| New International Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. | 1In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. |
| 2One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, | 2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. |
| 3and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite." | 3So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” |
| 4Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. | 4Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home. |
| 5The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant." | 5And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” |
| 6So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David. | 6At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. |
| 7When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. | 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing with the war. |
| 8Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. | 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 entrance to the palace with all his master's servants 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. |
| 10David was told, "Uriah did not go home." So he asked Uriah, "Haven't you just come from a military campaign? Why didn't you go home?" | 10And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?” |
| 11Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!" | 11Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!” |
| 12Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. | 12“Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. |
| 13At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home. | 13Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out 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 with Uriah. | 14The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. |
| 15In it he wrote, "Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." | 15In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.” |
| 16So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. | 16So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers. |
| 17When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died. | 17And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. |
| 18Joab sent David a full account of the battle. | 18Joab sent to David a full account of the battle |
| 19He instructed the messenger: "When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, | 19and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king all the details of the battle, |
| 20the king's anger may flare up, and he may ask you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? | 20if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall? |
| 21Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?' If he asks you this, then say to him, 'Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'" | 21Who was the one to strike Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If so, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’ ” |
| 22The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. | 22So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say. |
| 23The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. | 23The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. |
| 24Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead." | 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.” |
| 25David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.' Say this to encourage Joab." | 25Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.” |
| 26When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. | 26When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. |
| 27After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD. | 27And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD. |
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