| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. | 1In the spring of the year, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, David sent out Joab with his officers and the entire Israelite army. They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. |
| 2Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. | 2One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive. |
| 3He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” | 3So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" |
| 4Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. | 4David sent some messengers to get her. She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) Then she returned to her home. |
| 5Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.” | 5The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying, "I'm pregnant." |
| 6Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. | 6So David sent a message to Joab that said, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David. |
| 7When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. | 7When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going. |
| 8Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax. ” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. | 8Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your home and relax." When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him. |
| 9But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. | 9But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house. |
| 10When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?” | 10So they informed David, "Uriah has not gone down to his house." So David said to Uriah, "Haven't you just arrived from a journey? Why haven't you gone down to your house?" |
| 11Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.” | 11Uriah replied to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord's soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations with my wife? As surely as you are alive, I will not do this thing!" |
| 12“Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. | 12So David said to Uriah, "Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one. |
| 13Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. David Arranges for Uriah’s Death | 13Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house. |
| 14So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. | 14In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. |
| 15The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” | 15In the letter he wrote: "Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed." |
| 16So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. | 16So as Joab kept watch on the city, he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. |
| 17And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers. | 17When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David's soldiers fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died. |
| 18Then Joab sent a battle report to David. | 18Then Joab sent a full battle report to David. |
| 19He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king. | 19He instructed the messenger as follows: "When you finish giving the battle report to the king, |
| 20But he might get angry and ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn’t they know there would be shooting from the walls? | 20if the king becomes angry and asks you, 'Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn't you realize they would shoot from the wall? |
| 21Wasn’t Abimelech son of Gideon killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would you get so close to the wall?’ Then tell him, ‘Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.’” | 21Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman throw an upper millstone down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?' just say to him, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.'" |
| 22So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. | 22So the messenger departed. When he arrived, he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him. |
| 23“The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate, | 23The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and attacked us in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way to the door of the city gate. |
| 24the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.” | 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall and some of the king's soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead." |
| 25“Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!” | 25David said to the messenger, "Tell Joab, 'Don't let this thing upset you. There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. Press the battle against the city and conquer 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 Uriah was dead, she mourned for him. |
| 27When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the LORD was displeased with what David had done. | 27When the time of mourning passed, David had her brought to his palace. She became his wife and she bore him a son. But what David had done upset the LORD. |
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