The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Now in the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, David sent Joab and his servants and all Israel with him; and they made waste the land of the children of Ammon, and took up their position before Rabbah, shutting it in. But David was still at Jerusalem.
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.
2 Now one evening, David got up from his bed, and while he was walking on the roof of the king's house, he saw from there a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
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 And David sent to get knowledge who the woman was. And one said, Is this not Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?
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 And David sent and took her; and she came to him, and he took her to his bed: (for she had been made clean;) then she went back to her house.
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 And the woman became with child; and she sent word to David that she was with child.
5
Afterward she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him.
6 And David sent to Joab saying, Send Uriah the Hittite to me. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
6
David then sent a message to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent him to David.
7 And when Uriah came to him, David put questions to him about how Joab and the people were, and how the war was going.
7
When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going.
8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house and let your feet be washed. And Uriah went away from the king's house, and an offering from the king was sent after him.
8
Then he said to Uriah, "Go on home and rest a while." Uriah left, and David had a present sent to his home.
9 But Uriah took his rest at the door of the king's house, with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.
9
But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards.
10 And when word was given to David that Uriah had not gone down to his house, David said to Uriah, Have you not come from a journey? why did you not go down to your house?
10
When 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?"
11 And Uriah said to David, Israel and Judah with the ark are living in tents, and my lord Joab and the other servants of my lord are sleeping in the open field; and am I to go to my house and take food and drink, and go to bed with my wife? By the living Lord, and by the life of your soul, I will not do such a thing.
11
Uriah answered, "The men of Israel and Judah are away in battle, 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!"
12 And David said to Uriah, Be here today, and after that I will let you go. So Uriah was in Jerusalem that day and the day after.
12
So 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.
13 And when David sent for him, he took meat and drink with him, and David made him the worse for drink: and when evening came, he went to rest on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
13
David invited him to supper and got him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket in the palace guardroom.
14 Now in the morning, David gave Uriah a letter to take to Joab.
14
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah.
15 And in the letter he said, Take care to put Uriah in the very front of the line, where the fighting is most violent, and go back from him, so that he may be overcome and put to death.
15
He wrote: "Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed."
16 So while Joab was watching the town, he put Uriah in the place where it was clear to him the best fighters were.
16
So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong.
17 And the men of the town went out and had a fight with Joab: and a number of David's men came to their death in the fight, and with them Uriah the Hittite.
17
The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah.
18 Then Joab sent David news of everything which had taken place in the war:
18
Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle,
19 And he gave orders to the man who took the news, saying, After you have given the king all the news about the war,
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and he instructed the messenger, "After you have told the king all about the battle,
20 If the king is angry and says, Why did you go so near the town for the fight? was it not certain that their archers would be on the wall?
20
he 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?
21 Who put Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, to death? did not a woman send a great stone down on him from the wall, putting him to death at Thebez? why did you go so near the wall? Then say to him, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is among the dead.
21
Don'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.' "
22 So the man went, and came to David, and gave him all the news which Joab had sent him to give; then David was angry with Joab and said, Why did you go so near the town for the fight? was it not certain that their archers would be on the wall? who put Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, to death? did not a woman send a great stone down on him from the wall, putting him to death at Thebez? why did you go so near the wall?
22
So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say.
23 And the man said to David, Truly the men got the better of us, and came out against us into the open country, but we sent them back to the very doors of the town.
23
He 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.
24 And the archers sent their arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's servants are dead, and among them is your servant Uriah the Hittite.
24
Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed."
25 Then David said to the man, Go and say to Joab, Do not let this be a grief to you; for one man may come to his death by the sword like another: put up an even stronger fight against the town, and take it: and do you put heart into him.
25
David 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."
26 And when the wife of Uriah had news that her husband was dead, she gave herself up to weeping for him.
26
When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him.
27 And when the days of weeping were past, David sent for her, and took her into his house, and she became his wife and gave him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with the thing David had done.
27
When the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with what David had done.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.