| New American Standard Bible 1995 | International Standard Version |
| 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. | 1One spring day, during the time of year when kings go off to war, David sent out Joab, along with his personal staff and all of Israel's army. They utterly destroyed the Ammonites and then attacked Rabbah while David remained 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 about dusk, David got up from his couch and was walking around on the roof of the royal palace. From there he watched a woman taking a bath, and she was very beautiful to look at. |
| 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?" | 3David sent word to inquire about her, and someone told him, "This is Eliam's daughter Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, isn't it?" |
| 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. | 4So David sent some messengers, took her from her home, and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.) Then she returned to her home. |
| 5The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant." | 5The woman conceived, and she sent this message to David: "I'm pregnant." |
| 6Then David sent to Joab, saying, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David. | 6So David summoned Joab, and told him, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah 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 inquired about how Joab was doing, how the army was doing, 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 David told Uriah, "Go on down to your house and relax a while." So Uriah left the king's palace, and the king sent a gift along after 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 spent the night sleeping in the alcove of the king's palace in the company of all his master's staff members. He refused to go down to his own home. |
| 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 was told that Uriah hadn't gone home the previous night, he quizzed him, "You just arrived from a long journey, so why didn't you go down to your own house?" |
| 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, along with Israel and Judah, are encamped in tents, while my commanding officer Joab and my master's staff members are camping out in the open fields. Should I go home, eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? Not on your life! I won't do something like this, will I?" |
| 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. | 12Then David invited Uriah, "Stay here today, and tomorrow I'll send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem all 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 at David's invitation, he and Uriah dined and drank wine together, and David got him drunk. Later that evening, Uriah went out to lie on a couch in the company of his lord's servants, and he did not go down to his house. |
| 14Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. | 14The next morning, David sent a message to Joab that Uriah took with him in his hand. |
| 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." | 15In the message, he wrote: "Assign Uriah to the most difficult fighting at the battle front, and then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and 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 as Joab began to attack the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew valiant men would be stationed. |
| 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. | 17When the men of the city came out to fight Joab, some of David's army staff members fell, and Uriah the Hittite died, too. |
| 18Then Joab sent and reported to David all the events of the war. | 18Then Joab sent word to David about everything that had happened at the battle. |
| 19He charged the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, | 19He instructed the courier, "When you have finished conveying all the news about 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? | 20if the king starts to get angry and asks you, 'Why did you get so near the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot from the wall? |
| 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.'" | 21Who killed Jerubbesheth's son Abimelech? Didn't a woman kill him by throwing an upper millstone on him from the wall at Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?' then tell him, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.'" |
| 22So the messenger departed and came and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. | 22So the messenger left Joab, set out for Jerusalem, and disclosed to David everything that Joab had sent him to say. |
| 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. | 23The messenger told David, "The men surprised us and attacked us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of 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." | 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's staff members are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite has died as well." |
| 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." | 25David responded to the messenger, "Here's what you're to tell Joab: 'Don't be troubled by this incident, because the battle sword consumes one or another from time to time. Consolidate your attack against the city and conquer it.' Be sure to encourage him." |
| 26Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. | 26When Uriah's wife heard about the death of her husband Uriah, she went into mourning for the head of her household. |
| 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 her mourning period was completed, David sent for her, brought her to his palace, and she became his wife. Later on, she bore him a son. Meanwhile, what David had done grieved the LORD, |
| 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 | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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