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2 SAM UEL 12
page 281
soldiers,* including Shobach, the commander
of their army. 19 When all the kings allied with
Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by
Israel, they surrendered to Israel and became
their subjects. After that, the Arameans were
afraid to help the Ammonites.
David and Bathsheba
In the spring of the year,* when kings
normally go out to war, David sent Joab
and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites.
They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid
siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David
stayed behind in Jerusalem.
2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest,
David got out of bed and was walking on the
roof of the palace. As he looked out over the
city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty
taking a bath. 3 He sent someone to find out
who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of
Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the
palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her
menstrual period. Then she returned home.
5 Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she
was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”
6 Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me
Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.
7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab
and the army were getting along and how the
war was progressing. 8 Then he told Uriah, “Go
on home and relax.*” David even sent a gift to
Uriah after he had left the palace. 9 But Uriah
didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace
entrance with the king’s palace guard.
10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone
home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s
the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night
after being away for so long?”
11 Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of
Israel and Judah are living in tents,* and Joab
and my master’s men are camping in the open
fields. How could I go home to wine and dine
and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would
never do such a thing.”
12 “Well, stay here today,” David told him,
“and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So
Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.
13 Then David invited him to dinner and got him
drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go
home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace
entrance with the king’s palace guard.
11
10:18 As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 1 Chr 19:18);
Hebrew reads charioteers. 11:1 Hebrew At the turn of the year.
The first day of the year in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar
occurred in March or April. 11:8 Hebrew and wash your feet,
an expression that may also have a connotation of ritualistic
washing. 11:11 Or at Succoth. 11:21 Hebrew son of Jerubbesheth. Jerub-besheth is a variation on the name Jerub-baal,
which is another name for Gideon; see Judg 6:32.
David Arranges for Uriah’s Death
14 So the next morning David wrote a letter to
Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. 15 The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front
lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back
so that he will be killed.” 16 So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew
the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. 17 And
when the enemy soldiers came out of the city
to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with
several other Israelite soldiers.
18 Then Joab sent a battle report to David. 19 He
told his messenger, “Report all the news of the
battle to the king. 20 But he might get angry and
ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city?
Didn’t they know there would be shooting from
the walls? 21 Wasn’t Abimelech son of Gideon*
killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would
you get so close to the wall?’ Then tell him, ‘Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.’”
22 So the messenger went to Jerusalem and
gave a complete report to David. 23 “The enemy
came out against us in the open fields,” he said.
“And as we chased them back to the city gate,
24 the archers on the wall shot arrows at us.
Some of the king’s men were killed, including
Uriah the Hittite.”
25 “Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and
that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and
conquer the city!”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband
was dead, she mourned for him. 27 When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her
and brought her to the palace, and she became
one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son.
But the Lord was displeased with what David
had done.
Nathan Rebukes David
So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to
tell David this story: “There were two
men in a certain town. One was rich, and one
was poor. 2 The rich man owned a great many
sheep and cattle. 3 The poor man owned nothing
but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that
little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It
ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his
cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. 4 One day a guest arrived at the home of the
rich man. But instead of killing an animal from
his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s
lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”
5 David was furious. “As surely as the Lord
lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such
a thing deserves to die! 6 He must repay four
lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and
for having no pity.”
7 Then Na than said to David, “You are
that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says:
12