2 Samuel 1-12

Common English Bible

David learns of Saul’s death

1 After Saul’s death, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed in Ziklag two days. ² On the third day, a man showed up from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he reached David, he fell to the ground, bowing low out of respect.

³ “Where have you come from?” David asked him.

“I’ve escaped from the Israelite army!” he answered.

⁴ “What’s the report?” David asked him. “Tell me!”

The man answered, “The troops fled from the battle! Many of the soldiers have fallen and died. What’s more, Saul and his son Jonathan have also died!”

⁵ “How do you know,” David asked the young man who brought the news, “that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶ The young man who brought the news replied, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and Saul was there, leaning on his spear, with chariots and horsemen closing in on him. ⁷ He turned around and saw me, then he called to me. ‘Yes, sir,’ I answered. ⁸ ‘Who are you?’ he asked, and I told him, ‘I’m an Amalekite.’ ⁹ He said to me, ‘Please come over here and kill me, because convulsions have come over me but I’m still alive.’^{[a] 10} So I went over to him and killed him, because I knew he couldn’t survive after being wounded like that. I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to you, my master.”

¹¹ Then David grabbed his clothes and ripped them—and all his soldiers did the same. ¹² They mourned and cried and fasted until evening for Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s army, and the whole house of Israel, because they had died by the sword.

¹³ “Where are you from?” David asked the young man who brought him the news.

“I’m the son of an immigrant,” he answered. “An Amalekite.”

¹⁴ Then David said to him, “How is it that you weren’t afraid to raise your hand and destroy the Lord’s anointed?” ¹⁵ Then David called for one of the young servants. “Come here!” he said. “Strike him down!” So the servant struck the Amalekite down, and he died.

¹⁶ “Your blood is on your own head,” David said to the Amalekite, “because your own mouth testified against you when you admitted, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”

David mourns Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷ Then David sang this funeral song^[b] for Saul and his son Jonathan. ¹⁸ David ordered everyone in Judah to learn the Song of the Bow.^[c] (In fact, it is written in the scroll from Jashar.)

David made king in Hebron

2 Some time later, David questioned the Lord, “Should I go to one of the towns in Judah?”

“Yes, go,” the Lord told him.

“Which one should I go to?” David asked.

“To Hebron,” the Lord replied.

² So David went there, along with his two wives: Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal’s widow, from Carmel. ³ David also took the soldiers who were with him, each with his family, and they lived in the towns around Hebron. ⁴ Then the people of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David king over the house of Judah.

When David was informed that it was the people of Jabesh-gilead who had buried Saul, ⁵ he sent messengers to the people of Jabesh-gilead. “The Lord bless you,” he said to them, “for doing this loyal deed for your master Saul by burying him. ⁶ May the Lord now show you loyal love and faithfulness. I myself will also reward you because you did this. ⁷ So now take courage and be brave—yes, your master Saul is dead, but the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Israel’s King Ishbosheth

⁸ Meanwhile, Abner, Ner’s son, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth,^[i] Saul’s son, and brought him over to Mahanaim. ⁹ There he made him king over Gilead, the Geshurites,^[j] Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin—over all Israel. ¹⁰ Saul’s son Ishbosheth was 40 years old when he became king over Israel, and he ruled for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. ¹¹ The amount of time David ruled in Hebron over the house of Judah totaled seven and a half years.

Conflict between Judah and Israel

¹² Abner, Ner’s son, along with the soldiers of Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, left Mahanaim to go to Gibeon. ¹³ Joab, Zeruiah’s son, and David’s soldiers also came out and confronted them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat on one side of the pool; the other sat on the opposite side of the pool. ¹⁴ Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young men fight in a contest^[k] before us.”

“All right,” Joab said, “let’s do it.” ¹⁵ So the men came forward and were counted as they passed by: twelve for Benjamin and Ishbosheth, Saul’s son; and twelve of David’s soldiers. ¹⁶ Each man grabbed his opponent by the head and stuck^[l] his sword into his opponent’s side so that they both fell dead together. That’s why that place is called The Field of Daggers,^[m] which is located in Gibeon. ¹⁷ A fierce battle took place that day, and Abner and the Israelite troops were defeated by David’s soldiers.

¹⁸ Now Zeruiah’s three sons were present at the battle: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was as fast as a gazelle in an open field. ¹⁹ Asahel went after Abner, staying completely focused in his pursuit of Abner.

²⁰ Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”

“Yes, it’s me,” Asahel answered.

²¹ “Break off your pursuit!” Abner told him. “Fight one of the young warriors and take his gear for yourself!” But Asahel wouldn’t stop chasing him.

²² So Abner repeated himself to Asahel: “Stop chasing me. Why should I kill you? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?” ²³ But Asahel wouldn’t turn back, so Abner hit him in the stomach with the back end of his spear. But the spear went through Asahel’s back. He fell down and died right there.

Everyone who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died just stood there, ²⁴ but Joab and Abishai went after Abner. The sun was setting when they came to the hill of Ammah, which faces Giah on the road to the Gibeon wilderness. ²⁵ The Benjaminites rallied behind Abner, forming a single unit. Then they took their positions on the top of a hill. ²⁶ Abner yelled down to Joab, “Must the sword keep killing forever? Don’t you realize that this will end bitterly? How long before you order the troops to stop chasing their brothers?”

²⁷ “As surely as God lives,” Joab replied, “if you hadn’t just said that, the soldiers would have continued after their brothers until morning.” ²⁸ Joab blew the trumpet,^[n] and all the soldiers stopped. They didn’t pursue Israel anymore, nor did they continue to fight.

²⁹ Abner and his men then marched all night through the wilderness, crossing the Jordan River and marching all morning^[o] until they got to Mahanaim. ³⁰ Joab, meanwhile, returned from pursuing Abner and assembled the troops. Nineteen of David’s soldiers were counted missing in addition to Asahel. ³¹ But David’s soldiers had defeated the Benjaminites, killing three hundred sixty of Abner’s soldiers. ³² They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night. When daylight came, they were in Hebron.

3 The war between Saul’s house and David’s house was long and drawn out. David kept getting stronger, while Saul’s house kept getting weaker.

David’s family

² David’s sons were born in Hebron. His oldest son was Amnon, by Ahinoam from Jezreel; ³ the second was Chileab, by Abigail, Nabal’s widow from Carmel; the third was Absalom, by^[p] Maacah, who was the daughter of Geshur’s King Talmai; ⁴ the fourth was Adonijah, by Haggith; the fifth was Shephatiah, by Abital; ⁵ and the sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These are David’s sons that were born in Hebron.

Joab kills Abner

⁶ Throughout the war between Saul’s house and David’s house, Abner was gaining power in Saul’s house. ⁷ Now Saul had a secondary wife named Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter. Ishbosheth^[q] said to Abner, “Why have you had sex with my father’s secondary wife?”

⁸ Abner got very angry over what Ishbosheth had said.

“Am I some sort of dog’s head?”^[r] Abner asked. “I’ve been nothing but loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his brothers and his friends. I haven’t handed you over to David, but today you accuse me of doing something wrong with this woman. ⁹ May God deal harshly with me, Abner, and worse still if I don’t do for David exactly what the Lord swore to him— ¹⁰ removing the kingdom from Saul’s house and securing David’s throne over Israel and over Judah, from Dan all the way to Beer-sheba!”

¹¹ Ishbosheth couldn’t say a single word in reply to Abner because he was afraid of him.

¹² Abner sent messengers to represent him to David and to say, “Who will own the land?^[s] Make a covenant with me, then I’ll help bring all Israel over to your side.”

¹³ “Good!” David replied. “I will make a covenant with you, but on one condition: don’t show yourself in my presence unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

¹⁴ Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ishbosheth. “Give me my wife Michal,” he demanded. “I became engaged to her at the cost of one hundred Philistine foreskins.”

¹⁵ Ishbosheth then sent for Michal and took her from her husband Paltiel, Laish’s son. ¹⁶ Her husband went with her all the way to Bahurim, crying as he followed her.

“Go home!” Abner told him. So he went home.

¹⁷ Abner then sent word to Israel’s elders. “You’ve wanted David to be your king for some time now,” he said. ¹⁸ “It’s time to act because the Lord has said about David: I will rescue my people Israel from the power of the Philistines and all their enemies through my servant David.”

¹⁹ Abner also spoke directly to the Benjaminites. He then went to inform David in person at Hebron regarding everything that all Israel and the house of Benjamin were willing to do.

²⁰ When Abner, along with twenty others, reached David at Hebron, David threw a celebration for Abner and his men. ²¹ Then Abner said to David, “Please let me get going so I can assemble all Israel for my master the king. Then they can make a covenant with you, and you will rule over everything your heart^[t] desires.” At that, David sent Abner off in peace.

²² Right then, David’s soldiers and Joab returned from a raid, bringing a great deal of loot with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron because David had sent him off in peace. ²³ When Joab and all the troops with him returned, Joab was told that Abner, Ner’s son, had come to the king and that David had sent him off in peace.

²⁴ Joab went to the king and asked, “What have you done? Abner came to you here! Why did you send him off? Now he’s gotten away! ²⁵ Don’t you know the evil ways of Abner, Ner’s son?^[u] He came to trick you, to find out where you come and go, and to learn everything you do!”

²⁶ Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well at Sirah, but David didn’t know anything of this. ²⁷ When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside next to^[v] the gate to speak with him in private. But instead Joab stabbed Abner in the stomach, and he died for shedding the blood of Asahel, Joab’s brother.

²⁸ When David heard about this later, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the shedding of the blood of Abner, Ner’s son. ²⁹ May it fall upon the head of Joab and his entire family tree! May Joab’s family never be without someone with a discharge or a skin disease,^[w] someone who uses a crutch,^[x] someone who dies by the sword, or someone who is hungry!”

³⁰ So that is how Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner, because he killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

³¹ Then David ordered Joab and all the troops who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on funeral clothes! Mourn for Abner!” King David himself walked behind the body. ³² They buried Abner in Hebron. The king wept loudly at Abner’s grave. All the troops cried too. ³³ Then the king sang this funeral song^[y] for Abner:

³⁵ Then all the soldiers came to urge David to eat something while it was still day, but David swore, “May God deal harshly with me and worse still if I eat bread or anything else before the sun goes down.” ³⁶ All the troops took notice of this and were pleased by it. Indeed, everything that the king did pleased them. ³⁷ So on that day all the troops and all Israel knew that it wasn’t the king’s idea to kill Abner, Ner’s son.

³⁸ The king told his soldiers, “Don’t you know that a prince and a great man in Israel has fallen today? ³⁹ And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak. These men, Zeruiah’s sons, are too strong for me.^[z] May the Lord repay the one who does evil according to the evil they did!”

Ishbosheth murdered

4 When Ishbosheth,^[aa] Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost his courage,^[ab] and all Israel was alarmed. ² Saul’s son had two men who led the raiding parties—one was named Baanah and the other Rechab. Both were sons of Rimmon, a Benjaminite from Beeroth. (Beeroth was considered part of Benjamin. ³ The people of Beeroth had fled to Gittaim and even now live there as immigrants.)

⁴ Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a boy whose feet were crippled. He was only 5 years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and so his nurse snatched him up and fled. But as she hurried to get away, he fell and was injured. His name was Mephibosheth.^[ac]

⁵ Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, set out and reached Ishbosheth’s house at the heat of the day, right when he was lying down, taking an afternoon rest. ⁶ They went straight into his house, as if getting wheat,^[ad] and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped. ⁷ They had entered the house while Ishbosheth was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed him and killed him, they cut off his head, took it, and traveled all night through the wilderness.

⁸ They brought Ishbosheth’s head to David at Hebron. “Here is the head of Ishbosheth,” they told the king, “the son of Saul your enemy, who wanted you dead. Today the Lord has avenged our master^[ae] the king on Saul and his descendants.”

⁹ David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has rescued me^[af] from all kinds of trouble,” he told them, ¹⁰ “when someone told me Saul was dead back in Ziklag, thinking he was bringing good news, I grabbed him and killed him. That was the reward I gave him for his news! ¹¹ What do you think I’ll do when evil people kill a righteous person in his own house on his own bed? Why shouldn’t I demand his blood from your hands and rid the earth of you both?”

¹² So David gave the order to his servants, and they killed Rechab and Baanah, cutting off their hands and feet and hanging them up by the pool at Hebron. But they took Ishbosheth’s head and buried it in the grave of Abner at Hebron.

David becomes king of Israel and Judah

5 All the Israelite tribes came to David at Hebron and said, “Listen: We are your very own flesh and bone. ² In the past, when Saul ruled over us, you were the one who led Israel out to war and back. What’s more, the Lord told you, You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be Israel’s leader.

³ So all the Israelite elders came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴ David was 30 years old when he became king, and he ruled for forty years. ⁵ He ruled over Judah for seven and a half years in Hebron. He ruled thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is captured

⁶ The king and his troops marched on Jerusalem against the Jebusites, who inhabited the territory. The Jebusites said to David, “You’ll never get us in here! Even the blind and the lame will beat you back!” “David will never enter here,” they said to each other.^{[ag] 7} But David did capture the fortress of Zion—which became David’s City. ⁸ “On that day,” David said, “whoever attacks the Jebusites should strike the windpipe because David hates the lame and the blind.”^[ah] That is why people say, “The blind and the lame will not enter the temple.”^{[ai] 9} David occupied the fortress, so it was renamed David’s City. David built a city around it from the earthen terraces^[aj] inward.^{[ak] 10} David grew increasingly powerful, and the Lord of heavenly forces was with him.

¹¹ Tyre’s King Hiram sent messengers to David with cedar logs, bricklayers, and carpenters to build David a palace. ¹² Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingship was held in great honor for the sake of his people Israel. ¹³ After he left Hebron, David married more secondary wives in Jerusalem and fathered more sons and daughters. ¹⁴ The names of his children in Jerusalem were as follows: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

David defeats the Philistines

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all marched up to find him, but David heard of it and went down to the fortress. ¹⁸ The Philistines arrived and spread out over the Rephaim Valley. ¹⁹ David asked the Lord, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”

“Attack them,” the Lord replied, “because I will definitely hand the Philistines over to you.”

²⁰ So David arrived at Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. He said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies, the way water bursts out!” That is why that place is called Baal-perazim.^{[al] 21} The Philistines left their divine images behind, and David and his men carried them off.

²² Once again the Philistines came up and spread out across the Rephaim Valley. ²³ When David asked the Lord, God replied, “Don’t attack them directly. Circle around behind them and come at them from in front of the balsam trees. ²⁴ As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, then attack, for God has attacked in front of you to defeat the Philistine army.” ²⁵ David followed God’s orders exactly, and they defeated the Philistine army from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.

God’s chest is brought to Jerusalem

6 Once again David assembled the select warriors of Israel, thirty thousand strong. ² David and all the troops who were with him set out for Baalah, which is Kiriath-jearim of Judah,^[am] to bring God’s chest up from there—the chest that is called by the name^[an] of the Lord of heavenly forces, who sits enthroned on the winged creatures. ³ They loaded God’s chest on a new cart and carried it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were driving the new cart. ^4 [ao] Uzzah was beside God’s chest while Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵ Meanwhile, David and the entire house of Israel celebrated in the Lord’s presence with all their strength, with songs,^[ap] zithers, harps, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals.

⁶ When they approached Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to God’s chest and grabbed it because the oxen had stumbled.^{[aq] 7} The Lord became angry at Uzzah, and God struck him there because of his mistake,^[ar] and he died there next to God’s chest. ⁸ Then David got angry because the Lord’s anger lashed out against Uzzah, and so that place is called Perez-uzzah today.^[as]

⁹ David was frightened by the Lord that day. “How will I ever bring the Lord’s chest to me?” he asked. ¹⁰ So David didn’t take the chest away with him to David’s City. Instead, he had it put in the house of Obed-edom, who was from Gath. ¹¹ The Lord’s chest stayed with Obed-edom’s household in Gath for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom’s household and all that he had.

¹² King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s family and everything he has because of God’s chest being there.”^[at] So David went and brought God’s chest up from Obed-edom’s house to David’s City with celebration. ¹³ Whenever those bearing the chest advanced six steps, David sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf. ¹⁴ David, dressed in a linen priestly vest,^[au] danced with all his strength before the Lord. ¹⁵ This is how David and the entire house of Israel brought up the Lord’s chest with shouts and trumpet blasts.

¹⁶ As the Lord’s chest entered David’s City, Saul’s daughter Michal was watching from a window. She saw King David jumping and dancing before the Lord, and she lost all respect for him.^[av]

¹⁷ The Lord’s chest was brought in and put in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered entirely burned offerings in the Lord’s presence in addition to well-being sacrifices. ¹⁸ When David finished offering the entirely burned offerings and the well-being sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of heavenly forces. ¹⁹ He distributed food among all the people of Israel—to the whole crowd, male and female—each receiving a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. Then all the people went back to their homes.

²⁰ David went home to bless his household, but Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How did Israel’s king honor himself today?” she said. “By exposing himself in plain view of the female servants of his subjects like any indecent person would!”

²¹ David replied to Michal, “I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me over your father and his entire family, and who appointed me leader over the Lord’s people, over Israel—and I will celebrate before the Lord again! ²² I may humiliate myself even more, and I may be humbled in my own eyes, but I will be honored by the female servants you are talking about!”

²³ Michal, Saul’s daughter, had no children to the day she died.

God’s promise to David

7 When the king was settled in his palace,^[aw] and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, ² the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Look! I’m living in a cedar palace, but God’s chest is housed in a tent!”^[ax]

³ Nathan said to the king, “Go ahead and do whatever you are thinking, because the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that very night the Lord’s word came to Nathan: ⁵ Go to my servant David and tell him: This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build the temple for me to live in. ⁶ In fact, I haven’t lived in a temple from the day I brought Israel out of Egypt until now. Instead, I have been traveling around in a tent and in a dwelling. ⁷ Throughout my traveling around with the Israelites, did I ever ask any of Israel’s tribal leaders I appointed to shepherd my people: Why haven’t you built me a cedar temple?

⁸ So then, say this to my servant David: This is what the Lord of heavenly forces says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be leader over my people Israel. ⁹ I’ve been with you wherever you’ve gone, and I’ve eliminated all your enemies before you. Now I will make your name great—like the name of the greatest people on earth. ¹⁰ I’m going to provide a place for my people Israel, and plant them so that they may live there and no longer be disturbed. Cruel people will no longer trouble them, as they had been earlier, ¹¹ when I appointed leaders over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies.

And the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make a dynasty for you. ¹² When the time comes for you to die and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your descendant—one of your very own children—to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He will build a temple for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. ¹⁴ I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. Whenever he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod, with blows from human beings. ¹⁵ But I will never take my faithful love away from him like I took it away from Saul, whom I set aside in favor of you. ¹⁶ Your dynasty and your kingdom will be secured forever before me.^[ay] Your throne will be established forever.

¹⁷ Nathan reported all of these words and this entire vision to David.

David’s prayer

¹⁸ Then King David went and sat in the Lord’s presence. He asked:

David’s wars

8 Some time later, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David captured Metheg-ammah from Philistine control.

² David also defeated the Moabites and made them lie on the ground, measuring them with a rope. He measured two rope lengths for those who were to be killed and one rope length for those who were to be spared. The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought him tribute.

³ Next David defeated Zobah’s King Hadadezer, Rehob’s son, as Hadadezer was on his way to put^[bc] his monument along the Euphrates River.^{[bd] 4} David captured one thousand chariots, seven hundred charioteers,^[be] and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He cut the hamstrings of all but one hundred of the chariot horses. ⁵ When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Zobah’s King Hadadezer, David killed twenty-two thousand of them. ⁶ David set up forts among the Arameans of Damascus. And the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought him tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went. ⁷ David took the gold shields carried by Hadadezer’s servants and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ King David also took a large amount of bronze from Tebah^[bf] and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer.

⁹ When Hamath’s King Toi heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ he sent his son Joram to King David to wish him well and congratulate him on his battle and defeat of Hadadezer, because Toi was an enemy of Hadadezer. Joram brought silver, gold, and bronze objects with him. ¹¹ King David dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had dedicated from all the nations that he had subdued: ¹² Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek, including the plunder of Zobah’s King Hadadezer, Rehob’s son.

¹³ So David made a name for himself.^[bg] When he returned, he killed eighteen thousand Edomites^[bh] in the Salt Valley. ¹⁴ He set up forts in Edom,^[bi] and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.

David’s administration

¹⁵ David ruled over all Israel and maintained justice and righteousness for all his people. ¹⁶ Zeruiah’s son Joab was in command of the army; Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was recorder; ¹⁷ Ahitub’s son Zadok and Ahimelech’s son^[bj] Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary; ¹⁸ Jehoiada’s son Benaiah was in command of^[bk] the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.

David and Mephibosheth

9 David asked, “Is there anyone from Saul’s family still alive that I could show faithful love for Jonathan’s sake?” ² There was a servant from Saul’s household named Ziba, and he was summoned before David.

“Are you Ziba?” the king asked him.

“At your service!” he answered.

³ The king asked, “Is there anyone left from Saul’s family that I could show God’s kindness to?”

“Yes,” Ziba said to the king, “one of Jonathan’s sons, whose feet are crippled.”

⁴ “Where is he?” the king asked.

“He is at the house of Ammiel’s son Machir at Lo-debar,” Ziba told the king.

⁵ So King David had him brought from the house of Ammiel’s son Machir at Lo-debar. ⁶ Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson, came to David, and he fell to the ground, bowing low out of respect.

“Mephibosheth?” David said.

“Yes,” he replied. “I am at your service!”

⁷ “Don’t be afraid,” David told him, “because I will certainly show you faithful love for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the fields of your grandfather Saul, and you will eat at my table always.”

⁸ Mephibosheth bowed low out of respect and said, “Who am I, your servant, that you should care about a dead dog like me?”

⁹ Then David summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything belonging to Saul and his family. ¹⁰ You will work the land for him—you, your sons, and your servants—and you will bring food into your master’s house for them to eat.^[bl] But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will always be at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my master the king commands.”

So Mephibosheth ate at David’s^[bm] table, like one of the king’s own sons. ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. All who lived in Ziba’s household became Mephibosheth’s servants. ¹³ Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table. He was crippled in both feet.

War with the Ammonites and Arameans

10 Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. ² David said, “I’ll be loyal to Nahash’s son Hanun, just as his father was loyal to me.” So David sent his servants with condolences concerning Hanun’s father.

But when David’s servants arrived in Ammonite territory, ³ the Ammonite officials asked their master Hanun, “Do you really believe David is honoring your father because he has sent you condolences? Of course not! David has sent his servants to you to search the city, spy it out, and overthrow it.” ⁴ So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved off their beards,^[bn] cut off half their garments, from their buttocks down, and sent them off.

⁵ When this was reported to David, he sent men to meet them because they were completely ashamed. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown. Then you can come back.”

⁶ When the Ammonites realized that they had offended David, they sent for and hired the Arameans of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, totaling twenty thousand foot soldiers; the king of Maacah with one thousand soldiers; and twelve thousand soldiers from Tob. ⁷ When David heard this, he sent Joab with the entire army of warriors. ⁸ The Ammonites marched out and formed a battle line at the entrance to the city. The Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the soldiers from Tob and Maacah remained in the countryside.

⁹ When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s finest warriors and deployed them to meet the Arameans. ¹⁰ The rest of the army Joab placed under the command of his brother Abishai. When they took up their positions to meet the Ammonites, Joab said, ¹¹ “If the Arameans prove too strong for me, you must help me, and if the Ammonites prove too strong for you, I’ll help you. ¹² Be brave! We must be courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his eyes.”

¹³ When Joab and the troops who were with him advanced into battle against the Arameans, they fled from him. ¹⁴ When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and retreated to the city. Then Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and went to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, so they regrouped. ¹⁶ Hadadezer sent for Arameans from beyond the Euphrates River. They came to Helam with Shobach leading them as commander of Hadadezer’s army. ¹⁷ When this was reported to David he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. The Arameans formed battle lines against David and fought with him. ¹⁸ But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David destroyed seven hundred of their chariots and forty thousand horsemen. David wounded their army commander Shobach, and he died there. ¹⁹ When all the kings who served Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their subjects. Never again would the Arameans come to the aid of the Ammonites.

David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring,^[bo] when kings^[bp] go off to war, David sent Joab, along with his servants and all the Israelites, and they destroyed the Ammonites, attacking the city of Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

² One evening, David got up from his couch and was pacing back and forth on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. ³ David sent someone and inquired about the woman. The report came back: “Isn’t this Eliam’s daughter Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ So David sent messengers to take her. When she came to him, he had sex with her. (Now she had been purifying herself after her monthly period.) Then she returned home. ⁵ The woman conceived and sent word to David.

“I’m pregnant,” she said.

⁶ Then David sent a message to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked about the welfare of Joab and the army and how the battle was going. ⁸ Then David told Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”

Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹ However, Uriah slept at the palace entrance with all his master’s servants. He didn’t go down to his own house. ¹⁰ David was told, “Uriah didn’t go down to his own house,” so David asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just returned from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ “The chest and Israel and Judah are all living in tents,” Uriah told David. “And my master Joab and my master’s troops are camping in the open field. How^[bq] could I go home and eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? I swear on your very life,^[br] I will not do that!”

¹² Then David told Uriah, “Stay here one more day. Tomorrow I’ll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day. The next day ¹³ David called for him, and he ate and drank, and David got him drunk. In the evening Uriah went out to sleep in the same place, alongside his master’s servants, but he did not go down to his own home.

¹⁴ The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ He wrote in the letter, “Place Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle, and then pull back from him so that he will be struck down and die.”

¹⁶ So as Joab was attacking the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew there were strong warriors. ¹⁷ When the city’s soldiers came out and attacked Joab, some of the people from David’s army fell. Uriah the Hittite was also killed. ¹⁸ Joab sent a complete report of the battle to David.

¹⁹ “When you have finished reporting all the news of the battle to the king,” Joab instructed the messenger, ²⁰ “if the king gets angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? didn’t you know they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who killed Jerubbaal’s son Abimelech?^[bs] didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone on top of him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ then say: ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.’”

²² So the messenger set off, and when he arrived he reported to David everything Joab sent him to say.

²³ “The men overpowered us,” the messenger told David. “They came out against us in the open field, but we fought against them^[bt] up to the entrance of the city gate. ²⁴ Archers shot down on your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants died. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.”

²⁵ David said to the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t be upset about this because the sword is that way: taking the life of this person or that person. Continue attacking the city and destroy it!’ Encourage Joab!”

²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ After the time of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her back to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son.

But what David had done was evil in the Lord’s eyes.

Nathan pronounces God’s judgment

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor. ² The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing—just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup—even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor.”

⁵ David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the one who did this is demonic!^{[bu] 6} He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over^[bv] because he did this and because he had no compassion.”

⁷ “You are that man!” Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from Saul’s power. ⁸ I gave your master’s house^[bw] to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house^[bx] of Israel and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. ⁹ Why have you despised the Lord’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him. ¹⁰ Because of that, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your own house.

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: I am making trouble come against you from inside your own family. Before your very eyes I will take your wives away and give them to your friend, and he will have sex with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did what you did secretly, but I will do what I am doing before all Israel in the light of day.”

¹³ “I’ve sinned against the Lord!” David said to Nathan.

“The Lord has removed your sin,” Nathan replied to David. “You won’t die. ¹⁴ However, because you have utterly disrespected the Lord^[by] by doing this, the son born to you will definitely die.” ¹⁵ Then Nathan went home.

Bathsheba’s child dies

The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne for David, and he became very sick. ¹⁶ David begged God for the boy. He fasted and spent the night sleeping on the ground. ¹⁷ The senior servants of his house approached^[bz] him to lift him up off the ground, but he refused, and he wouldn’t eat with them either.

¹⁸ On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child had died. “David wouldn’t listen to us when we talked to him while the child was still alive,” they said. “How can we tell him the child has died? He’ll do something terrible!”

¹⁹ But when David saw his servants whispering, he realized the child had died.

“Is the child dead?” David asked his servants.

“Yes,” they said, “he is dead.”

²⁰ Then David rose from the ground, bathed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He entered the Lord’s house and bowed down. Then he entered his own house. He requested food, which was brought to him, and he ate.

²¹ “Why are you acting this way?” his servants asked. “When the child was alive, you fasted and cried and kept watch,^[ca] but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat food!”

²² David replied, “While the child was alive I fasted and wept because I thought, Who knows? The Lord may have mercy on me and let the child live. ²³ But he is dead now. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? No. I am going where he is, but he won’t come back to me.”

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had sex with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon.^[cb] The Lord loved him ²⁵ and sent word by the prophet Nathan to name him Jedidiah^[cc] because of the Lord’s grace.^[cd]

Defeat of the Ammonites

²⁶ Meanwhile, Joab fought the Ammonites at Rabbah and captured the royal city. ²⁷ Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and captured the city’s water supply.^{[ce] 28} So gather the rest of the troops, attack the city, and capture it. Otherwise, I will capture the city myself, and it will be named after me.”

²⁹ So David gathered all the troops, marched to Rabbah, fought against it, and captured it. ³⁰ David took Milcom’s^[cf] crown off his head. It weighed one kikkar of gold and was set with a valuable stone. It was placed on David’s head. The amount of loot David took from the city was huge. ³¹ He brought out the people who were in the city and put them to work making bricks. David demolished the city with saws, iron picks, and axes;^[cg] he did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.