| English Standard Version | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. | 1In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. |
| 2It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. | 2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing--a very beautiful woman. |
| 3And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” | 3So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hethite?" |
| 4So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. | 4David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Afterward, she returned home. |
| 5And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” | 5The woman conceived and sent word to inform David: "I am pregnant." |
| 6So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. | 6David sent orders to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hethite." So Joab sent Uriah to David. |
| 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. | 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. |
| 8Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. | 8Then he said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. |
| 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 slept at the door of the palace with all his master's servants; he did not go down to his house. |
| 10When they told David, “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 it was reported to David, "Uriah didn't go home," David questioned Uriah, "Haven't you just come from a journey? Why didn't you go home?" |
| 11Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, 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? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” | 11Uriah answered David, "The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!" |
| 12Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. | 12"Stay here today also," David said to Uriah, "and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. |
| 13And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. | 13Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master's servants, but he did not go home. |
| 14In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. | 14The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. |
| 15In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” | 15In the letter he wrote: Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies. |
| 16And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. | 16When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. |
| 17And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. | 17Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David's soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hethite also died. |
| 18Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. | 18Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle. |
| 19And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, | 19He commanded the messenger, "When you've finished telling the king all the details of the battle-- |
| 20then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? | 20if the king's anger gets stirred up and he asks you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? |
| 21Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast 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.’” | 21At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Didn't a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? Why did you get so close to the wall?'--then say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hethite is dead also.'" |
| 22So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. | 22Then the messenger left. When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. |
| 23The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. | 23The messenger reported to David, "The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the city gate. |
| 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” | 24However, the archers shot down on your servants from the top of the wall, and some of the king's servants died. Your servant Uriah the Hethite is also dead." |
| 25David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” | 25David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.' Encourage him." |
| 26When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. | 26When Uriah's wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him. |
| 27And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. | 27When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the LORD considered what David had done to be evil. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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