2 Samuel 11
1 And it came to pass, at the return of the same season of the year, at the time when kings go forth, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of 'Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained behind at Jerusalem.
[In that region], kings usually went [with their armies] to fight [their enemies] in the springtime. But the following year, in the springtime, David [did not do that. Instead, he] stayed in Jerusalem, and he sent [his commander] Joab [to lead the army]. So Joab went with the other officers and the rest of the Israeli army. They [crossed the Jordan River and] defeated the army of the Ammon people-group. Then they surrounded [their capital city, ] Rabbah.
2 And it happened at evening-tide, that David arose from off his couch, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and he saw from the roof a woman bathing herself; and the woman was of a very beautiful appearance.
Late one afternoon, after David got up from taking a nap, he walked around on the [flat] roof of his palace. He saw a woman who was bathing [in the courtyard of her house]. The woman was very beautiful.
3 And David sent and inquired after the woman; and some one said, Behold, this is Beth-sheba', the daughter of Eli'am, the wife of Uriyah the Hittite.
David sent a messenger to find out who she was. [The messenger returned] and said, “She is [RHQ] Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and her husband is Uriah, from the Heth people-group.”
4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her, and she had just purified herself from her uncleanness; and she returned unto her house.
Then David sent more messengers to get her. They brought her to David, and he (slept/had sex) [EUP] with her. (She had just finished performing the rituals to make herself pure [after her monthly menstrual period].) Then Bathsheba went back home.
5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
[After some time], she realized that she was pregnant. So she sent a messenger to tell David [that she was pregnant].
6 And David sent to Joab, Send unto me Uriyah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriyah to David.
Then David sent a message to Joab. He said, “Send Uriah, from the Heth people-group, to me.” So Joab did that. He sent Uriah to David.
7 And when Uriyah was come unto him, David asked after the well-being of Joab, and after the well-being of the people, and how the war prospered.
When he arrived, David asked if Joab was well, and if other soldiers were well, and how the war was progressing.
8 And David said to Uriyah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriyah went forth out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of food from the king.
Then David, [hoping that Uriah would go home and sleep with his wife, ] said to Uriah, “Okay, go home and relax for a while. [IDM]” So Uriah left, and David gave someone a gift [of some food] to take to Uriah’s house.
9 But Uriyah laid himself down at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guards.
10 And they told David, saying, Uriyah is not gone down unto his house: and David said unto Uriyah, Art thou not come from a journey? why then art thou not gone down unto thy own house?
When someone told David that Uriah did not go to his house [that night], David [summoned him again and] said to him, “Why didn’t you go home [to be with your wife last night], after having been away for a long time?” [RHQ]
11 Then said Uriyah unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths; and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open field: and should I alone go unto my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
Uriah replied, “The soldiers of Judah and Israel are camping in the open fields, and even our commander Joab is sleeping in a tent, and the sacred chest is with them. (How could I/It would not be right for me to) go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife [RHQ]. I solemnly declare [IDM] that I will never do such a thing!”
12 And David said unto Uriyah, Tarry here also this day, and tomorrow will I send thee off. So Uriyah remained in Jerusalem on that day and the following.
Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. I will let you return [to the battle] tomorrow.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and that night.
13 And David invited him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunken; and he went out in the evening to lie down on his resting-place with the servants of his lord; but to his house he did not go down.
The next day, David invited him [to a meal]. So Uriah had a meal with David, and David made him drink a lot of wine so that he would get drunk, [hoping that if he was drunk, he would sleep with his wife]. But that night, Uriah again did not go home. Instead, he slept on his cot with the king’s servants.
14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriyah.
[Someone reported that to] David, [so] the next morning he wrote a letter to Joab, and gave it to Uriah to take to Joab.
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriyah in front, opposite to the hottest fight, and then withdraw from behind him, that he may be smitten and die.
In the letter, he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is the (worst/most severe). Then command the soldiers to pull back from him, in order that he will be killed [by our enemies].”
16 And it came to pass, when Joab was enclosing the city, that he placed Uriyah toward the spot of which he knew that valiant men were there.
[So after] Joab [got the letter], as his army was surrounding the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew that their enemies’ strongest and best soldiers 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 there died also Uriyah the Hittite.
The men from the city came out and fought with Joab’s soldiers. They killed some of David’s officers, including Uriah.
18 Then did Joab send, and told unto David all the events of the war.
Then Joab sent a messenger to David to tell him about the fighting.
19 And he charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast finished telling all the events of the war to the king,
He said to the messenger, “Tell David the news about the battle. After you finish telling that to him,
20 And it happen that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore did you approach unto the city to fight? knew ye not, that they would shoot down from off the wall?
if David is angry [because so many officers were killed], he may ask you, ‘Why did your soldiers go so close to the city to fight [RHQ]? Did you not know that they would shoot [arrows at you while they were standing on top] of the city wall [RHQ]?
21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Yerubbesheth? did not a woman throw down upon him a piece of an upper mill-stone from off the wall so that he died at Thebez? why did ye approach unto the wall? then must thou say, Also thy servant Uriyah the Hittite is dead.
Do you not remember how Abimelech, the son of Gideon, was killed? A woman [who lived] in Thebez threw a huge (millstone/stone for grinding grain) on him from [the top of] tower, and he died. So why did your troops go near to the city wall?’ If the king asks this, then tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah also was killed.’”
22 And the messenger went, and came and told unto David all for which Joab had sent him.
So the messenger went and told David everything that Joab told him to say.
23 And the messenger said unto David, Because the men overpowered us and came out against us into the field; but we set upon them, as far as the entrance of the gate.
The messenger said to David, “Our enemies were very brave, and came out of the city to fight us in the fields. [They were defeating us] but we forced them back to the city gate.
24 And the archers then shot at thy servants from off the wall; and there died some of the servants of the king, and also thy servant Uriyah the Hittite is dead.
Then their archers shot arrows at us from [the top of] the city wall. They killed some of your officers. They killed your officer Uriah, too.”
25 Then said David to the messenger, Thus shalt thou say to Joab, Let this thing not be displeasing in thy eyes; for at times this, at other times the other will the sword devour; continue firmly in thy war against the city, and overthrow it: and thus do thou encourage him.
David said to the messenger, “Go back to Joab and say to him, ‘Do not be distressed [about what happened], because no one ever knows who will be killed in a battle.’ Tell him that the next time his troops should attack the city more strongly, and capture it.”
26 And when the wife of Uriyah heard that Uriyah her husband had died, she mourned for her lord.
When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband had died, she mourned for him.
27 And when the [time of] mourning was past, David sent and took her to his house, and she became his wife; and she bore him a son. But the thing which David had done was displeasing in the eyes of the Lord.
When her time of mourning was ended, David sent messengers to bring her to the palace. Thus, she became David’s wife. She later gave birth to a son. But Yahweh was very displeased with what David had done.
