| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. | 1In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. |
| 2Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. | 2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. |
| 3So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” | 3So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” |
| 4Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. | 4Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home. |
| 5And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.” | 5And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” |
| 6Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. | 6At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. |
| 7When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. | 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing with the war. |
| 8And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. | 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. |
| 9But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. | 9But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house. |
| 10So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” | 10And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?” |
| 11And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” | 11Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!” |
| 12Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. | 12“Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. |
| 13Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. | 13Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home. |
| 14In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. | 14The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. |
| 15And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” | 15In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.” |
| 16So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. | 16So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers. |
| 17Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also. | 17And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. |
| 18Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, | 18Joab sent to David a full account of the battle |
| 19and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, | 19and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king all the details of the battle, |
| 20if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? | 20if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall? |
| 21Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’ ” | 21Who was the one to strike Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If so, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’ ” |
| 22So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. | 22So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say. |
| 23And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. | 23The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. |
| 24The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” | 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.” |
| 25Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.” | 25Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.” |
| 26When 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 her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. | 27And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD. |
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