Kings II 11

1 And it came to pass when the time o the year for kings going out [to battle] had come round, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbath: but David remained at Jerusalem.

And it comes to pass, at the revolution of the year—at the time of the going out of the messengers—that David sends Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroy the sons of Ammon, and lay siege against Rabbah, but David is dwelling in Jerusalem.

2 And it came to pass towards evening, that David arose off his couch, and walked on the roof of the king's house, and saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

And it comes to pass, at evening-time, that David rises from off his bed, and walks up and down on the roof of the king’s house, and sees a woman bathing from the roof, and the woman [is] of very good appearance,

3 And David sent and enquired about the woman: and [one] said, [Is] not this Bersabee the daughter of Eliab, the wife of Urias the Chettite?

and David sends and inquires about the woman, and [someone] says, “Is this not Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

4 And David sent messengers, and took her, and went in to her, and he lay with her: and she was purified from her uncleanness, and returned to her house.

And David sends messengers, and takes her, and she comes to him, and he lies with her—and she is purifying herself from her uncleanness—and she turns back to her house;

5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

and the woman conceives, and sends, and declares [it] to David, and says, “I [am] conceiving.”

6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Urias the Chettite; and Joab sent Urias to David.

And David sends to Joab, [saying], “Send Uriah the Hittite to me,” and Joab sends Uriah to David;

7 And Urias arrived and went in to him, and David asked him how Joab was, and how the people were, and how the war went on.

and Uriah comes to him, and David asks of the prosperity of Joab, and of the prosperity of the people, and of the prosperity of the war.

8 And David said to Urias, Go to your house, and wash your feet: and Urias departed from the house of the king, and a portion [of meat] from the king followed him.

And David says to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet”; and Uriah goes out of the king’s house, and there goes out a gift from the king after him,

9 And Urias slept at the door of the king with the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

and Uriah lies down at the opening of the king’s house, with all the servants of his lord, and has not gone down to his house.

10 And they brought David word, saying, Urias has not gone down to his house. And David said to Urias, Are you not come from a journey? why have you not gone down to your house?

And they declare [it] to David, saying, “Uriah has not gone down to his house”; and David says to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why have you not gone down to your house?”

11 And Urias said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Juda dwell in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; and shall I go into my house to eat and drink, and lie with my wife? how [should I do this? as] your soul lives, I will not do this thing.

And Uriah says to David, “The ark, and Israel, and Judah, are abiding in shelters, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamping on the face of the field; and should I go to my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? [By] your life and the life of your soul—if I do this thing.”

12 And David said to Urias, Remain here today also, and to-morrow I will let you go. So Urias remained in Jerusalem that day and the day following.

And David says to Uriah, “Also abide in this [place] today, and tomorrow I send you away”; and Uriah abides in Jerusalem on that day and on the next day,

13 And David called him, and he ate before him and drank, and he made him drunk: and he went out in the evening to lie upon his bed with the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

and David calls for him, and he eats before him, and drinks, and he causes him to drink, and he goes out in the evening to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, and he has not gone down to his house.

14 And the morning came, and David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Urias.

And it comes to pass in the morning that David writes a letter to Joab and sends [it] by the hand of Uriah;

15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Station Urias in front of the severe [part] of the fight, and retreat from behind him, so shall he be wounded and die.

and he writes in the letter, saying, “Place Uriah in front of the face of the most severe battle, and you have turned back from after him, and he has been struck, and has died.”

16 And it came to pass while Joab was watching against the city, that he set Urias in a place where he knew that valiant men were.

And it comes to pass in Joab’s watching of the city, that he appoints Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men [were];

17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and some of the people of the servants of David fell, and Urias the Chettite died also.

and the men of the city go out and fight with Joab, and [some] of the people, from the servants of David, fall; and Uriah the Hittite also dies.

18 And Joab sent, and reported to David all the events of the war, so as to tell them to the king.

And Joab sends and declares to David all the matters of the war,

19 And he charged the messenger, saying, When you have finished reporting all the events of the war to the king,

and commands the messenger, saying, “At your finishing all the matters of the war to speak to the king,

20 then it shall come to pass if the anger of the king shall arise, and he shall say to you, Why did you draw near to the city to fight? knew you not that they would shoot from off the wall?

then, it has been, if the king’s fury ascends, and he has said to you, Why did you draw near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they shoot from off the wall?

21 Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerobaal son of Ner? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from above the wall, and he died in Thamasi? why did you draw near to the wall? then you shall say, Your servant Urias the Chettite is also dead.

Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Did a woman not cast a piece of a rider from the wall on him, and he dies in Thebez? Why did you draw near to the wall? That you have said, Also—your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

22 And the messenger of Joab went to the king to Jerusalem, and he came and reported to David all that Joab told him, all the affairs of the war. And David was very angry with Joab, and said to the messenger, Why did you draw near to the wall to fight? knew you not that you would be wounded from off the wall? Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerobaal? did not a woman cast upon him a piece of millstone from the wall, and he died in Thamasi? why did you draw near to the wall?

And the messenger goes, and comes in, and declares to David all that with which Joab sent him,

23 And the messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and they came out against us into the field, and we came upon them even to the door of the gate.

and the messenger says to David, “Surely the men have been mighty against us, and come out to us into the field, and we are on them to the opening of the gate,

24 And the archers shot at your servants from off the wall, and some of the king's servants died, and your servant Urias the Chettite is dead also.

and those shooting shoot at your servants from off the wall, and [some] of the servants of the king are dead, and also, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

25 And David said to the messenger, Thus shall you say to Joab, Let not the matter be grievous in your eyes, for the sword devours one way at one time and another way at another: strengthen your array against the city, and destroy it, and strengthen him.

And David says to the messenger, “Thus you say to Joab, Do not let this thing be evil in your eyes; for thus and thus the sword devours; strengthen your warfare against the city, and throw it down; so you strengthen him.”

26 And the wife of Urias heard that Urias her husband was dead, and she mourned for her husband.

And the wife of Uriah hears that her husband Uriah [is] dead, and laments for her lord;

27 And the time of mourning expired, and David sent and took her into his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son: but the thing which David did was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

and the mourning passes by, and David sends and gathers her to his house, and she is to him for a wife, and bears a son to him; and the thing which David has done is evil in the eyes of YHWH.