2 Samuel 11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba
11 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.(A)
2 It happened, late one afternoon when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful.(B) 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”(C) 4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house.(D) 5 The woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”(E)
6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king.(F) 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths,[a] and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.”(G) 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day,[b] 13 David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk, and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.(H)
David Has Uriah Killed
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.(I) 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”(J) 16 As Joab kept watch over the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant warriors. 17 The men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite was killed as well.(K) 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting, 19 and he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling the king all the news about the fighting, 20 if the king’s anger rises and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal?[c] Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead, too.’ ”(L)
22 So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall; some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him.(M) 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.
Nathan Condemns David
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord,(N)
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2 Samuel 11
Evangelical Heritage Version
David and Bathsheba
11 Springtime arrived, the time when kings go out to war. David sent Joab out with his officers and with all Israel. They ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David had gotten up from his couch and was walking around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very good looking. 3 David sent to inquire about the woman, and he was told, “Isn’t this Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
4 David sent messengers to bring her. She came to him, and he lay down with her. (She had been purifying herself from her ceremonial uncleanness.)[a] She then returned to her house.
5 The woman became pregnant, so she sent a message and told David, “I am pregnant.”
6 David sent a message to Joab, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David, 7 and Uriah came to him.
David asked how Joab and the troops were doing, and how the war effort was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”
When Uriah went out from the palace, the king sent a gift to him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all the servants of his master. He did not go down to his own house.
10 David was informed, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come a long distance? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”
11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are living in shelters, and my master Joab and the servants of my master are camped on the bare ground in the open countryside. Should I go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie down with my wife? By your life, as surely as you live, I will not do such a thing.”
12 Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 David summoned him, and Uriah ate as his guest, and David got him drunk. But in the evening he went and slept on his mat where the servants of his master were. He did not go to his own house.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and he sent it in the hands of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Station Uriah opposite the fiercest fighting. Then withdraw from behind him so that he will be struck down and die.”
16 So when Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew that the enemy’s strongest warriors were. 17 The men of the city came out and fought against Joab, and some of the troops of David fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
18 Joab sent a message to inform David about all the events of the war. 19 He instructed the messenger, “As you are finishing reporting all the events of the war to the king, 20 if the king becomes angry and says to you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know that they would be shooting from on top of the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek son of Jerubbesheth?[b] Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone from the wall on him, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ Then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’”
22 The messenger set out. He came and told David everything that Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “Their men gained an advantage over us and drove us back into the open country. But then we gained the upper hand and drove them back all the way to the entrance of the city gate. 24 The archers shot at your troops from the wall. Some of the servants of the king died. And your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.”
25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not take this too hard, because the sword devours people at random. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ Encourage Joab.”
26 The wife of Uriah the Hittite heard that her husband was dead, so she mourned for her husband. 27 When her mourning was completed, David sent for her and brought her to his house, and she became his wife. She gave birth to a son for him. But what David had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord.
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- 2 Samuel 11:4 That Bathsheba was purifying herself after her period shows that the child was David’s and that David and Bathsheba were more careful about keeping pure from the ceremonial contamination caused by contact with blood than they were about keeping pure from the moral pollution caused by adultery.
- 2 Samuel 11:21 The Greek and the Latin Old Testament read Jerubbaal, which is another name for Gideon. The Hebrew text of Samuel regularly replaces the word -baal with a form of the Hebrew word for shame (bosheth) when -baal occurs as part of a personal name.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.