| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. | 1One spring day, during the time of year when kings go off to war, David sent out Joab, along with his personal staff and all of Israel's army. They utterly destroyed the Ammonites and then attacked Rabbah while David remained in Jerusalem. |
| 2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing--a very beautiful woman. | 2Late one afternoon about dusk, David got up from his couch and was walking around on the roof of the royal palace. From there he watched a woman taking a bath, and she was very beautiful to look at. |
| 3So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he reported, "This is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite." | 3David sent word to inquire about her, and someone told him, "This is Eliam's daughter Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, isn't it?" |
| 4David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Afterward, she returned home. | 4So David sent some messengers, took her from her home, and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.) Then she returned to her home. |
| 5The woman conceived and sent word to inform David: "I am pregnant." | 5The woman conceived, and she sent this message to David: "I'm pregnant." |
| 6David sent orders to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David. | 6So David summoned Joab, and told him, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David. |
| 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. | 7When Uriah arrived, David inquired about how Joab was doing, how the army was doing, and how the war was progressing. |
| 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. | 8Then David told Uriah, "Go on down to your house and relax a while." So Uriah left the king's palace, and the king sent a gift along after him. |
| 9But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master's servants; he did not go down to his house. | 9But Uriah spent the night sleeping in the alcove of the king's palace in the company of all his master's staff members. He refused to go down to his own home. |
| 10When it was reported to David, "Uriah didn't go home," David questioned Uriah, "Haven't you just come from a journey? Why didn't you go home?" | 10When David was told that Uriah hadn't gone home the previous night, he quizzed him, "You just arrived from a long journey, so why didn't you go down to your own house?" |
| 11Uriah answered David, "The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!"" | 11Uriah replied, "The ark, along with Israel and Judah, are encamped in tents, while my commanding officer Joab and my master's staff members are camping out in the open fields. Should I go home, eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? Not on your life! I won't do something like this, will I?" |
| 12Stay here today also," David said to Uriah, "and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. | 12Then David invited Uriah, "Stay here today, and tomorrow I'll send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem all that day and the next. |
| 13Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master's servants, but he did not go home. | 13Then at David's invitation, he and Uriah dined and drank wine together, and David got him drunk. Later that evening, Uriah went out to lie on a couch in the company of his lord's servants, and he did not go down to his house. |
| 14The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. | 14The next morning, David sent a message to Joab that Uriah took with him in his hand. |
| 15In the letter he wrote: Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies. | 15In the message, he wrote: "Assign Uriah to the most difficult fighting at the battle front, and then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and killed." |
| 16When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. | 16So as Joab began to attack the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew valiant men would be stationed. |
| 17Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David's soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hittite also died. | 17When the men of the city came out to fight Joab, some of David's army staff members fell, and Uriah the Hittite died, too. |
| 18Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle. | 18Then Joab sent word to David about everything that had happened at the battle. |
| 19He commanded the messenger, "When you've finished telling the king all the details of the battle-- | 19He instructed the courier, "When you have finished conveying all the news about the battle to the king, |
| 20if the king's anger gets stirred up and he asks you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? | 20if the king starts to get angry and asks you, 'Why did you get so near the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot from the wall? |
| 21At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Didn't a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? Why did you get so close to the wall?'--then say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.'" | 21Who killed Jerubbesheth's son Abimelech? Didn't a woman kill him by throwing an upper millstone on him from the wall at Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?' then tell him, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.'" |
| 22Then the messenger left. When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. | 22So the messenger left Joab, set out for Jerusalem, and disclosed to David everything that Joab had sent him to say. |
| 23The messenger reported to David, "The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the gate. | 23The messenger told David, "The men surprised us and attacked us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. |
| 24However, the archers shot down on your soldiers from the top of the wall, and some of the king's soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead." | 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's staff members are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite has died as well." |
| 25David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.' Encourage him." | 25David responded to the messenger, "Here's what you're to tell Joab: 'Don't be troubled by this incident, because the battle sword consumes one or another from time to time. Consolidate your attack against the city and conquer it.' Be sure to encourage him." |
| 26When Uriah's wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him. | 26When Uriah's wife heard about the death of her husband Uriah, she went into mourning for the head of her household. |
| 27When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the LORD considered what David had done to be evil. | 27When her mourning period was completed, David sent for her, brought her to his palace, and she became his wife. Later on, she bore him a son. Meanwhile, what David had done grieved the LORD, |
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