2 Samuel 11:1-12:25

New American Standard Bible 1995

Bathsheba, David’s Great Sin

11 ^(A)Then it happened ^[a](B)in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and ^(C)besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

² Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on ^(D)the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. ³ So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not ^(E)Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^(F)Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, ^(G)he lay with her; ^(H)and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. ⁵ The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “^(I)I am pregnant.”

⁶ Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, ^(J)David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and ^[b]the people and the state of the war. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and ^(K)wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king ^[c]was sent out after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept ^(L)at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ Now when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹ Uriah said to David, “^(M)The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in ^[d]temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and ^(N)the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” ¹² Then David said to Uriah, “^(O)Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the ^[e]next. ¹³ Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he ^(P)made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed ^(Q)with his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ Now in the morning David ^(R)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ^15 (S)He had written in the letter, saying, “^[f]Place Uriah in the front line of the ^[g]fiercest battle and withdraw from him, ^(T)so that he may be struck down and die.” ¹⁶ So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ The men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and ^(U)Uriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸ Then Joab sent and reported to David all the events of the war. ¹⁹ He charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, ²⁰ and if it happens that the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who ^(V)struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

²² So the messenger departed and came and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we ^[h]pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ Moreover, the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.” ²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this thing ^[i]displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle against the city stronger and overthrow it’; and so encourage him.”

²⁶ Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, ^(W)she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ When the time of mourning was over, David sent and ^[j]brought her to his house and ^(X)she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But ^(Y)the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David

12 Then the Lord sent ^(Z)Nathan to David. And ^(AA)he came to him and ^[k]said,

⁵ Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this ^[n](AC)deserves to die. ⁶ He must make restitution for the lamb ^(AD)fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”

⁷ Nathan then said to David, “^(AE)You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘^(AF)It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I also gave you ^(AG)your master’s house and your master’s wives into your ^[o]care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! ⁹ Why ^(AH)have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? ^(AI)You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, ^(AJ)have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore, ^(AK)the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ ¹¹ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; ^(AL)I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in ^[p]broad daylight. ¹² Indeed ^(AM)you did it secretly, but ^(AN)I will do this thing before all Israel, and ^[q]under the sun.’” ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “^(AO)I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has ^[r](AP)taken away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have ^(AQ)given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.” ¹⁵ So Nathan went to his house.

Loss of a Child

Then the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s ^[s]widow bore to David, so that he was very sick. ¹⁶ David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David ^(AR)fasted and went and ^(AS)lay all night on the ground. ^17 (AT)The elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then 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, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm!” ¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” ²⁰ So David arose from the ground, ^(AU)washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the Lord and ^(AV)worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.

²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? ^[t]While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” ²² He said, “While the child was still alive, ^(AW)I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘^(AX)Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ ²³ But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? ^(AY)I will go to him, but ^(AZ)he will not return to me.”

Solomon Born

²⁴ Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and ^[u](BA)he named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved him ²⁵ and sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him ^[v]Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.