David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring,^(A) at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab^(B) out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.^(C) They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.^(D) But David remained in Jerusalem.

² One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof^(E) of the palace. From the roof he saw^(F) a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³ and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,^(G) the daughter of Eliam^(H) and the wife of Uriah^(I) the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her.^(J) She came to him, and he slept^(K) with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)^(L) 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^(M) 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.”^(N) 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^(O) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,^[a] 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^(P) 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^(Q) 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^(R) and die.^(S)”

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^(T) son of Jerub-Besheth^[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall,^(U) 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^(V) 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^(W) the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David^(X)

12 The Lord sent Nathan^(Y) to David.^(Z) When he came to him,^(AA) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

⁵ David^(AB) burned with anger^(AC) against the man^(AD) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,^(AE) the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over,^(AF) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!^(AG) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed^(AH) you^(AI) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you,^(AJ) and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise^(AK) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down^(AL) Uriah^(AM) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed^(AN) him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword^(AO) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household^(AP) I am going to bring calamity on you.^(AQ) Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.^{(AR) 12} You did it in secret,^(AS) but I will do this thing in broad daylight^(AT) before all Israel.’”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned^(AU) against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away^(AV) your sin.^(AW) You are not going to die.^{(AX) 14} But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for^[c] the Lord,^(AY) the son born to you will die.”

¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck^(AZ) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying^(BA) in sackcloth^[d] on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused,^(BB) and he would not eat any food with them.^(BC)

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

¹⁹ David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed,^(BD) put on lotions and changed his clothes,^(BE) he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

²¹ His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept,^(BF) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

²² He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?^(BG) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’^{(BH) 23} But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him,^(BI) but he will not return to me.”^(BJ)

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba,^(BK) and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon.^(BL) The Lord loved him; ²⁵ and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.^[e](BM)

²⁶ Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah^(BN) of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. ²⁷ Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. ²⁸ Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

²⁹ So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. ³⁰ David took the crown^(BO) from their king’s^[f] head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent^[g] of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city ³¹ and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.^[h] David did this to all the Ammonite^(BP) towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

18 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ² David sent out his troops,^(A) a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai^(B) son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai^(C) the Gittite. The king told the troops, “I myself will surely march out with you.”

³ But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten^(D) thousand of us.^[a] It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”^(E)

⁴ The king answered, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stood beside the gate while all his men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. ⁵ The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.

⁶ David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest^(F) of Ephraim. ⁷ There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. ⁸ The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.

⁹ Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair^(G) got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.

¹⁰ When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

¹¹ Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike^(H) him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels^[b] of silver and a warrior’s belt.^(I)”

¹² But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels^[c] were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.^[d]’ ¹³ And if I had put my life in jeopardy^[e]—and nothing is hidden from the king^(J)—you would have kept your distance from me.”

¹⁴ Joab^(K) said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. ¹⁵ And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.^(L)

¹⁶ Then Joab^(M) sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. ¹⁷ They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up^(N) a large heap of rocks^(O) over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.

¹⁸ During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley^(P) as a monument^(Q) to himself, for he thought, “I have no son^(R) to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.

David Mourns

¹⁹ Now Ahimaaz^(S) son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.^(T)”

²⁰ “You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”

²¹ Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off.

²² Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite.”

But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don’t have any news that will bring you a reward.”

²³ He said, “Come what may, I want to run.”

So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain^[f] and outran the Cushite.

²⁴ While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman^(U) went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. ²⁵ The watchman called out to the king and reported it.

The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer.

²⁶ Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!”

The king said, “He must be bringing good news,^(V) too.”

²⁷ The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like^(W) Ahimaaz son of Zadok.”

“He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.”

²⁹ The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was.”

³⁰ The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there.

³¹ Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.”

³² The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”^(X)

³³ The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died^(Y) instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”^[g](Z)

19 ^[h]Joab was told, “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” ² And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, “The king is grieving for his son.” ³ The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. ⁴ The king covered his face and cried aloud, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

⁵ Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, “Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. ⁶ You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. ⁷ Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come on you from your youth till now.”^(AA)

⁸ So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway. When the men were told, “The king is sitting in the gateway,^(AB)” they all came before him.

Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled to their homes.

David Returns to Jerusalem

⁹ Throughout the tribes of Israel, all the people were arguing among themselves, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies; he is the one who rescued us from the hand of the Philistines.^(AC) But now he has fled the country to escape from Absalom;^{(AD) 10} and Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?”

¹¹ King David sent this message to Zadok^(AE) and Abiathar, the priests: “Ask the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace, since what is being said throughout Israel has reached the king at his quarters? ¹² You are my relatives, my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to bring back the king?’ ¹³ And say to Amasa,^(AF) ‘Are you not my own flesh and blood?^(AG) May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(AH) if you are not the commander of my army for life in place of Joab.^(AI)’”

¹⁴ He won over the hearts of the men of Judah so that they were all of one mind. They sent word to the king, “Return, you and all your men.” ¹⁵ Then the king returned and went as far as the Jordan.

Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal^(AJ) to go out and meet the king and bring him across the Jordan. ¹⁶ Shimei^(AK) son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁷ With him were a thousand Benjamites, along with Ziba,^(AL) the steward of Saul’s household,^(AM) and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed to the Jordan, where the king was. ¹⁸ They crossed at the ford to take the king’s household over and to do whatever he wished.

When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell prostrate before the king ¹⁹ and said to him, “May my lord not hold me guilty. Do not remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem.^(AN) May the king put it out of his mind. ²⁰ For I your servant know that I have sinned, but today I have come here as the first from the tribes of Joseph to come down and meet my lord the king.”

²¹ Then Abishai^(AO) son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this? He cursed^(AP) the Lord’s anointed.”^(AQ)

²² David replied, “What does this have to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah?^(AR) What right do you have to interfere? Should anyone be put to death in Israel today?^(AS) Don’t I know that today I am king over Israel?” ²³ So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king promised him on oath.^(AT)

²⁴ Mephibosheth,^(AU) Saul’s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely. ²⁵ When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you go with me,^(AV) Mephibosheth?”

²⁶ He said, “My lord the king, since I your servant am lame,^(AW) I said, ‘I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.’ But Ziba^(AX) my servant betrayed me. ²⁷ And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel^(AY) of God; so do whatever you wish. ²⁸ All my grandfather’s descendants deserved nothing but death^(AZ) from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table.^(BA) So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?”

²⁹ The king said to him, “Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the land.”

³⁰ Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has returned home safely.”

³¹ Barzillai^(BB) the Gileadite also came down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and to send him on his way from there. ³² Now Barzillai was very old, eighty years of age. He had provided for the king during his stay in Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy^(BC) man. ³³ The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me and stay with me in Jerusalem, and I will provide for you.”

³⁴ But Barzillai answered the king, “How many more years will I live, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king? ³⁵ I am now eighty^(BD) years old. Can I tell the difference between what is enjoyable and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still hear the voices of male and female singers?^(BE) Why should your servant be an added^(BF) burden to my lord the king? ³⁶ Your servant will cross over the Jordan with the king for a short distance, but why should the king reward me in this way? ³⁷ Let your servant return, that I may die in my own town near the tomb of my father^(BG) and mother. But here is your servant Kimham.^(BH) Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever you wish.”

³⁸ The king said, “Kimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever you wish. And anything you desire from me I will do for you.”

³⁹ So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and bid him farewell,^(BI) and Barzillai returned to his home.

⁴⁰ When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Kimham crossed with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel had taken the king over.

⁴¹ Soon all the men of Israel were coming to the king and saying to him, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal the king away and bring him and his household across the Jordan, together with all his men?”^(BJ)

⁴² All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “We did this because the king is closely related to us. Why are you angry about it? Have we eaten any of the king’s provisions? Have we taken anything for ourselves?”

⁴³ Then the men of Israel^(BK) answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king; so we have a greater claim on David than you have. Why then do you treat us with contempt? Weren’t we the first to speak of bringing back our king?”

But the men of Judah pressed their claims even more forcefully than the men of Israel.