51 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

² Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

⁴ Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight, that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.

⁵ Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶ Behold, Thou desirest truth in my inward parts; in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.

⁹ Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹ Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.

¹³ Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.

¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.

¹⁵ O Lord, open Thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise.

¹⁶ For Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt offering.

¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸ Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion; build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.

11 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth 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 still at Jerusalem.

² And it came to pass in an eveningtide that David arose from his bed and walked upon the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

³ And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, 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 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 had come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, 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 meal of meat 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, “Camest thou not from thy journey? Why then did thou not go down unto thine house?”

¹¹ And Uriah said unto David, “The ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into mine 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 today also, and tomorrow I will let thee depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the morrow.

¹³ And when David had called him, he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and at evening 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 hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten and die.”

¹⁶ And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a 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 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 charged the messenger, saying, “When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,

²⁰ and if so be that the king’s wrath arise and he say unto thee, ‘Why approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye fought? Knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?

²¹ Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? Why went ye nigh the wall?’ — then say thou, ‘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, “Surely 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 from the wall upon thy servants; 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. Press thy battle stronger 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 mourned for her husband.

²⁷ And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house; and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

12 And the Lord 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 ate of his own meat and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

⁴ And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he was unwilling to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man who had come unto him, but took the poor man’s lamb and dressed it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord liveth, the man who hath done this thing shall surely 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 the Lord 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 moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

⁹ Why hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? Thou hast killed 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 thine house, because thou hast despised Me and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.’

¹¹ “Thus saith the Lord: ‘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 did 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 the Lord.” And Nathan said unto David, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”

¹⁴ However, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born unto thee shall surely die.”

¹⁵ And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore 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 went to 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 spoke unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice. How will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead?”

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore 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 came into the house of the Lord, and worshiped. Then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him and he ate.

²¹ Then said his servants unto him, “What thing is this that thou hast done? Thou did fast and weep for the child while it was alive, but when the child was dead, thou did rise and eat bread.”

²² And he said, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether God will 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 shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

²⁴ And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her and lay with her. And she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon; and the Lord loved him.

²⁵ And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah [that is, Beloved of the Lord], because of the Lord.