Psalm 51
World English Bible
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.
According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions.
My sin is constantly before me.
4 Against you, and you only, I have sinned,
and done that which is evil in your sight,
so you may be proved right when you speak,
and justified when you judge.
5 Behold, I was born in iniquity.
My mother conceived me in sin.
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts.
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all of my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Don’t throw me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways.
Sinners will be converted to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation.
My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips.
My mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it.
You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.
18 Do well in your good pleasure to Zion.
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings.
Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
Psalm 51
Lexham English Bible
A Prayer of Repentance and Plea for Mercy
For the music director. A psalm of David.
When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.[a]
51 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loyal love.
According to your abundant mercies,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and from my sin cleanse me.
3 For I myself know[b] my transgressions,[c]
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, only you, I have sinned
and have done this evil[d] in your eyes,
so that you are correct when you speak,
you are blameless when you judge.
5 Behold, in iniquity I was born,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts,
and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and all my iniquities blot out.
10 Create a clean heart for me, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.[e]
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and with a willing spirit sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
the God of my salvation;
then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.
With a burnt offering you are not pleased.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good in your favor toward Zion.
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
burnt offering and whole burnt offering.
Then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Notas al pie
- Psalm 51:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first two verses of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by two
- Psalm 51:3 Literally “I, I know”
- Psalm 51:3 Or “rebellions”
- Psalm 51:4 Hebrew “the evil”
- Psalm 51:10 Literally “in my inner parts”
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
World English Bible
11 At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. 2 At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at. 3 David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?”
4 David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
6 David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. 8 David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and didn’t go down to his house. 10 When they had told David, saying, “Uriah didn’t go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come from a journey? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”
11 Uriah said to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; 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 you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing!”
12 David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day, and the next day. 13 When David had called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. At evening, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn’t go down to his house. 14 In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 He wrote in the letter, saying, “Send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck, and die.”
16 When Joab kept watch on the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were. 17 The men of the city went out, and fought with Joab. Some of the people fell, even of David’s servants; and Uriah the Hittite died also. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; 19 and he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the things concerning the war to the king, 20 it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he asks you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn’t you know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman cast 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 also dead.’”
22 So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate. 24 The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”
25 Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Make your battle stronger against the city, and overthrow it.’ Encourage him.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Yahweh.
12 Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. 4 A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 David’s anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this deserves to die! 6 He must restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!”
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. 9 Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’
11 “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’”
13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.”
Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh’s enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you will surely die.” 15 Nathan departed to his house.
Yahweh struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the ground. 17 The elders of his house arose beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, and he didn’t eat bread with them. 18 On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he didn’t listen to our voice. How will he then harm 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 to his servants, “Is the child dead?”
They said, “He is dead.”
20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into Yahweh’s house, and worshiped. Then he came to his own house; and when he requested, they set bread before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child was dead, you rose up and ate bread.”
22 He said, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows whether Yahweh will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
24 David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Yahweh loved him; 25 and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah,[a] for Yahweh’s sake.
Notas al pie
- 12:25 “Jedidiah” means “loved by Yahweh”.
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
Lexham English Bible
David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba
11 It came about in the spring,[a] at the time kings[b] go out, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all of Israel. They ravaged all of the Ammonites[c] and besieged Rabbah, but David was remaining in Jerusalem. 2 It happened late one afternoon[d] that David got up from his bed and walked about on the roof of the king’s house, and he saw a woman bathing on her[e] roof. Now the woman was very beautiful.[f] 3 David sent and inquired about the woman, and someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) And she returned to her house. 5 The woman became pregnant, and she sent and told David, and she said, “I am pregnant.” 6 So David sent to Joab, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 Uriah came to him, and David asked how Joab and the army fared and how the war was going.[g] 8 David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” So Uriah went out from the king’s house, and a gift from the king went out after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his master and did not go down to his house. 10 They told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” David said to Uriah, “Are you not coming from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are living in the booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping on the surface of the open field; and I, shall I go to my house to eat and to drink and to sleep with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I surely will not do this thing.” 12 David said to Uriah, “Remain here today,[h] and tomorrow I will send you away.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem on that day and the next. 13 David invited him, and he ate and drank in his presence so that he became drunk,[i] and he went out in the evening to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 14 And it happened in the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and he sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 He had written in the letter, “Put Uriah in the front, in the face of the fiercest fighting, then draw back from behind him so that he may be struck down and die.”
16 When Joab was besieging[j] the city, he put Uriah toward the place which he knew there were valiant warriors.[k] 17 The men of the city came out and fought with Joab. Some from the army from the servants of David fell; Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Joab sent and told David all of the news of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger, saying, “As you are finishing to speak all the news of the battle to the king, 20 if the anger of the king rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you go near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from atop the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerub-bosheth,[l] if not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from atop the wall and he died at Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’ Then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’” 22 Then the messenger left, and he came and told David all that Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “Because the men overpowered us,[m] the men came out to us in the field, but we forced them back[n] to the entrance of the gate. 24 The archers shot at your servant from atop the wall, and some of the servants of the king died; your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.” 25 Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not feel badly about this matter;[o] now one and then another[p] the sword will devour. Intensify your attack on the city and overthrow it.’” And he encouraged him. 26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned over her husband. 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his household, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing which David had done was evil in the eyes of Yahweh.
Nathan Reproves David
12 So Yahweh sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said, “Two men were in a certain city; one was rich and the other was poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing except for one small ewe lamb which he had bought. He had nurtured her, and she grew up with him and with his children together. She used to eat from his morsel and drink from his cup, and she used to lie in his lap and became like a daughter for him. 4 And a visitor came to the rich man, but he was reluctant[q] to take from his flocks or from his herds to prepare a meal for the traveler when he came to him. So he took the ewe lamb of the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then the anger of David was kindled[r] against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives,[s] the man who has done this deserves to die![t] 6 He shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold because he has done this thing, and because he had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to him, “You are the man! Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I anointed you as king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you the household of your master and the women of your master into your lap. I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah; if that had been too little, I would have added to you much more.[u] 9 Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes?[v] Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword, and his wife you have taken to yourself as wife! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites![w] 10 So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!’ 11 Thus says Yahweh, ‘Look, I am going to raise up evil against you from within your house, and I will take your women before your eyes, and I will give them to your neighbor, and he shall sleep with your wives in broad daylight.[x] 12 Though you did this in secret, I will do this thing before all of Israel in broad daylight!’”[y]
David Repents, But the Child Dies
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh!”[z] Nathan said to David, “Yahweh has also forgiven your sin; you shall not die. 14 But because you have utterly scorned[aa] Yahweh in this matter, the son born for you will certainly die.”[ab] 15 Then Nathan went to his house, and Yahweh struck the child that the wife of Uriah bore for David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he was not willing, and he did not eat any food with them. 18 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, “Look, when the child was alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, ‘The child is dead’? He may do something evil.” 19 When David saw that his servants were whispering together, he realized that the child was dead. Then David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20 David stood up from the ground and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothing. Then he went to the house of Yahweh and worshiped, and he went to his own house. He asked, so they served him food, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; now that the child has died, you get up and eat food!” 22 He said, “When the child was still alive, I fasted and I wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? Yahweh may have mercy on me that the child will live.’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I be fasting? Am I able to return him again? I am going to him, but he cannot return to me.” 24 David consoled Bathsheba his wife, and he went to her and slept with her. She bore a son, and he called[ac] him Solomon, and Yahweh loved him. 25 He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, so he called him Jedidiah[ad] because of Yahweh.
Notas al pie
- 2 Samuel 11:1 Literally “And it happened at the turn of the year”
- 2 Samuel 11:1 According to the reading tradition (Qere); Kethib has “angels” or “messengers”
- 2 Samuel 11:1 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
- 2 Samuel 11:2 Literally “at the time of the evening”
- 2 Samuel 11:2 Hebrew “the”
- 2 Samuel 11:2 Literally “very good of appearance”
- 2 Samuel 11:7 Literally “as far as the peace of Joab, as far as the peace of the army, and as far as the peace of the battle”
- 2 Samuel 11:12 Literally “also the day”
- 2 Samuel 11:13 Literally “and he made him drunk”
- 2 Samuel 11:16 Literally “And it happened at the besieging of Joab”
- 2 Samuel 11:16 Literally “there were men of ability”
- 2 Samuel 11:21 In putting words in David’s mouth, Joab alludes to the story of Abimelech the son of Gideon from Judg 9:52–55. Though Gideon was also known as Jerub-ba’al, Joab conventionally substitutes bosheth (shame) for Ba’al to avoid naming the Canaanite deity
- 2 Samuel 11:23 Literally “the men were superior over us”
- 2 Samuel 11:23 Literally “we were upon them”
- 2 Samuel 11:25 Literally “Do not let his matter be evil in your eyes”
- 2 Samuel 11:25 Literally “for as this and as this”
- 2 Samuel 12:4 Literally “felt sorry”
- 2 Samuel 12:5 Literally “the nose of David became very hot”
- 2 Samuel 12:5 Literally “The life of Yahweh”
- 2 Samuel 12:5 Literally “is a son of death”
- 2 Samuel 12:8 Literally “as here and as here”
- 2 Samuel 12:9 Thus Kethib; the reading tradition (Qere) reads “my eyes”
- 2 Samuel 12:9 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
- 2 Samuel 12:11 Literally “before the eyes of this sun”
- 2 Samuel 12:12 Literally “before the sun”
- 2 Samuel 12:13 See Pss 32:1–5; 51:1–13
- 2 Samuel 12:14 Literally “scorning you have scorned.” The term “enemies of” in the MT is likely a textual corruption and is deleted here
- 2 Samuel 12:14 Literally “dying will die” (compare Gen 2:17)
- 2 Samuel 12:24 So Kethib; Qere reads “she called”
- 2 Samuel 12:25 Jedidiah means “beloved of Yahweh”
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