Beginning
David’s Military Victories Continue
8 It happened afterwards that David attacked the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the hands of the Philistines. 2 When he defeated Moab, he measured them with the cord, making them lie on the ground. He measured two cords to kill and the third cord[a] to let live.[b] So Moab became servants of David, bringing tribute. 3 Then David struck down Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument[c] at the Euphrates River. 4 David captured from him one thousand and seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers.[d] David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but from them[e] he spared a hundred chariot horses. 5 When Aram of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of Aram. 6 David placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, so Aram became servants of David, bringing tribute. Yahweh protected David everywhere he went.
7 David took the small round gold shields which had belonged[f] to the servants of Hadadezer, and he brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Betah and from Berothai, the towns of Hadadezer, King David took very many bronze items.
9 When Toi, the king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent Joram his son to King David to greet him[g] and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi.[h] He brought with him[i] objects of silver and objects of gold and objects of bronze. 11 King David dedicated them also to Yahweh along with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from all of the nations which he had subdued; 12 from Aram and from Moab and from the Ammonites[j] and from the Philistines and from Amalek and from the plunder of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah. 13 So David made a name for himself when he returned from defeating Aram in the Valley of Salt, eighteen thousand. 14 He put garrisons in Edom; all over Edom he put garrisons, and all of Edom became servants of David. Yahweh protected David wherever he went.
15 David reigned over all of Israel, and he[k] was administering justice and righteousness for all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was secretary. 17 Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests and Seraiah was scribe. 18 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were priests.
David Cares for Mephibosheth
9 Then David said, “Is there still anyone who is left for the house of Saul that I may show loyal love to him for the sake of Jonathan?” 2 Now Saul’s household had a servant whose name was Ziba, so they summoned him to David, and the king asked him, “Are you Ziba?” He said, “At your service!”[l] 3 Then the king said, “But is there still anyone of Saul’s household that I may show the loyal love of God with him?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in the feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is here[m] in the house of Makir the son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” 5 So King David sent and brought him from the house of Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar. 6 So Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David. And he fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth,” and he said, “I am ready to serve you.”[n] 7 Then David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for I will certainly show[o] loyal love to you for the sake of Jonathan your father, and I will restore to you all the lands of Saul your father. And you shall always eat food at my table.” 8 Then he[p] did obeisance and said, “What is your servant that you have paid attention to the dead dog like me?”
9 David summoned Ziba the servant of Saul and said to him, “All that was Saul’s and all his household I have given to the son of your master. 10 You shall till the land for him, you and your sons and your servants; you shall bring in the produce and it shall be food for the son of your master that he may eat. But Mephibosheth the son of your master may always eat food at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty slaves.) 11 Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my master the king commands his servant, so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth was eating at his table as one of the sons of the king. 12 Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah, and all of the dwelling of the household of Ziba became servants for Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem, because he was continually eating at the table of the king, even though he was lame in both of his feet.
The Ammonites Refuse David’s Loyal Love
10 Afterwards the king of the Ammonites died,[q] and his son Hanun ruled in his place. 2 David said, “I will show loyal love with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed loyal love with me.” So David sent to console him concerning his father, by the hand of his servants. And the servants of David came to the land of the Ammonites.[r] 3 But the commanders of the Ammonites[s] said to Hanun their master, “In your opinion,[t] is David honoring your father because he has sent condolences to you? Is it not in order to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it that David sent his servants to you?” 4 Then Hanun took the servants of David, and he shaved off half of their beards and cut their garments off in the middle up to their buttocks, then sent them away. 5 When they told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain in Jericho until your beards have grown, and then you can return.”
Israel Fights Ammon and Aram
6 When the Ammonites[u] saw that they had become odious to David, the Ammonites[v] sent word and hired Aram Beth-Rehob and Aram-Zobah, twenty thousand infantry; and they also hired the king of Maacah, a thousand men, and the men of Tob, twelve thousand men. 7 When David heard, he sent Joab and all the army of mighty warriors. 8 The Ammonites[w] came out and drew up a battle formation[x] at the entrance of the gate, but Aram-Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were alone in the open field. 9 When Joab saw that the battle was to be fought on two fronts,[y] he chose from all the members of the elite troops of Israel and lined them up for battle[z] to meet Aram. 10 The rest of the army he placed into the hand of his brother Abishai, who arranged them in battle lines[aa] to meet the Ammonites.[ab] 11 Then he said, “If Aram is stronger than I am, you must become my deliverer; but if the Ammonites[ac] are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves for the sake of the people and for the sake of the cities of our God. May Yahweh do what is good in his eyes. 13 Joab and all the people who were with him moved forward into the battle against Aram, and they fled from before him. 14 When the Ammonites[ad] saw that Aram had fled, they fled from before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites[ae] and came to Jerusalem.
The Arameans Regroup for Attack
15 When the Arameans saw that they were defeated before Israel, they gathered themselves together. 16 Then Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam. Now Shobach, the commander of the army of Hadadezer, was at their head.[af] 17 David was told, so he gathered all Israel and crossed over the Jordan and came to Helam. Aram arranged themselves in battle lines[ag] to meet David, and they fought with him. 18 And Aram fled before Israel, and David killed from the Arameans seven hundred chariot teams and forty thousand horsemen. He struck down Shobach, the commander of his army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that he had been defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them, and Aram was afraid to help the Ammonites[ah] any longer.
David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba
11 It came about in the spring,[ai] at the time kings[aj] go out, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all of Israel. They ravaged all of the Ammonites[ak] and besieged Rabbah, but David was remaining in Jerusalem. 2 It happened late one afternoon[al] 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[am] roof. Now the woman was very beautiful.[an] 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.[ao] 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,[ap] 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,[aq] 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[ar] the city, he put Uriah toward the place which he knew there were valiant warriors.[as] 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,[at] 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,[au] the men came out to us in the field, but we forced them back[av] 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;[aw] now one and then another[ax] 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[ay] 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[az] against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives,[ba] the man who has done this deserves to die![bb] 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.[bc] 9 Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes?[bd] 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![be] 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.[bf] 12 Though you did this in secret, I will do this thing before all of Israel in broad daylight!’”[bg]
David Repents, But the Child Dies
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh!”[bh] Nathan said to David, “Yahweh has also forgiven your sin; you shall not die. 14 But because you have utterly scorned[bi] Yahweh in this matter, the son born for you will certainly die.”[bj] 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[bk] him Solomon, and Yahweh loved him. 25 He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, so he called him Jedidiah[bl] because of Yahweh.
Battle with the Ammonites
26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites,[bm] and he captured the royal city.[bn] 27 Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “We have fought against Rabbah, and we captured the city of the waters. 28 So then, gather the remainder of the army and encamp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city and my name be proclaimed over it.” 29 So David gathered all of the army, and he went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it. 30 He took the crown of their king from his head. (Now its weight was a talent of gold, and there was a precious stone in it and it was put on David’s head.) He brought out the plunder of the city in great abundance.[bo] 31 He also brought out the people who were in it and put them to the saws and to the iron picks and to the iron axes, and he sent them to the place of the brickmakers. Thus he used to do to all the cities of the Ammonites,[bp] and he and all of the army returned to Jerusalem.
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