2 Samuel Chapter 11 to 12 : Easy-to-Read Version  | SearchSearch | Next Version | Previous Page | Next Page |

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David Meets Bathsheba

11 In the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, David sent Joab, his officers, and all of the Israelites out to destroy the Ammonites. Joab’s army also attacked {their capital city} Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. 2In the evening, he got up from his bed. He walked around on the roof of the king’s house. While David was on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful. 3So David sent for his officers and asked them who the woman was. An officer answered, “That woman is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4David sent messengers to go and bring Bathsheba to him. When she came to David, he had sexual relations with her. She washed herself, and then went back to her house. 5But Bathsheba became pregnant. She sent word to David. She told him, “I am pregnant.”

David Tries to Hide His Sin

6David sent a message to Joab. “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7Uriah came to David. David talked with Uriah. David asked Uriah how Joab was, how the soldiers were, and how the war was. 8Then David said to Uriah, “Go home and rest.* Uriah left the king’s house. The king also sent a gift to Uriah. 9But Uriah did not go home. Uriah slept outside the door of the king’s house. He slept there like all the king’s servants did. 10The servants told David, “Uriah did not go home.” Then David said to Uriah, “You came from a long trip. Why did you not go home?” 11Uriah said to David, “The Holy Box* and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents. My lord Joab, and my lord’s (King David’s) officers are camping out in the field. So it is not right for me to go home to drink, and sleep with my wife.” 12David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. Tomorrow I will send you back {to the battle}.” Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day. He stayed until the next morning. 13Then David called Uriah {to come and see him}. Uriah ate and drank with David. David made Uriah drunk. But Uriah still did not go home. That evening, Uriah went to sleep with the king’s servants {outside the king’s door}.

David Plans Uriah’s Death

14The next morning, David wrote a letter to Joab. David made Uriah carry the letter. 15In the letter, David wrote: “Put Uriah on the front lines where the fighting is the hardest. Then leave him there alone, and let him be killed in battle.” 16Joab watched the city and saw where the bravest Ammonites were. He chose Uriah to go to that place. 17The men of the city (Rabbah) came out to fight against Joab. Some of David’s men were killed. Uriah the Hittite was one of those men. 18Then Joab sent a report to David about what happened in the battle. 19Joab told the messenger to tell King David what had happened in the battle. 20“Maybe the king will become upset. Maybe the king will ask, ‘Why did Joab’s army go that close the city to fight? Surely he knows that there are men on the city walls who can shoot arrows down at his men? 21Surely he remembers that a woman killed Abimelech son of Jerub Besheth? It was at Thebez. The woman was on the city wall and threw the top part of a grinding stone down on Abimelech. So why did he go that close to the wall?’ {If King David says something like that}, then you must tell him this message: ‘Your officer Uriah the Hittite also died.’” 22The messenger went in and told David everything Joab told him to say. 23The messenger told David, “The men {of Ammon} attacked us in the field. We fought them and chased them all the way to the city gate. 24Then the men on the city wall shot arrows at your officers. Some of your officers were killed. Your officer Uriah the Hittite also died.” 25David said to the messenger, “Give this message to Joab: ‘Don’t be too upset about this. A sword can kill one person as well as the next. Make a stronger attack against Rabbah and you will win.’ Encourage Joab with these words.”

David Marries Bathsheba

26Bathsheba heard that her husband Uriah was dead. Then she cried for her husband. 27After she had finished her time of sadness, David sent servants to take her to his house. She became David’s wife and gave birth to a son for David. But the Lord did not like the bad thing David had done.

rest Literally, “wash your feet.” Holy Box The Box of the Agreement. Also called “The Ark of the Covenant,” the box containing the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them and the other things that proved God was with the people of Israel during their time in the Sinai Desert.


Nathan Speaks to David

12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. Nathan went to David. Nathan said, “There were two men in a city. One man was rich. But the other man was poor. 2The rich man had very many sheep and cattle. 3But the poor man had nothing, except one little female lamb that he bought. The poor man fed the lamb. The lamb grew up with this poor man and his children. The lamb ate from the poor man’s food and drank from the poor man’s cup. The lamb slept on the poor man’s chest. The lamb was like a daughter to the poor man. 4“Then a traveler stopped to visit the rich man. {The rich man wanted to give food to the traveler.} But the rich man did not want to take anything from his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler. No, the rich man took the lamb from the poor man. The rich man {killed the lamb} and cooked it for his visitor.” 5David became very angry against the rich man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who did this should die! 6He must pay four times the price of the lamb because he did this terrible thing and because he had no mercy.”

Nathan Tells David About His Sin

7Then Nathan said to David, “You are that {rich} man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose* you to be the king of Israel. I saved you from Saul. 8I let you take his family and his wives. And I made you king of Israel and Judah. As if that were not enough, I gave you more and more. 9So why did you ignore the Lord’s command? Why did you do the thing which he says is wrong? You let the Ammonites kill Uriah the Hittite, and you took his wife. In this way, you killed Uriah with a sword. 10So the sword will never leave your family. You took Uriah the Hittite’s wife. In this way, you showed that you did not care for me.’ 11“This is what the Lord says: ‘I am bringing trouble against you. This trouble will come from your own family. I will take your wives from you and give them to a person who is very close to you. This person will sleep with your wives, and everyone will know it!* 12You {slept with Bathsheba} in secret. But I will punish you so all the people of Israel can see it.’”* 13Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “The Lord will forgive you, even for this sin. You will not die. 14But you did things that made the Lord’s enemies lose their respect for him! So your new baby son will die.”

David and Bathsheba’s Baby Dies

15Then Nathan went home. And the Lord caused the baby boy that was born to David and Uriah’s wife to become very sick. 16David prayed to God for the baby. David refused to eat or drink. He went into his house and stayed there. He lay on the ground all night. 17The leaders of David’s family came and tried to pull David up from the ground. But David refused to get up. He refused to eat food with these leaders. 18On the seventh day, the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead. They said, “Look, we tried to talk to David while the baby was alive. But he refused to listen to us. If we tell David that the baby is dead, maybe he will do something bad to himself.” 19But David saw his servants whispering. Then David understood that the baby was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?” The servants answered, “Yes, he is dead.” 20Then David got up from the floor. He washed himself. He changed his clothes and got dressed. Then he went into the Lord’s house to worship. Then he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate. 21David’s servants said to him, “Why are you doing this thing? When the baby was still living you refused to eat. You cried. But when the baby died you got up and ate food.” 22David said, “While the baby was still living, I refused to eat and I cried because I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’ 23But now the baby is dead. So why should I refuse to eat? Can I bring the baby back to life? No! Some day I will go to him, but he can’t come back to me.”

Solomon Is Born

24Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He slept with her and had sexual relations with her. Bathsheba became pregnant again. She had another son. David named the boy Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon. 25The Lord sent word through Nathan the prophet. Nathan gave Solomon the name, Jedidiah.* Nathan did this for the Lord.

David Captures Rabbah

26Rabbah was the capital city of the Ammonites. Joab fought against Rabbah and captured it. 27Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah. I have captured the City of Waters. 28Now bring the other people together and attack this city (Rabbah). Capture this city before I capture it. If I capture this city, it will be called by my name.” 29So David gathered all of the people and went to Rabbah. He fought against Rabbah and captured the city. 30David took the crown off their king’s head.* The crown was gold and weighed about 75 pounds.* This crown had precious stones in it. They put the crown on David’s head. David took many valuable things out of the city. 31David also brought out the people of the city Rabbah and made them work with saws, iron picks, and axes. He also forced them to build things with bricks. David did the same thing to all of the Ammonite cities. Then David and all of his army went back to Jerusalem.

chose Literally, “anointed,” to pour a special oil on a person’s head to show that he was chosen by God to be a king, priest, or prophet. and everyone will know it Literally, “in the sight of the sun.” so all … can see it Literally, “before all of Israel and before the sun.” Jedidiah This name means “loved by the Lord.” their king’s head Or, “Milcom’s head.” Milcom was a false god that the Ammonite people worshiped. 75 pounds Literally, “one talent.”

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