| New American Standard Bible 1995 | New Living Translation |
| 1Then it happened 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 besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. | 1In 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. |
| 2Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. | 2Late 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. |
| 3So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" | 3He 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.” |
| 4David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. | 4Then 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. |
| 5The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant." | 5Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.” |
| 6Then David sent to Joab, saying, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David. | 6Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. |
| 7When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war. | 7When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. |
| 8Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house, and wash your feet." And Uriah went out of the king's house, and a present from the king was sent out after him. | 8Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax. ” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. |
| 9But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. | 9But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. |
| 10Now 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?" | 10When 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?” |
| 11Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and 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." | 11Uriah 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.” |
| 12Then David said to Uriah, "Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. | 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. |
| 13Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lord's servants, but he did not go down to his house. | 13Then 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. David Arranges for Uriah’s Death |
| 14Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. | 14So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. |
| 15He had written in the letter, saying, "Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die." | 15The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” |
| 16So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. | 16So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. |
| 17The men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David's servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died. | 17And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers. |
| 18Then Joab sent and reported to David all the events of the war. | 18Then Joab sent a battle report to David. |
| 19He charged the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, | 19He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king. |
| 20and 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? | 20But 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'Who 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.'" | 21Wasn’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.’” |
| 22So the messenger departed and came and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. | 22So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. |
| 23The messenger said to David, "The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. | 23“The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city 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." | 24the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.” |
| 25Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab, 'Do not let this thing 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." | 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!” |
| 26Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. | 26When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. |
| 27When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD. | 27When 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. |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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