A contrite sinner’s prayer for pardon.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.

11 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem.

² And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. ³ And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? ⁴ And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned unto her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

⁶ And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ And when Uriah was come unto him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. ⁸ And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a ^[a]mess of food from the king. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. ¹⁰ And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Art thou not come from a journey? wherefore didst thou not go down unto thy house? ¹¹ And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. ¹² And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem ^[b]that day, and the morrow. ¹³ And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.

¹⁴ And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the ^[c]hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. ¹⁶ And it came to pass, when Joab ^[d]kept watch upon the city, that he assigned Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men were. ¹⁷ And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people, even of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also. ¹⁸ Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; ¹⁹ and he charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling all the things concerning the war unto the king, ²⁰ it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore went ye so nigh unto the city to fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ who smote Abimelech the son of ^[e]Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast an upper millstone upon him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? why went ye so nigh the wall? then shalt thou say, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

²² So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. ²³ And the messenger said unto David, The men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ And the shooters shot at thy servants from off the wall; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. ²⁵ Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another; make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.

²⁶ And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband. ²⁷ And when the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Jehovah.

12 And Jehovah sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds; ³ but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. ⁴ And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. ⁵ And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah liveth, the man that hath done this is ^[f]worthy to die: ⁶ and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

⁷ And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸ and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added unto thee such and such things. ⁹ Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. ¹¹ Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house; and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. ¹³ And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said unto David, Jehovah also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. ¹⁴ Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. ¹⁵ And Nathan departed unto his house.

And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. ¹⁶ David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. ¹⁷ And the elders of his house arose, and stood beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. ¹⁸ And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice: ^[g]how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead! ¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. ²⁰ Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of Jehovah, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. ²¹ Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. ²² And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who knoweth whether Jehovah will not be gracious to me, that the child may live? ²³ But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

²⁴ And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and ^[h]he called his name Solomon. And Jehovah loved him; ²⁵ and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name ^[i]Jedidiah, for Jehovah’s sake.