1
The 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.
1
2
One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful.
3
So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learned that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
4
David sent messengers to get 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.
5
Afterward she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him.
6
David then sent a message to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent him to David.
7
When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going.
8
Then he said to Uriah, "Go on home and rest a while." Uriah left, and David had a present sent to his home.