Psalm 51
Legacy Standard Bible
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. When [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the abundance of (B)Your compassion (C)blot out my transgressions.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For [b]I (F)know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [c]are justified [d]when You speak
And pure when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You delight in (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will (L)make me know wisdom.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
[g]Wash me, and I shall be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Make me to hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones which You have crushed rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, O God,
And renew [j]a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will [k]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Deliver me from (AA)bloodguiltiness, O God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, [l](AD)open my lips,
That my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a [m]contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18 (AH)By Your favor do good to Zion;
[n](AI)Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will delight in [o](AJ)righteous sacrifices,
In (AK)burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then [p]young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Footnotes
- Psalm 51 Title 2 Sam 12:1
- Psalm 51:3 Or I myself know
- Psalm 51:4 Or may be in the right
- Psalm 51:4 Many mss in Your words
- Psalm 51:6 Or inward parts
- Psalm 51:7 Or May You purify...that I may be clean
- Psalm 51:7 Or May You wash
- Psalm 51:8 Or May You make
- Psalm 51:10 Lit for
- Psalm 51:10 Or an upright
- Psalm 51:13 Or turn back
- Psalm 51:15 Or may You open
- Psalm 51:17 Lit crushed
- Psalm 51:18 Or May You build
- Psalm 51:19 Or sacrifices of righteousness
- Psalm 51:19 Lit they will offer young bulls
Psalm 51
Evangelical Heritage Version
Psalm 51
Cleanse Me From My Sin
Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David.
When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.[a]
David’s Plea for Forgiveness
1 Be gracious to me, God,
according to your mercy.
Erase my acts of rebellion
according to the greatness of your compassion.
2 Scrub me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
David’s Confession
3 For I admit my rebellious acts.
My sin is always in front of me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned,
and I have done this evil in your eyes.
So you are justified when you sentence me.
You are blameless when you judge.
5 Certainly, I was guilty when I was born.
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
David’s Need for Renewal
6 Since you desire truth on the inside,
in my hidden heart you teach me wisdom.
7 Remove my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness.
Let the bones you have crushed celebrate.
9 Hide your face from my sins.
Erase all my guilty deeds.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God.
Renew an unwavering spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence.
Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Sustain me with a willing spirit.
David’s Pledge of Renewed Service
13 I will teach rebels your ways,
and sinners will turn to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
the God who saves me.
My tongue will shout for joy about your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice,
or I would give it.
You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices God wants are a broken spirit.
A broken and crushed heart, O God, you will not despise.
David’s Prayer for the People
18 As it pleases you, do good for Zion.
Build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with righteous sacrifices,
burnt offerings and whole offerings.
Then bulls will be offered up on your altar.
Footnotes
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
Legacy Standard Bible
David and Bathsheba
11 (A)Now it happened [a](B)in the spring, at the time when [b]kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and (C)besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.
2 Now when evening came David arose 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 and [c]inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not (E)Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of (F)Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and (G)he lay with her; (H)and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 And the woman became pregnant; and she sent and told David, and said, “(I)I am pregnant.”
6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, (J)David asked concerning the [d]state of Joab and the [e]state of the people and the [f]state of the war. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and (K)wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king went out after him. 9 But Uriah lay down (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 Then they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” And David said to Uriah, “Have 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 [g]booths, and my lord Joab and (N)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? 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 send you out.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the [h]next. 13 Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he (P)made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed (Q)with his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.
14 Now it happened in the morning that David (R)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 (S)And he had written in the letter, saying, “[i]Place Uriah in the front line of the [j]fiercest battle and withdraw from him, (T)so that he may be struck down and die.” 16 So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put 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 and told David all the events of the war. 19 And he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, 20 and if it happens that the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you approach the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who (V)struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall so he died at Thebez? Why did you approach 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 him to tell. 23 And the messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we [k]pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. 24 And 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, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this thing be evil in your sight, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle against the city stronger and [l]tear it down’; and so strengthen him.”
26 Then the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband had died, so (W)she lamented over her husband. 27 Then the time of mourning passed by, and David sent and gathered her 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 Yahweh.
Yahweh Sends Nathan to David
12 Then Yahweh sent (Z)Nathan to David. And (AA)he came to him and [m]said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing except (AB)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat his morsel of bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 Now a visitor came to the rich man,
And he [n]was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the traveler who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives, surely the man who has done this [o](AC)deserves to die. 6 And he must make restitution for the lamb (AD)fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “(AE)You are the man! Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(AF)It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you (AG)your master’s house and your master’s wives into your [p]care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9 Why (AH)have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in His sight? (AI)You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, (AJ)have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 So now, (AK)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 Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; (AL)I will even take your wives from before your sight and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 Indeed (AM)you did it secretly, but (AN)I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “(AO)I have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has [q](AP)taken away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have (AQ)given occasion to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme, the son also that is born to you shall surely die.” 15 And Nathan went to his house.
David’s Child Dies
Then Yahweh smote the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, so that he was very sick. 16 David therefore sought God about the boy; and David (AR)fasted and went and (AS)spent the night lying on the ground. 17 (AT)And the elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise 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 the servants of David 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 our voice. How then can we tell him that the child has died? He might do himself harm!” 19 And David saw that his servants were whispering together, so David discerned that the child had died; so David said to his servants, “Has the child died?” And they said, “He has died.” 20 So David arose from the ground, (AU)washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of Yahweh and (AV)worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and he asked, and they set food before him, and he ate.
21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? [r]While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 Then he said, “While the child was still alive, (AW)I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘(AX)Who knows, Yahweh may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ 23 But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? (AY)I will go to him, but (AZ)he will not return to me.”
Solomon Is Born
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and [s](BA)he named him Solomon. Now Yahweh loved him 25 and sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him [t]Jedidiah for the sake of Yahweh.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 11:1 Lit at the return of the year
- 2 Samuel 11:1 As in mss and versions; M.T. messengers
- 2 Samuel 11:3 Or sought out
- 2 Samuel 11:7 Lit peace
- 2 Samuel 11:7 Lit peace
- 2 Samuel 11:7 Lit peace
- 2 Samuel 11:11 Temporary shelters
- 2 Samuel 11:12 Lit morrow
- 2 Samuel 11:15 Lit Give
- 2 Samuel 11:15 Lit strong
- 2 Samuel 11:23 Lit were upon
- 2 Samuel 11:25 Lit pull
- 2 Samuel 12:1 Lit said to him
- 2 Samuel 12:4 Lit spared
- 2 Samuel 12:5 Lit is a son of death
- 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit bosom
- 2 Samuel 12:13 Lit caused your sin to pass away
- 2 Samuel 12:21 Lit On account of
- 2 Samuel 12:24 Some mss she
- 2 Samuel 12:25 Lit beloved of Yahweh
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
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.
David and Nathan
12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came and told him this:
There were two men in a city. One was rich and one poor. 2 The rich man had a large number of flocks and herds. 3 The poor man did not own anything except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He raised it so that it grew up together with him and his children. It ate from his food and drank from his cup. It slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 When a traveler came to the rich man, the rich man was unwilling to take an animal from his flock or from his herd to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. So he took the lamb from the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him.
5 David’s anger flared up against that man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is as good as dead. 6 In place of that lamb, he will restore four lambs, because he did this and had no pity.”
7 Nathan told David, “You are the man. This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.”
The Message of Judgment Against David
I anointed you king over Israel. I rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave the house of your master to you, and I gave the wives of your master into your embrace. I gave you the house of Israel and the house of Judah. If this was too little, I would have added even more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You have taken his wife as your own wife. You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 So now the sword will not depart from your house forever, 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. Look! I am raising up disaster against you from your own house. Right in front of your eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie down with your wives in the sight of the sun. 12 Because you acted in secret, I will do this in front of all Israel in broad daylight.
13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan said to David, “The Lord himself has put away your sin. You will not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have treated the Lord with utter contempt,[c] the child that is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.
The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne for David, and the child became sick. 16 David sought the Lord’s mercy for the child. David fasted and spent the night lying on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to pick him up off the ground, but he was not willing, and he would not eat food with them.
18 On the seventh day the child died. The servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, because they said, “Look! When the child was living, we spoke to David, but he did not listen to what we said. How will we speak to him now when the child is dead? He might do something harmful.”
19 When David saw that his servants were whispering together, he understood that the child was dead. So David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “Yes, he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the ground, washed, put on lotion, and changed his clothes. He went to the House of the Lord and worshipped. He then went back to his house and asked for food. So they prepared a meal for him, and he ate.
21 His servants said to him, “What are you doing? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept. But when the child died, you got up and ate food.”
22 He said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept because I said, ‘Who knows? Will the Lord be gracious to me and let my child live?’ 23 Now he has died. Why should I fast? Am I able to return him to life again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
24 David comforted Bathsheba, his wife. He went to her and lay down with her. She gave birth to a son. David called him Solomon. The Lord loved him, 25 and the Lord sent a message by the hand of Nathan the prophet that he should be called Jedidiah[d] because of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 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.
- 2 Samuel 12:14 The translation follows an alternate Hebrew reading. The main Hebrew text reads You caused the enemies of the Lord to speak scornfully about the Lord. This reading lessens the offense by David.
- 2 Samuel 12:25 Jedidiah means loved by the Lord.
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