Font Size
Psalm 51
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 51
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 51
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director. A psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.(A)
1 Be gracious to me, God,
according to your faithful love;
according to your abundant compassion,
blot out my rebellion.(B)
2 Completely wash away my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.(C)
3 For I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.(D)
4 Against you—you alone—I have sinned
and done this evil in your sight.(E)
So you are right when you pass sentence;
you are blameless when you judge.(F)
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.(G)
6 Surely you desire integrity in the inner self,
and you teach me wisdom deep within.(H)
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.(I)
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.(J)
9 Turn your face away[a] from my sins
and blot out all my guilt.(K)
10 God, create a clean heart for me
and renew a steadfast[b] spirit within me.(L)
11 Do not banish me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.(M)
12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me,
and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.(N)
13 Then I will teach the rebellious your ways,
and sinners will return to you.(O)
14 Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God(P)—
God of my salvation—
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.(Q)
15 Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.(R)
16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;
you are not pleased with a burnt offering.(S)
17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is[c] a broken spirit.
You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.(T)
Psalm 51
New International Version
Psalm 51
New International Version
Psalm 51[a]
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.(A)
1 Have mercy(B) on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;(C)
according to your great compassion(D)
blot out(E) my transgressions.(F)
2 Wash away(G) all my iniquity
and cleanse(H) me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.(I)
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned(J)
and done what is evil in your sight;(K)
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.(L)
5 Surely I was sinful(M) at birth,(N)
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom(O) in that secret place.(P)
7 Cleanse(Q) me with hyssop,(R) and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.(S)
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;(T)
let the bones(U) you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins(V)
and blot out(W) all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart,(X) O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.(Y)
11 Do not cast me(Z) from your presence(AA)
or take your Holy Spirit(AB) from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation(AC)
and grant me a willing spirit,(AD) to sustain me.(AE)
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,(AF)
so that sinners(AG) will turn back to you.(AH)
14 Deliver me(AI) from the guilt of bloodshed,(AJ) O God,
you who are God my Savior,(AK)
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.(AL)
15 Open my lips, Lord,(AM)
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice,(AN) or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice,(AO) O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart(AP)
you, God, will not despise.
Footnotes
- Psalm 51:1 In Hebrew texts 51:1-19 is numbered 51:3-21.
- Psalm 51:17 Or The sacrifices of God are
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
Christian Standard Bible
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
Christian Standard Bible
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.
18 Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle. 19 He commanded the messenger, “When you’ve finished telling the king all the details of the battle— 20 if the king’s anger gets stirred up and he asks you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? 21 At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth?[c][d] Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died?(G) Why did you get so close to the wall?’—then say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hethite is dead also.’” 22 Then the messenger left.
When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger reported to David, “The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the city gate. 24 However, the archers shot down on your servants from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s servants died. Your servant Uriah the Hethite is also dead.”
25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him.”
26 When Uriah’s(H) wife heard that her husband, Uriah, had died, she mourned for him.[e] 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.(I)
Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance
12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David.(J) 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.[f]
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.”(K)
7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel,(L) and I rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms,[g] 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[h] evil?(M) You struck down Uriah(N) the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.(O) 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house(P) because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’
11 “This is what the Lord says,(Q) ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another[i] before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight.[j] 12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’”[k]
13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”(R)
Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.(S) 14 However, because you treated[l] the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.”(T) 15 Then Nathan went home.
The Death of Bathsheba’s Son
The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s(U) 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.(V) 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.’(W) 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.”(X)
The Birth of Solomon
24 Then David comforted(Y) his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named[m] him Solomon.[n](Z) The Lord loved him, 25 and he sent a message through the prophet Nathan, who named[o] him Jedidiah,[p] because of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 11:3 DSS add Joab’s armor-bearer
- 11:11 Lit servants
- 11:21 LXX reads Jerubbaal
- 11:21 = Gideon
- 11:26 Lit her husband
- 12:4 Lit for the man who had come to him
- 12:8 Lit bosom
- 12:9 Alt Hb tradition reads what he considers
- 12:11 Or to your neighbor
- 12:11 Lit in the eyes of this sun
- 12:12 Lit and before the sun
- 12:14 Alt Hb tradition, one LXX ms; MT reads treated the enemies of; DSS read treated the word of
- 12:24 Alt Hb tradition reads he named
- 12:24 In Hb, the name Solomon sounds like “peace.”
- 12:25 Or prophet to name
- 12:25 = Beloved of the Lord
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
New International Version
2 Samuel 11:1-12:25
New International Version
David and Bathsheba
11 In the spring,(A) at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab(B) out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.(C) They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.(D) But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof(E) of the palace. From the roof he saw(F) a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,(G) the daughter of Eliam(H) and the wife of Uriah(I) the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her.(J) She came to him, and he slept(K) with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)(L) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah(M) the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”(N) So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah said to David, “The ark(O) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love(P) to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter(Q) to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down(R) and die.(S)”
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek(T) son of Jerub-Besheth[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall,(U) so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning(V) was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased(W) the Lord.
Nathan Rebukes David(X)
12 The Lord sent Nathan(Y) to David.(Z) When he came to him,(AA) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5 David(AB) burned with anger(AC) against the man(AD) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,(AE) the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over,(AF) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!(AG) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed(AH) you(AI) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you,(AJ) and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise(AK) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down(AL) Uriah(AM) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed(AN) him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword(AO) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household(AP) I am going to bring calamity on you.(AQ) Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.(AR) 12 You did it in secret,(AS) but I will do this thing in broad daylight(AT) before all Israel.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned(AU) against the Lord.”
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away(AV) your sin.(AW) You are not going to die.(AX) 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for[c] the Lord,(AY) the son born to you will die.”
15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck(AZ) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying(BA) in sackcloth[d] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused,(BB) and he would not eat any food with them.(BC)
18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”
19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed,(BD) put on lotions and changed his clothes,(BE) he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept,(BF) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?(BG) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’(BH) 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him,(BI) but he will not return to me.”(BJ)
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba,(BK) and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon.(BL) The Lord loved him; 25 and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.[e](BM)
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 11:11 Or staying at Sukkoth
- 2 Samuel 11:21 Also known as Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon)
- 2 Samuel 12:14 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text for the enemies of
- 2 Samuel 12:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have in sackcloth.
- 2 Samuel 12:25 Jedidiah means loved by the Lord.
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.