Historical

David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring the kings would go out to war. So in the spring David sent out Joab, his servants and all the Israelites. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked the city of Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. ² One evening David got up from his bed. He walked around on the roof^[a] of his palace. While he was on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. She was very beautiful. ³ So David sent his servants to find out who she was. A servant answered, “That woman is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴ David sent messengers to bring Bathsheba to him. When she came to him, he had physical relations with her. (Now Bathsheba had purified herself from her monthly period.) Then she went back to her house. ⁵ But Bathsheba became pregnant. She sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

⁶ So David sent this message to Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ Uriah came to David. And David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go home and rest.”

So Uriah left the palace. The king also sent a gift to him. ⁹ But Uriah did not go home. He slept outside the door of the palace. He slept there as all the king’s officers did.

¹⁰ The officers told David, “Uriah did not go home.”

Then David said to Uriah, “You came from a long trip. Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah said to him, “The Ark of the Covenant and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents. My master Joab and his officers are camping out in the fields. It isn’t right for me to go home to eat and drink and have intimate relations with my wife!”

¹² David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. Tomorrow I’ll send you back to the battle.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Then David called Uriah to come to see him. Uriah ate and drank with David. David made Uriah drunk, but he still did not go home. That evening Uriah went to sleep with the king’s officers outside the king’s door.

¹⁴ The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter David wrote, “Put Uriah on the front lines where the fighting is worst. Then leave him there alone. Let him be killed in battle.”

¹⁶ Joab watched the city and saw where its strongest defenders were. He put Uriah there. ¹⁷ The men of the city came out to fight against Joab. Some of David’s men were killed. And Uriah the Hittite was one of them.

¹⁸ Then Joab sent a report to David about everything that had happened in the war. ¹⁹ Joab told the messenger, “Tell King David what happened in the war. ²⁰ After you finish, the king may become angry. He may ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the city wall? ²¹ Do you remember who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth?^[b] It was a woman on the city wall. She threw a large stone for grinding grain on Abimelech. She killed him there in Thebez. Why did you go so near the wall?’ If King David asks that, you must answer, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’”

²² The messenger went in and told David everything Joab had told him to say. ²³ The messenger told David, “The men of Ammon were winning. They came out and attacked us in the field. But we fought them back to the city gate. ²⁴ The men on the city wall shot arrows at your servants. Some of your men were killed. Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.”

²⁵ David said to the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t be upset about this. The sword kills everyone the same. Make a stronger attack against the city and capture it.’ Encourage Joab with these words.”

²⁶ When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she cried for him. ²⁷ After she finished her time of sadness, David sent servants to bring her to his house. She became David’s wife and gave birth to his son. But the Lord did not like what David had done.

David’s Son Dies

12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan came to David, Nathan said, “There were two men in a city. One man was rich, but the other was poor. ² The rich man had very many sheep and cattle. ³ But the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb he had bought. The poor man fed the lamb. It grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup. It slept in his arms. The lamb was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Then a traveler stopped to visit the rich man. The rich man wanted to give food to the traveler. But he didn’t want to take one of his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler. Instead, he took the lamb from the poor man. The rich man killed the lamb and cooked it for his visitor.”

⁵ David became very angry at the rich man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this should die! ⁶ He must pay for the lamb four times for doing such a thing. He had no mercy!”

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I appointed you king of Israel. I saved you from Saul. ⁸ I gave you his kingdom and his wives. And I made you king of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you even more. ⁹ So why did you ignore the Lord’s command? Why did you do what he says is wrong? You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites! And you took his wife to become your wife! ¹⁰ So there will always be people in your family who will be killed by a sword. This is because you showed that you did not respect me! And you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite!’

¹¹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am bringing trouble to you from your own family. While you watch, I will take your wives from you. And I will give them to someone who is very close to you. He will have physical relations with your wives, and everyone will know it. ¹² You had physical relations with Bathsheba in secret. But I will do this so all the people of Israel can see it.’”

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan answered, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You will not die. ¹⁴ But what you did caused the Lord’s enemies to lose all respect for him. For this reason the son who was born to you will die.”

¹⁵ Then Nathan went home. And the Lord caused the son of David and Bathsheba, Uriah’s widow, to become very sick. ¹⁶ David prayed to God for the baby. David refused to eat or drink. He went into his house and stayed there. He lay on the ground all night. ¹⁷ The elders of David’s family came to him. They tried to pull him up from the ground. But he refused to get up. And he refused to eat food with them.

¹⁸ On the seventh day the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead. They said, “Look, we tried to talk to David while the baby was alive. But he refused to listen to us. If we tell him the baby is dead, he may harm himself.”

¹⁹ But David saw his servants whispering. Then he understood that the baby was dead. So he asked them, “Is the baby dead?”

They answered, “Yes, he is dead.”

²⁰ Then David got up from the floor. He washed himself, put lotions on himself and changed his clothes. Then he went into the Lord’s house to worship. After that, he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate.

²¹ David’s servants said to him, “Why are you doing this? When the baby was still alive, you refused to eat. You cried. But when the baby died, you got up and ate food.”

²² David said, “While the baby was still alive, I refused to eat, and I cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’ ²³ But now the baby is dead. So why should I go without food? I can’t bring him back to life. Some day I will go to him. But he cannot come back to me.”

²⁴ Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He slept with her and had intimate relations with her. She became pregnant again and had another son. David named the boy Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon. ²⁵ The Lord sent word through Nathan the prophet to name the baby Jedidiah.^[c] This was because the Lord loved the child.

David Captures Rabbah

²⁶ Now Joab fought against Rabbah, a city of the Ammonites. And he was about to capture the royal city. ²⁷ Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah. I have captured its water supply. ²⁸ Now bring the other soldiers together and attack this city. Capture it before I capture it myself. If I capture this city, it will be called by my name!”

²⁹ So David gathered all the army and went to Rabbah. He fought against Rabbah and captured it. ³⁰ David took the crown off their king’s head. It was gold and weighed about 75 pounds. It also had gems in it. They put the crown on David’s head. And David took many valuable things out of the city. ³¹ He also brought out the people of the city. He made them work with saws, iron picks and axes. He also forced them to build with bricks. David did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his army went back to Jerusalem.

Amnon and Tamar

13 Now David had a son named Absalom and a son named Amnon. Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. And Amnon loved her. ² Tamar was a virgin. Amnon did not think he should do anything bad to her. But he wanted her very much. He made himself sick just thinking about her.

³ Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah. (Shimeah was David’s brother.) Jonadab was a very clever man. ⁴ He asked Amnon, “Why do you look so sad day after day? You are the king’s son! Tell me what’s wrong!”

Amnon told him, “I love Tamar. But she is the sister of my half-brother Absalom.”

⁵ Jonadab said to Amnon, “Go to bed. Act as if you are sick. Then your father will come to see you. Tell him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in and give me food to eat. Let her make the food in front of me. Then I will see it and eat it from her hand.’”

⁶ So Amnon lay down in bed and acted as if he were sick. King David came in to see him. Amnon said to him, “Please let my sister Tamar come in. Let her make two of her special cakes for me while I watch. Then I will eat them from her hands.”

⁷ David sent messengers to Tamar in the palace. They told her, “Go to your brother Amnon’s house and make some food for him.” ⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house. He was in bed. Tamar took some dough and pressed it together with her hands. She made some special cakes while Amnon watched. Then she baked them. ⁹ Next she took the pan and took out the cakes for Amnon. But he refused to eat.

He said to his servants, “All of you, leave me alone!” So all his servants left the room. ¹⁰ Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the inner room. Then I’ll eat from your hand.”

Tamar took the cakes she had made. And she brought them to her brother Amnon in the inner room. ¹¹ She went to him so he could eat from her hands. But Amnon grabbed her. He said, “Sister, come and have physical relations with me.”

¹² Tamar said to him, “No, brother! Don’t force me! This should never be done in Israel! Don’t do this shameful thing! ¹³ I could never get rid of my shame! And you will become like the shameful fools in Israel! Please talk with the king. He will let you marry me.”

¹⁴ But Amnon refused to listen to her. He was stronger than she was. So he raped her. ¹⁵ After that, Amnon hated Tamar. He hated her much more than he had loved her before. Amnon said to her, “Get up and leave!”

¹⁶ Tamar said to him, “No! Sending me away would be an even greater evil. That would be worse than what you’ve already done!”

But he refused to listen to her. ¹⁷ He called his young servant back in. Amnon said, “Get this girl out of here right now! Lock the door after her.” ¹⁸ So his servant led her out of the room. And he bolted the door after her.

Now Tamar was wearing a special robe with long sleeves. The king’s virgin daughters wore this kind of robe. ¹⁹ To show how upset she was Tamar took ashes and put them on her head. She tore her special robe. And she put her hand on her head. Then she went away, crying loudly.

²⁰ Absalom, Tamar’s brother, said to her, “Has Amnon, that brother of yours, violated you? He is your brother. So for now, sister, be quiet. Don’t let this upset you so much!” So Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house. She was sad and lonely.

²¹ When King David heard the news, he was very angry. ²² Absalom did not say a word, good or bad, to Amnon. He hated Amnon for violating his sister Tamar.

Absalom’s Revenge

²³ Two years later Absalom had some men come to Baal Hazor, near Ephraim. They were to cut the wool from his sheep. Absalom invited all the king’s sons to come also. ²⁴ Absalom went to the king and said, “I have men coming to cut the wool. Please come with your officers and join me.”

²⁵ King David said to Absalom, “No, my son. We won’t all go. It would be too much trouble for you.” Absalom begged David to go. David did not go, but he did give his blessing.

²⁶ Absalom said, “If you don’t want to go, then please let my brother Amnon go with me.”

King David asked Absalom, “Why should he go with you?”

²⁷ Absalom kept begging David. Finally, David let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with Absalom.

²⁸ Then Absalom gave a command to his servants. He said, “Watch Amnon. When he is drunk, I will tell you, ‘Kill Amnon.’ Right then, kill him! Don’t be afraid. I have commanded you! Be strong and brave!” ²⁹ So Absalom’s young men killed Amnon as Absalom commanded. But all of David’s other sons got on their mules and escaped.

³⁰ While the king’s sons were on their way, the news came to David. The message was, “Absalom has killed all of the king’s sons! Not one of them is left alive!” ³¹ King David tore his clothes and lay on the ground to show his sadness. All his servants standing nearby tore their clothes also.

³² Jonadab was the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab said to David, “Don’t think all the young men, your sons, are killed. No, only Amnon is dead! Absalom planned this because Amnon raped his sister Tamar. ³³ My master and king, don’t think that all of the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead!”

³⁴ In the meantime Absalom had run away.

There was a guard standing on the city wall. He saw many people coming from the other side of the hill. ³⁵ So Jonadab said to King David, “Look, I was right! The king’s sons are coming!”

³⁶ As soon as Jonadab had said this, the king’s sons arrived. They were crying loudly. David and all his servants began crying also. They all cried very much. ³⁷ David cried for his son every day.

But Absalom ran away to Talmai^[d] son of Ammihud. Talmai was king of Geshur. ³⁸ After Absalom ran away to Geshur, he stayed there for three years. ³⁹ When King David got over Amnon’s death, he missed Absalom greatly.