| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1And 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. | 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. |
| 2And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon 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 upon. | 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. |
| 3And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? | 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.” |
| 4And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. | 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. |
| 5And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child. | 5Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.” |
| 6And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. | 6Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. |
| 7And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. | 7When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. |
| 8And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. | 8Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax. ” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. |
| 9But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. | 9But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard. |
| 10And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine 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?” |
| 11And Uriah said unto 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 mine 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. | 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.” |
| 12And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. | 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. |
| 13And 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. | 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 |
| 14And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. | 14So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. |
| 15And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. | 15The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” |
| 16And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. | 16So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. |
| 17And 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. | 17And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers. |
| 18Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; | 18Then Joab sent a battle report to David. |
| 19And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, | 19He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king. |
| 20And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? | 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? |
| 21Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. | 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.’” |
| 22So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for. | 22So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. |
| 23And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. | 23“The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate, |
| 24And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. | 24the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.” |
| 25Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him. | 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!” |
| 26And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. | 26When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. |
| 27And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. | 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. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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