Philistine Giants Destroyed^(A)

¹⁵ When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. ¹⁶ Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of ^[a]the ^(B)giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. ¹⁷ But ^(C)Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, ^(D)“You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the ^(E)lamp of Israel.”

^18 (F)Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then ^(G)Sibbechai the Hushathite killed ^[b]Saph, who was one of the sons of ^[c]the giant. ¹⁹ Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where ^(H)Elhanan the son of ^[d]Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed ^(I)the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

²⁰ Yet again ^(J)there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to ^[e]the giant. ²¹ So when he ^(K)defied Israel, Jonathan the son of ^[f]Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

^22 (L)These four were born to ^[g]the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

David’s Further Conquests^(A)

18 After this ^(B)it came to pass that David ^[a]attacked the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines.

The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated^(A)

19 It^(B) happened after this that Nahash the king of the people of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to Hanun in the land of the people of Ammon to comfort him.

³ And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun, ^[a]“Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Did his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

⁴ Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments ^[b]in the middle, at their ^(C)buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ Then some went and told David about the men; and he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly 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 had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the people of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from ^[c]Mesopotamia, from Syrian Maacah, ^(D)and from ^[d]Zobah. ⁷ So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, with the king of Maacah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. Also the people of Ammon gathered together from their cities, and came to battle.

⁸ Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. ⁹ Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array before the gate of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in battle array against the people of Ammon. ¹² 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 help you. ¹³ Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”

¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai his brother, and entered the city. So Joab went to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ Now when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought the Syrians who were beyond ^[e]the River, and ^[f]Shophach 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 upon them, and set up in battle array against them. So when David had set up in battle array against the Syrians, they fought with him. ¹⁸ Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed ^[g]seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand ^[h]foot soldiers of the Syrians, and killed Shophach the commander of the army. ¹⁹ And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants. So the Syrians were not willing to help the people of Ammon anymore.

Urgent Prayer for the Restored Favor of God^(A)

To the Chief Musician. ^(B)Set to ^[a]“Lily of the Testimony.” A Michtam of David. For teaching. ^(C)When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

² Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed ^(A)and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he ^(B)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 ^[a]Bathsheba, the daughter of ^[b]Eliam, the wife ^(C)of Uriah the ^(D)Hittite?” ⁴ Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and ^(E)he lay with her, for she was ^(F)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 ^(G)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 ^(H)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, ^(I)“The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and ^(J)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 ^(K)drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed ^(L)with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ In the morning it happened that David ^(M)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 ^[c]hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may ^(N)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 ^(O)Abimelech the son of ^[d]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 ^[e]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 ^(P)became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done ^(Q)displeased^[f] the Lord.

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession

12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And ^(A)he came to him, and ^(B)said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. ³ But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this ^[a]shall surely die! ⁶ And he shall restore ^(C)fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I ^(D)anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! ^9 (E)Why have you ^(F)despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? ^(G)You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore, ^(H)the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹ Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will ^(I)take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For you did it secretly, ^(J)but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”

^13 (K)So David said to Nathan, ^(L)“I have sinned against the Lord.”

And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has ^(M)put away your sin; you shall not die.

A Prayer of Repentance

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David ^(A)when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

^13 (A)So David said to Nathan, ^(B)“I have sinned against the Lord.”

And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has ^(C)put away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord ^(D)to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan departed to his house.

The Death of David’s Son

And the ^(E)Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. ¹⁶ David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and ^(F)lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.