Chronological

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 slaves with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

² And it came to pass one evening, 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 washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

³ And David sent and enquired 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. Then she purified herself 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 ¶ Then 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 asked him how Joab was and how the people were 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 royal food was sent unto him.

⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the slaves of his lord and did not go down to his house.

¹⁰ And when they had told David, saying, Uriah did not go down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Didst thou not come from thy journey? Why then didst thou not go down to thy house?

¹¹ And Uriah said unto David, The ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents, and my lord Joab and the slaves of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By thy life and by the life of thy soul, 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 abode in Jerusalem that day and the next day.

¹³ And when David had called him, he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with the slaves of his lord but did not go 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 Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire 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 the most valiant men were.

¹⁷ And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the people of the slaves of David fell, 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 finished telling the matters of the war unto the king,

²⁰ and if the king begins to be angry and he should say unto thee, Why did you approach so near unto the city when ye fought? Did ye not know that which they can throw down 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 did you go near the wall? Then thou shalt say, Thy slave Uriah, the Hittite, is dead also.

²² So the messenger went and came and told 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 made them retreat unto the entering of the gate.

²⁴ And the archers shot from off the wall upon thy slaves, and some of the king’s slaves are dead, and thy slave 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 devours one as well as another; strengthen the battle against the city until it is overthrown 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 brought her to his house, and she became his wife and gave birth to a son unto him. 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 sheep and cows,

³ but the poor man had nothing except 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 food and drank of his own cup and lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter.

⁴ And a traveller came unto the rich man, who did not wish to take of his own sheep and of his own cows 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 had come to him.

⁵ And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the LORD lives, the man that has done this thing is worthy of death,

⁶ and he shall pay for the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus hath said 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 is too little, I shall add unto thee such and such things.

⁹ Why, therefore, 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 sons 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 hath the LORD said, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

¹² For thou hast done it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.

¹³ Then David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also has taken 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 son that is born unto thee shall surely die.

¹⁵ ¶ And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had given birth 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 slaves 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 much more will it trouble him if we tell him that the child is dead?

¹⁹ But when David saw that his slaves whispered, David understood that the child was dead; therefore, David said unto his slaves, 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 clothes and came into the house of the LORD and worshipped. Then he came to his own house; and when he asked, they set bread before him, and he ate.

²¹ Then his slaves said unto him, What 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 replied, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will have mercy on me, that the child may live?

²³ But now that 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 gave birth to a son, and he called his name Solomon; {Heb. peace offering} and the LORD loved him.

²⁵ And he sent by the hand of Nathan, the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, {Heb. beloved of the LORD} by the LORD.

²⁶ ¶ And Joab fought against Rabbah, of the sons of Ammon, and took the royal city.

²⁷ Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabbah and have taken the city of waters.

²⁸ Now, therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.

²⁹ And David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it.

³⁰ And he took their king’s crown from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold with the precious stones, and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

³¹ And he brought forth the people that were therein and put them under saws and under harrows of iron and under axes of iron and made them pass through the brickkiln, and thus did he unto all the cities of the sons of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

20 ¶ And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army and destroyed the country of the sons of Ammon and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah and destroyed it.

² And David took the crown of their king from off his head and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David’s head. And in addition to this he took exceeding much spoil out of the city.

³ And he brought out the people that were in it and dominated them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the sons of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

⁴ ¶ And it came to pass after this that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite, slew Sippai, of the lineage of the giant; and they were subdued.

⁵ And there was war again with the Philistines, and Elhanan, the son of Jair, slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.

⁶ And yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six on each hand, and six on each foot; and he also was the son of the giant.

⁷ But when he dishonoured Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimea, David’s brother slew him.

⁸ These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his slaves.