| Chapter
11 |
| 1 | And it
came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to
battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and
they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried
still at Jerusalem. |
| 2 | And
it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and
walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman
washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. |
| 3 | And David sent and inquired after
the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife
of Uriah the Hittite? |
| 4 |
And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay
with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her
house. |
| 5 | And the woman
conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child. |
| 6 | And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me
Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. |
|
7 | And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of
him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. |
| 8 | And David said to Uriah, Go down
to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house,
and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. |
| 9 | But Uriah slept at the door of the
king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his
house. |
| 10 | And when they
had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto
Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto
thine house? |
| 11 | And
Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my
lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall
I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as
thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. |
| 12 | And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to
day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem
that day, and the morrow. |
| 13 |
And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made
him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his
lord, but went not down to his house. |
| 14 | And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a
letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. |
|
15 | And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah
in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be
smitten, and die. |
| 16 | And
it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a
place where he knew that valiant men were. |
| 17 | And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab:
and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the
Hittite died also. |
| 18 |
Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; |
| 19 | And charged the messenger, saying,
When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, |
| 20 | And if so be that the
king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto
the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the
wall? |
| 21 | Who smote
Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone
upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then
say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. |
| 22 | So the messenger went, and came and
showed David all that Joab had sent him for. |
| 23 | And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men
prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon
them even unto the entering of the gate. |
| 24 | And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy
servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the
Hittite is dead also. |
| 25 |
Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this
thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy
battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou
him. |
| 26 | And when the
wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her
husband. |
| 27 | And when the
mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his
wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the
LORD. |
