2 Samuel 11

David's Sin with Bathsheba 2 Samuel 11:3–5

³Verse 3. David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?” ⁴Verse 4. 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. ⁵Verse 5. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

David's Attempt to Cover Up 2 Samuel 11:6–11

⁶Verse 6. David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷Verse 7. When Uriah had come to him, David asked him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. ⁸Verse 8. David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹Verse 9. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and didn’t go down to his house. ¹⁰Verse 10. When they had told David, saying, “Uriah didn’t go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come from a journey? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”

¹¹Verse 11. Uriah said to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field. 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!”

Further Manipulation of Uriah 2 Samuel 11:12–13

¹²Verse 12. David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day, and the next day. ¹³Verse 13. When David had called him, he ate and drink before him; and he made him drunk. At evening, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn’t go down to his house.

Uriah's Death Ordered 2 Samuel 11:14–21

¹⁴Verse 14. In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵Verse 15. He wrote in the letter, saying, “Send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck, and die.” ¹⁶Verse 16. When Joab kept watch on the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were. ¹⁷Verse 17. The men of the city went out, and fought with Joab. Some of the people fell, even of David’s servants; and Uriah the Hittite died also. ¹⁸Verse 18. Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;

¹⁹Verse 19. and he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the things concerning the war to the king, ²⁰Verse 20. it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he asks you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn’t you know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹Verse 21. Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

News of Uriah's Death 2 Samuel 11:22–25

²²Verse 22. So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. ²³Verse 23. The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate. ²⁴Verse 24. The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.” ²⁵Verse 25. Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Make your battle stronger against the city, and overthrow it.’ Encourage him.”

Consequences of David's Actions 2 Samuel 11:26–27

²⁶Verse 26. When Uriah’s wife heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷Verse 27. When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Yahweh.