—
would you use your lips to mislead?
29 Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me;
I’ll pay them back for what they did.”(F)
30 I went past the field of a sluggard,(G)
past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest(H)—
34 and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.(I)
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.