2 Samuel 11

1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

In the spring, at the time of year when kings go out to war, David sent out Joab and his officers and the whole Israelite army on an attack. They massacred the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. However, David remained behind in Jerusalem.

2 And it came to pass in an evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked on the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look on.

Late one afternoon, David got up from taking a nap and was walking on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.

3 And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

David sent someone to find out about the woman. He was told, “It's Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, and wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

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

David sent messengers to fetch her. When she came to him, he had sex with her. (Now she had just purified herself from having her period.) Afterwards she went back home.

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

Bathsheba became pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him, “I'm pregnant.”

6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.

So David sent a message to Joab, telling him, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” Joab sent him to David.

7 And when Uriah was come to him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.

When Uriah came to see him, David asked him how Joab was doing, and how the army was doing, and how the war was going.

8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.

Then David told Uriah, “Go home now and have a rest.” Uriah left the palace, and the king sent him a gift after he'd gone.

9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

But Uriah didn't go home. He slept in the guardroom at the palace entrance with all the king's guards.

10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down to his house, David said to Uriah, Came you not from your journey? why then did you not go down to your house?

David was told, “Uriah didn't go home,” so he asked Uriah, “Haven't you just got back from being away? Why didn't you go home?”

11 And Uriah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into 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.

Uriah answered, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and my master Joab and his men are camped out in the open. How can I go home and eat and drink and sleep with my wife? On my life I won't do such a thing!”

12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let you depart. So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.

David told him, “Stay here today, and tomorrow I'll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day, and the next.

13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.

David invited Uriah to dinner. Uriah ate and drank with him, and David got Uriah drunk. But in the evening he went to sleep on his mat with the king's guards, and didn't go home.

14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

In the morning David wrote Joab a letter, and gave it to Uriah to take to him.

15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set you Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire you from him, that he may be smitten, and die.

In the letter, David told Joab, “Put Uriah right in the front where the fighting is worst, and then pull back behind him so that he'll be attacked and killed.”

16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew that valiant men were.

As Joab besieged the town, he made Uriah take a place where he knew the strongest enemy men would be fighting.

17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

When the town's defenders came out and attacked Joab, some of David's men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.

18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;

Joab sent David a full report about the battle.

19 And charged the messenger, saying, When you have made an end of telling the matters of the war to the king,

He ordered the messenger, saying, “When you've finished telling the king all about the battle,

20 And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say to you, Why approached you so near to the city when you did fight? knew you not that they would shoot from the wall?

if the king's gets angry and asks you, ‘Why did you get so near to the town in the attack? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall?

21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went you near the wall? then say you, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

Who killed Abimelech, son of Jerub-Besheth? Wasn't it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall, killing him there in Thebez? Why on earth did you get so close to the wall?’ Just tell him, ‘In addition, your officer Uriah the Hittite was killed.’”

22 So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for.

The messenger left, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had directed him to say.

23 And the messenger said to David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entering of the gate.

The messenger explained to David, “The defenders were stronger than us, and they came out at us in the open, but we forced them back to the entrance of the town gate.

24 And the shooters shot from off the wall on your servants; and some of the king’s servants be dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

Their archers shot at us from the wall, and killed some of the king's men. Your officer Uriah the Hittite was also killed.”

25 Then David said to the messenger, Thus shall you say to Joab, Let not this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another: make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage you him.

Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab this: ‘Don't be upset about this, for the sword destroys people at random. Press on with your attack against the town and conquer it.’ Encourage him by telling him this.”

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

When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.

27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

Once the period of mourning was over, David sent for her to be brought to his palace, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But what David had done was evil in the Lord's sight.