1
And it was, at the return of the year, at the time when the kings go··forth, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the sons of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David sat in Jerusalem.
2
And it was, at the time of the evening, that David arose from his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house; and from the roof he saw a woman bathing herself; and the woman was good in appearance exceedingly.
3
And David sent and inquired··after the woman. And one said, Is▵ this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4
And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came unto▵ him, and he◦ lay with her; and she was sanctified from her uncleanness; and she returned to▵ her house.
5
And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and she said, I▵ have conceived.
6
And David sent to▵ Joab; Send to▵ me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to▵ David.
7
And Uriah came to▵ him, and David asked as to the peace of Joab, and as to the peace of the people, and as to the peace of the battle.
8
And David said to Uriah, Go··down to thy house, and bathe thy feet. And Uriah went··out from the house of the king, and after him went··out a gift carried from the king.
9
And Uriah lay··down at the entrance of the house of the king 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 a journey? Why didst thou◦ not go··down unto▵ thy house?
11
And Uriah said to▵ David, The ark and Israel and Judah dwells in shelters; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord are encamped on the face of the field; and shall I◦ come to▵ my house and eat and drink and lie with my wife? By thy life and by the life of thy soul, I will not do this thing.
12
And David said to▵ Uriah, Sit in this place also today, and tomorrow I will send thee. And Uriah sat in Jerusalem on that◦ day and the morrow.
13
And David called him, and he did eat and drink before him; and he made· him ·drunk; and at evening he went··out to lie in his bed with the servants of his lord; and went· not ·down to▵ his house.
14
And it was, 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, Put▵ ye Uriah next··to the face of the most severe battle, and turn· ye ·back from behind him, that he may be smitten and die.
16
And it was, when Joab observed▵ the city, that he gave Uriah a place, where▵ he knew that there were men◦ of valor.
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
And Joab sent and told David, all the words of the battle;
19
and he commanded the messenger, saying, When thou hast completed all the words of the battle, speaking to▵ the king,
20
and it shall be, if the fury of the king go··up, and he say to▵ thee, Wherefore did you approach the city to fight? Knew you not that they would shoot from upon the wall?
21
Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth*? Did not a woman cast a piece◦ of an upper··millstone on him from on the wall, and he died in Thebez? Why did you approach the wall? And thou◦ shalt say, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is· also ·dead.
22
And the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him for.
23
And the messenger said unto▵ David, Surely▵ the men◦ prevailed over us, and came··out to▵ us to the field, and we were upon them even··to the entrance of the gate.
24
And the shooters shot from upon the walls upon thy servants; and some of the servants of the king be··dead, and also thy servant, Uriah the Hittite is··dead.
25
And David said unto▵ the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto▵ Joab, Let not this word be··evil in thine eyes, for as thus and as this the sword eats··up; strengthen thy battle against▵ the city, and break· her ·down; and strengthen him.
26
And the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her man◦ was··dead, and she bewailed her husband.
27
And the mourning was past, and David sent and gathered her to▵ his house, and she was to him for a wife, and gave··birth to a son for him. But the thing that David had done was··evil in the eyes of Jehovah.
