Day 36 – David and Bathsheba

₁The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem.

₂One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked about up there, he saw a woman having a bath. She was very beautiful. ₃So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learnt that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. ₄David sent messengers to fetch her; they brought her to him and he made love to her. (She had just finished her monthly ritual of purification.) Then she went back home. ₅Afterwards she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him.

₆David then sent a message to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. ₇When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going. ₈Then he said to Uriah, “Go home and rest a while.” Uriah left, and David sent a present to his home. ₉But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards. ₁₀When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he asked him, “You have just returned after a long absence; why didn't you go home?”

₁₁Uriah answered, “The men of Israel and Judah are away at the war, and the Covenant Box is with them; my commander Joab and his officers are camping out in the open. How could I go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By all that's sacred, I swear that I could never do such a thing!”

₁₂So David said, “Then stay here the rest of the day, and tomorrow I'll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ₁₃David invited him to supper and made him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket in the palace guardroom.

₁₄The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. ₁₅He wrote: “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed.” ₁₆So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong. ₁₇The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah.

₁₈Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle, ₁₉and he instructed the messenger, “After you have told the king all about the battle, ₂₀he may get angry and ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight them? Didn't you realize that they would shoot arrows from the walls? ₂₁Don't you remember how Abimelech son of Gideon was killed? It was at Thebez, where a woman threw a millstone down from the wall and killed him. Why, then, did you go so near the wall?’ If the king asks you this, tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah was also killed.’ ”

₂₂So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say. ₂₃He said, “Our enemies were stronger than we were and came out of the city to fight us in the open, but we drove them back to the city gate. ₂₄Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed.”

₂₅David said to the messenger, “Encourage Joab and tell him not to be upset, since you never can tell who will die in battle. Tell him to launch a stronger attack on the city and capture it.”

₂₆When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. ₂₇When the time of mourning was over, David sent for her to come to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the LORD was not pleased with what David had done.

₁The LORD sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to him and said, “There were two men who lived in the same town; one was rich and the other poor. ₂The rich man had many cattle and sheep, ₃while the poor man had only one lamb, which he had bought. He took care of it, and it grew up in his home with his children. He would feed it with some of his own food, let it drink from his cup, and hold it in his lap. The lamb was like a daughter to him. ₄One day a visitor arrived at the rich man's home. The rich man didn't want to kill one of his own animals to prepare a meal for him; instead, he took the poor man's lamb and cooked a meal for his guest.”

₅David was very angry with the rich man and said, “I swear by the living LORD that the man who did this ought to die! ₆For having done such a cruel thing, he must pay back four times as much as he took.”

₇“You are that man,” Nathan said to David. “And this is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. ₈I gave you his kingdom and his wives; I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. ₉Why, then, have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle; you let the Ammonites kill him, and then you took his wife! ₁₀Now, in every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. ₁₁I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble on you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man; and he will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. ₁₂You sinned in secret, but I will make this happen in broad daylight for all Israel to see.’ ”

₁₃“I have sinned against the LORD,” David said.

Nathan replied, “The LORD forgives you; you will not die. ₁₄But because you have shown such contempt for the LORD in doing this, your child will die.” ₁₅Then Nathan went home.

The LORD caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very ill. ₁₆David prayed to God that the child would get well. He refused to eat anything, and every night he went into his room and spent the night lying on the floor. ₁₇His court officials went to him and tried to make him get up, but he refused and would not eat anything with them. ₁₈A week later the child died, and David's officials were afraid to tell him the news. They said, “While the child was living, David wouldn't answer us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that his child is dead? He might do himself some harm!”

₁₉When David noticed them whispering to each other, he realized that the child had died. So he asked them, “Is the child dead?”

“Yes, he is,” they answered.

₂₀David got up from the floor, had a bath, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. Then he went and worshipped in the house of the LORD. When he returned to the palace, he asked for food and ate it as soon as it was served. ₂₁“We don't understand this,” his officials said to him. “While the child was alive, you wept for him and would not eat; but as soon as he died, you got up and ate!”

₂₂“Yes,” David answered, “I did fast and weep while he was still alive. I thought that the LORD might be merciful to me and not let the child die. ₂₃But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Could I bring the child back to life? I will some day go to where he is, but he can never come back to me.”

₂₄Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He had intercourse with her, and she bore a son, whom David named Solomon. The LORD loved the boy ₂₅and commanded the prophet Nathan to name the boy Jedidiah, because the LORD loved him.