Historical
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.
Battle with the Ammonites
26 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites,[ae] and he captured the royal city.[af] 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.[ag] 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,[ah] and he and all of the army returned to Jerusalem.
Amnon Assaults His Sister Tamar
13 It happened afterwards that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon the son of David fell in love with her. 2 And Amnon was so frustrated that he felt ill[ai] because of Tamar his sister, because she was a virgin, and it was too difficult in Amnon’s eyes to do anything with her. 3 Now Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David. (Now Jonadab was a very crafty man.) 4 And he said to him, “Why are you so sullen every morning,[aj] O son of the king? Will you not tell me?” And Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.” 5 Then Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and appear ill. If your father comes to see you, you shall say to him, ‘Please let Tamar my sister come and give me food to eat, and let her prepare the food before my eyes, in order that I may see it and eat from her hand.’” 6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill, and the king came to see him. Amnon said to the king, “Please let Tamar my sister come, and let her bake two cakes before my eyes that I may eat from her hand.” 7 So David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare food for him.” 8 Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother. Now he was lying down, and she took the dough and kneaded it and made cakes before his eyes, and she baked the cakes. 9 Then she took the pan and poured it out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, “Let all the men go out from me.” So all the men went out from him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food to the private room that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them to Amnon her brother in[ak] the private room. 11 When she brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister!” 12 Then Tamar said to him, “No, my brother! Do not force me, for such a thing has not been done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing! 13 As for me, where should I take my disgrace? You will be as one of the fools in Israel. So please, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 14 But he was not willing to listen to her voice. He was stronger than she, and he forced her and lay with her.
15 Then Amnon hated her very deeply,[al] for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. So Amnon said to her, “Get up and go.” 16 She said to him, “No, because this evil in sending me away is greater than the other you have done to me.” But he was not willing to listen to her. 17 Then he called his young man who was serving him and said, “Please send this woman from me to the outside, and bolt the door behind her!” 18 Now there was a long-sleeved robe on her, for so they clothed the daughters of the king who were virgins, in robes. His servant put her outside, and he bolted the door behind her. 19 Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which was on her. She put her hand on her head, and she went away, crying out as she went.[am] 20 Absalom her brother said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? But now, my sister, be quiet; he is your brother. Do not take this matter to heart.”[an] So Tamar remained a desolate woman in the house of Absalom her brother.
Absalom Kills Amnon
21 Now King David heard all these things, and he became very angry.[ao] 22 Absalom did not speak with Amnon either bad or good,[ap] for Absalom hated Amnon over the matter when[aq] he raped Tamar his sister. 23 About two full years later,[ar] Absalom’s shearers were in Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom summoned all the sons of the king. 24 Then Absalom went to the king and said, “Look, here are your servant’s shearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant. 25 The king said to Absalom, “No my son, not all of us shall go, so that we not be a burden to you.” And he urged him, but he was not willing to go, but he blessed him. 26 So Absalom said, “But will you not let Amnon my brother go with us?” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom pressed him, so he sent Amnon with him and all of the sons of the king. 28 Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Please watch. At the moment the heart of Amnon is tipsy[as] with wine, then I shall say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ and you shall kill him! Don’t be afraid. Is it not I myself who has commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant![at] 29 So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon just as Absalom commanded, and all the sons of the king got up, and each mounted his mule and fled.
30 While they were on the way,[au] the message came to David, “Absalom has killed all the sons of the king, and not one of them was left.” 31 Then the king rose and tore his garments, and he lay on the ground, and all his servants standing by were tearing their garments. 32 Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, responded and said, “My lord should not think that all the young men, the sons of the king, are dead, because only Amnon is dead. Absalom was talking about it,[av] as it was being determined from the day he[aw] raped Tamar his sister. 33 So then, let not my lord the king set his heart on this matter, thinking, ‘All the sons of the king are dead,’ for only Amnon alone is dead.”
Absalom Flees
34 So Absalom fled, and the young man who was keeping watch lifted up his eyes and saw, and there were many people coming from the road behind him from the side of the mountain. 35 Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the sons of the king have come. According to the word of your servant, so it has come about.” 36 When he finished speaking, look, the sons of the king came and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also, the king and all his servants wept a very great weeping. 37 Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihur, the king of Geshur. David mourned over his son day after day.[ax] 38 But Absalom had fled and went to Geshur, and he was there three years. 39 King David longed to go out to Absalom, for he was consoled that Amnon had died.
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