- In 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.
- - One 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.
So David sent and inquired about the woman , and he was told , ... “ This vvv is Bathsheba , the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. ”
Then 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.
And the woman conceived and sent word ... to David , saying , “ I am pregnant. ”
At this, David sent orders to Joab : “ Send me - Uriah the Hittite. ” So Joab - sent (him) to David.
When Uriah came to him , David ... asked how Joab ... and the troops were doing with the war.
Then (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.
But Uriah slept at the door of the palace ... with all his master’s servants ; he did not go down to his house.
And 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 ? ”
Uriah 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 ... ! ”
“ 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.
Then David invited 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.
- The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent ... it with Uriah.
In 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. ”
So as Joab besieged - the city , he assigned - Uriah to a place where he saw ... the strongest enemy soldiers ... ....
And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab , some of David’s vvv servants fell , and Uriah the Hittite also died.
Joab sent ... to David - a full account ... of the battle
and instructed - the messenger , ... “ When you have finished - giving ... the king all the details of the battle ,
- if the king’s anger flares , he may ask ‘ Why did you get so close to the city to fight ? Did you not realize - - they would shoot from atop the wall ?
Who (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. ’”
So the messenger set out ... and reported to David - all that Joab had sent him to say.
The 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.
Then 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. ”
Then 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). ”
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband - was dead , she mourned for him.
And when the (time of) mourning ... was over , David had her brought to his house , and she became wife and bore a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.