Bathsheba, David’s Great Sin

11 ^(A)Then it happened ^[a](B)in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they brought destruction on the sons of Ammon and ^(C)besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem.

² Now at evening time David got up from his bed and walked around on ^(D)the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. ³ So David sent servants and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not ^(E)Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^(F)Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ Then David sent messengers and ^[b]had her brought, and when she came to him, ^(G)he slept with her; ^(H)and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. ⁵ But the woman conceived; so she sent word and informed David, and said, “^(I)I am pregnant.”

⁶ Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, ^(J)David asked about Joab’s well-being and ^[c]that of the people, and the condition of the war. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and ^(K)wash your feet.” So Uriah left the king’s house, and a gift from the king ^[d]was sent after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept ^(L)at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ Now when they informed 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, “^(M)The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in ^[e]temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and ^(N)the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Should I then go to my house to eat and drink and to sleep with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” ¹² Then David said to Uriah, “^(O)Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the day after. ¹³ Now David summoned ^[f]Uriah, and he ate and drank in his presence, and he ^(P)made ^[g]Uriah drunk; and in the evening Uriah went out to lie on his bed ^(Q)with his lord’s servants, and he still did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ So in the morning David ^(R)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ^15 (S)He had written in the letter ^[h]the following: “^[i]Station Uriah on the front line of the ^[j]fiercest battle and pull back from him, ^(T)so that he may be struck and killed.” ¹⁶ So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he ^[k]stationed Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ And the men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and ^(U)Uriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸ Then Joab sent a messenger and reported to David all the events of the war. ¹⁹ He ordered the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, ²⁰ then it shall be that if the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you move against the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who ^(V)struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did a woman not throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you move against the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’”

²² So the messenger departed and came and reported to David everything that Joab had sent him to tell. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we ^[l]pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ Also, the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants died, and your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.” ²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “This is what you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing ^[m]displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; ^[n]fight with determination against the city and overthrow it’; and thereby encourage him.”

²⁶ Now when Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, ^(W)she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ When the time of mourning was over, David sent servants and ^[o]had her brought to his house and ^(X)she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But ^(Y)the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Word of Jerusalem’s Capture

²¹ Now ^(A)in the ^(B)twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “^(C)The city has been ^[a]taken.” ²² Now the ^(D)hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the survivors came. And He ^(E)opened my mouth ^[b]at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was ^(F)opened and I was no longer ^[c]speechless.

²³ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, they who ^(G)live in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘^(H)Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to ^(I)us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ ²⁵ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “You eat meat with the ^(J)blood in it, raise your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. ^(K)Should you then possess the land? ²⁶ You ^[d](L)rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”’ ²⁷ You shall say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “As I live, those who are in the places of ruins certainly will ^(M)fall by the sword, and whoever is in the ^[e]open field I will give to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the ^(N)caves will die of plague. ²⁸ And I will ^(O)make the land a desolation and a waste, and the ^(P)pride of her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be deserted so that no one will pass through. ²⁹ Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’

³⁰ “But as for you, son of man, ^[f]your fellow citizens who talk with one another about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak one with another, each with his brother, saying, ‘^(Q)Come now and hear what the ^[g]message is that comes from the Lord.’ ³¹ And they come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them; for they do the lustful desires expressed by their ^(R)mouth, and their heart follows their unlawful ^(S)gain. ³² And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a ^(T)beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. ³³ So when it ^(U)comes—^[h]as it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

²⁶ But ^(A)an angel of the Lord spoke to ^(B)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go ^[a]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to ^(C)Gaza.” (^[b]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got ready and went; and ^[c](D)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of ^[d]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he ^(E)had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[e]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then ^(F)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[f]chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip ^(I)opened his mouth, and ^(J)beginning from this Scripture he ^(K)preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! ^(L)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[i] 38} And he ordered that the ^[j]chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, ^(M)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[k]but went on his way rejoicing.

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold

¹⁶ “^(A)A little while, and ^(B)you no longer are going to see Me; and again a little while, and ^(C)you will see Me.” ¹⁷ So some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this that He is telling us, ‘^(D)A little while, and you are not going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because ^(E)I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” ^19 (F)Jesus knew that they wanted to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly I say to you that ^(G)you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but ^(H)your grief will be turned into joy! ^21 (I)Whenever a woman is in labor she has ^[a]pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a ^[b]child has been born into the world. ²² Therefore ^(J)you too have grief now; but ^(K)I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one is going to take your joy away from you.