God’s Covenant with David

⁸ Now then, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “^(A)I Myself took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, ^(B)to be leader over My people Israel. ⁹ And ^(C)I have been with you wherever you have gone, and ^(D)have eliminated all your enemies from you; I will also make a great name for you, like the names of the great men who ^[a]are on the earth. ¹⁰ And I will establish a place for My people Israel, and ^(E)will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, ^(F)nor will ^[b]malicious people oppress them anymore as previously, ¹¹ even ^(G)from the day that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and ^(H)I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that ^(I)the Lord will make a house for you. ^12 (J)When your days are finished and you ^[c](K)lie down with your fathers, ^(L)I will raise up your ^[d]descendant after you, who will come from ^[e]you, and I will establish his kingdom. ^13 (M)He shall build a house for My name, and ^(N)I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ^14 (O)I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; ^(P)when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind, ¹⁵ but My favor shall not depart from him, ^(Q)as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from you. ^16 (R)Your house and your kingdom shall endure before ^[f]Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words and all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

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.

Nathan Rebukes David

12 Then the Lord sent ^(Z)Nathan to David. And ^(AA)he came to him and ^[p]said,

⁵ Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this certainly ^[s](AC)deserves to die! ⁶ So he must make restitution for the lamb ^(AD)four times over, since he did this thing and ^[t]had no compassion.”

⁷ Nathan then said to David, “^(AE)You yourself are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘^(AF)It is I who anointed you as king over Israel, and it is I who rescued you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I also gave you ^(AG)your master’s house and put your master’s wives ^[u]into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you ^[v]many more things like these! ⁹ Why ^(AH)have you despised the word of the Lord, by doing evil in His sight? ^(AI)You have struck and killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, you ^(AJ)have taken his wife as your wife, and you have slaughtered him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now then, ^(AK)the sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹ This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household; ^(AL)I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in ^[w]broad daylight. ¹² Indeed, ^(AM)you did it secretly, but ^(AN)I will do this thing before all Israel, and ^[x]in open daylight.’” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “^(AO)I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has ^(AP)allowed your sin to pass; you shall not die. ¹⁴ However, since by this deed you have ^(AQ)shown utter disrespect for the ^[y]Lord, the child himself who is born to you shall certainly die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house.

Loss of a Child

Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s ^[z]widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. ¹⁶ David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David ^(AR)fasted and went and ^(AS)lay all night on the ground. ^17 (AT)The elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to ^[aa]us. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm?” ¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” ²⁰ So David got up from the ground, ^(AU)washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and ^(AV)worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and when he asked, they served him food, and he ate.

²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was ^[ab]alive; but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” ²² And he said, “While the child was still alive, ^(AW)I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘^(AX)Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ ²³ But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? ^(AY)I am going to him, but ^(AZ)he will not return to me.”

Solomon Born

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and slept with her; and she gave birth to a son, and ^[ac](BA)he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, ²⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him ^[ad]Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.

War Again

^26 (BB)Now Joab fought against ^(BC)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. ²⁷ Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. ²⁸ Now then, gather the rest of the people and camp opposite the city and capture it, or I will capture the city myself and it will be named after me.” ²⁹ So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. ³⁰ Then ^(BD)he took the crown of ^[ae]their king from his head; and its weight was a ^[af]talent of gold, and it had a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the plunder of the city in great amounts. ³¹ He also brought out the people who were in it, and ^(BE)put some to work at saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made ^[ag]others ^[ah]serve at the brick ^[ai]works. And he did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

^6 (A)Then he believed in the Lord; and He ^[a]credited it to him as righteousness. ⁷ And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of ^(B)Ur of the Chaldeans, to ^(C)give you this land to ^[b]possess it.” ⁸ But he said, “Lord ^[c]God, ^(D)how may I know that I will ^[d]possess it?” ⁹ So He said to him, “^[e]Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ Then he ^[f]brought all these to Him and ^(E)cut them ^[g]in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he ^(F)did not cut the birds. ¹¹ And birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹² Now when the sun was going down, ^(G)a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, ^[h]terror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³ Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that ^(H)your ^[i]descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, ^[j]where ^(I)they will be enslaved and oppressed for ^(J)four hundred years. ¹⁴ But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out ^(K)with ^[k]many possessions. ¹⁵ As for you, ^(L)you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ Then in ^(M)the fourth generation they will return here, for ^(N)the wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ Now it came about, when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch appeared which ^(O)passed between these pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

¹² So then, my beloved, ^(A)just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own ^(B)salvation with ^(C)fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is ^(D)God who is at work in you, both to ^[a]desire and to work ^(E)for His good pleasure.