David’s Adultery with Bathsheba

11 In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.^(A)

² One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. ³ So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba,^(B) daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah^(C) the Hethite?” ^[a]

⁴ David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness.^(D) Afterward, she returned home. ⁵ The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, “I am pregnant.”

⁶ David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hethite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. ⁸ Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.

¹⁰ When it was reported to David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David questioned Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah answered David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers^[b] are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!” ^(E)

¹² “Stay here today also,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.

Uriah’s Death Arranged

¹⁴ The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter he wrote:

Put Uriah^(F) at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.

¹⁶ When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. ¹⁷ Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David’s soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hethite also died.

²⁶ When Uriah’s^(A) wife heard that her husband, Uriah, had died, she mourned for him.^{[a] 27} When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.^(B)

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance

12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David.^(A) When he arrived, he said to him:

There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very large flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.^[a]

⁵ David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”^(B)

⁷ Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel,^(C) and I rescued you from Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms,^[b] and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why then have you despised the Lord’s command by doing what I consider^[c] evil?^(D) You struck down Uriah^(E) the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.^{(F) 10} Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house^(G) because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says,^(H) ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another^[d] before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight.^{[e] 12} You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’”^[f]

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

Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.^{(J) 14} However, because you treated^[g] the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.”^{(K) 15} Then Nathan went home.

The Death of Bathsheba’s Son

The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s^(L) wife had borne to David, and he became deathly ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted, went home, and spent the night lying on the ground.^{(M) 17} The elders of his house stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

¹⁸ On the seventh day the baby died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him the baby was dead. They said, “Look, while the baby was alive, we spoke to him, and he wouldn’t listen to us. So how can we tell him the baby is dead? He may do something desperate.”

¹⁹ When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?”

“He is dead,” they replied.

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, went to the Lord’s house, and worshiped. Then he went home and requested something to eat. So they served him food, and he ate.

²¹ His servants asked him, “Why have you done this? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food.”

²² He answered, “While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let him live.’^{(N) 23} But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.”^(O)

The Birth of Solomon

²⁴ Then David comforted^(P) his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named^[h] him Solomon.^[i](Q) The Lord loved him, ²⁵ and he sent a message through the prophet Nathan, who named^[j] him Jedidiah,^[k] because of the Lord.

Nathan’s and Bathsheba’s Appeals

¹¹ Then Nathan^(A) said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother,^(B) “Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king^(C) and our lord David does not know it?^{(D) 12} Now please come and let me advise you.^(E) Save your life and the life of your son Solomon.^{(F) 13} Go, approach King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to your servant: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne?^(G) So why has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ At that moment, while you are still there speaking with the king, I’ll come in after you and confirm your words.”^(H)

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. Since the king was very old, Abishag the Shunammite was attending to him.^{(I) 16} Bathsheba knelt low and paid homage to the king, and he asked, “What do you want?”

¹⁷ She replied, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, ‘Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ Now look, Adonijah has become king. And,^[a] my lord the king, you didn’t know it. ¹⁹ He has lavishly sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep. He invited all the king’s sons, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander of the army, but he did not invite your servant Solomon. ²⁰ Now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his ancestors,^(J) I and my son Solomon will be regarded as criminals.”^(K)

²² At that moment, while she was still speaking with the king, the prophet Nathan arrived,^{(L) 23} and it was announced to the king, “The prophet Nathan is here.” He came into the king’s presence and paid homage to him with his face to the ground.

²⁴ “My lord the king,” Nathan said, “did you say, ‘Adonijah is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne’? ²⁵ For today he went down and lavishly sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep. He invited all the sons of the king, the commanders of the army, and the priest Abiathar. And look! They’re eating and drinking in his presence, and they’re saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ But he did not invite me—me, your servant—or the priest Zadok or Benaiah son of Jehoiada or your servant Solomon. ²⁷ I’m certain my lord the king would not have let this happen without letting your servant^[b] know who will sit on my lord the king’s throne after him.”

Solomon Confirmed King

²⁸ King David responded by saying, “Call in Bathsheba for me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. ²⁹ The king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every difficulty,^{(M) 30} just as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne in my place,^(N) that is exactly what I will do this very day.”^(O)

³¹ Bathsheba knelt low with her face to the ground, paying homage to the king,^(P) and said, “May my lord King David live forever!” ^(Q)