David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 11

1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the a time when kings go out to battle, that b David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged c Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed d and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he e saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not 1 Bathsheba, the daughter of 2 Eliam, the wife f of Uriah the g Hittite?" 4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and h he lay with her, for she was i cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, "I am with child."

6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. 8 And David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and j wash your feet." So Uriah departed from the king's house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the k door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 So 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?" 11 And Uriah said to David, l "The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and m 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." 12 Then 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. 13 Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him n drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed o with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning it happened that David p wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the 3 hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may q be struck down and die." 16 So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 Then 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. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, 19 and charged the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, 20 "if 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? 21 'Who struck r Abimelech the son of 4 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.' "

22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. 23 And 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. 24 "The 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." 25 Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab: 'Do not let this thing 5 displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.' So encourage him."

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she s became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done t displeased 6 the LORD.

  1. Cross References
    2 Samuel 8:6
    Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David's servants, and brought tribute. So the LORD preserved David wherever he went.
  2. Cross References
    1 Kings 20:22 - 26
    And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself; take note, and see what you should do, for in the spring of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.
  3. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 20:1
    It happened in the spring of the year, at the time kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the armed forces and ravaged the country of the people of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. And Joab defeated Rabbah and overthrew it.
  4. Cross References
    2 Samuel 12:26
    Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city.
    Jeremiah 49:2
    Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war In Rabbah of the Ammonites; It shall be a desolate mound, And her villages shall be burned with fire. Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance," says the LORD.
    Jeremiah 49:3
    Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is plundered! Cry, you daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth! Lament and run to and fro by the walls; For Milcom shall go into captivity With his priests and his princes together.
    Amos 1:14
    But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, And it shall devour its palaces, Amid shouting in the day of battle, And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
  5. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 22:8
    When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.
    1 Samuel 9:25
    When they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the top of the house.
    Matthew 24:17
    Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
    Acts 10:9
    The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.
  6. Cross References
    Genesis 34:2
    And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her.
    Exodus 20:17
    "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."
    Job 31:1
    I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?
    Matthew 5:28
    But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
  7. Cross References
    2 Samuel 23:39
    And Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
  8. Cross References
    1 Samuel 26:6
    Then David answered, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, saying, "Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?" And Abishai said, "I will go down with you.
  9. Cross References
    Leviticus 20:10
    The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.
    Deuteronomy 22:22
    If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die - the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.
    Psalms 51:1
    Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
    James 1:14
    But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
    James 1:15
    Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
  10. Cross References
    Leviticus 15:19
    If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
    Leviticus 15:28
    But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
  11. Cross References
    Genesis 18:4
    Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
    Genesis 19:2
    And he said, "Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way." And they said, "No, but we will spend the night in the open square.
  12. Cross References
    1 Kings 14:27
    Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king's house.
    1 Kings 14:28
    And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom.
  13. Cross References
    2 Samuel 7:2
    That the king said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.
    2 Samuel 7:6
    For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle.
  14. Cross References
    2 Samuel 20:6 - 22
    And David said to Abishai, "Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities, and escape us.
  15. Cross References
    Genesis 19:33
    So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
    Genesis 19:35
    Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
  16. Cross References
    2 Samuel 11:9
    But 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.
  17. Cross References
    1 Kings 21:8
    And she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth.
    1 Kings 21:9
    She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people.
  18. Cross References
    2 Samuel 12:9
    Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.
  19. Cross References
    Judges 9:50 - 54
    Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and took it.
  20. Cross References
    2 Samuel 12:9
    Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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