Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 In the spring, when kings go off to war, David sent Joab, along with his servants and all the Israelites, and they destroyed the Ammonites, attacking the city of Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
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When that time of year came around again, the anniversary of the Ammonite aggression, David dispatched Joab and his fighting men of Israel in full force to destroy the Ammonites for good. They laid siege to Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem.
2 One evening, David got up from his couch and was pacing back and forth on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful.
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One late afternoon, David got up from taking his nap and was strolling on the roof of the palace. From his vantage point on the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was stunningly beautiful.
3 David sent someone and inquired about the woman. The report came back: "Isn't this Eliam's daughter Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
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David sent to ask about her, and was told, "Isn't this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
4 So David sent messengers to get her. When she came to him, he had sex with her. (Now she had been purifying herself after her monthly period.) Then she returned home.
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David sent his agents to get her. After she arrived, he went to bed with her. (This occurred during the time of "purification" following her period.) Then she returned home.
5 The woman conceived and sent word to David. "I'm pregnant," she said.
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Before long she realized she was pregnant. Later she sent word to David: "I'm pregnant."
6 Then David sent a message to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David.
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David then got in touch with Joab: "Send Uriah the Hittite to me." Joab sent him.
7 When Uriah came to him, David asked about the welfare of Joab and the army and how the battle was going.
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When he arrived, David asked him for news from the front - how things were going with Joab and the troops and with the fighting.
8 Then David told Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
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Then he said to Uriah, "Go home. Have a refreshing bath and a good night's rest."
9 However, Uriah slept at the palace entrance with all his master's servants. He didn't go down to his own house.
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But Uriah didn't go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance, along with the king's servants.
10 David was told, "Uriah didn't go down to his own house," so David asked Uriah, "Haven't you just returned from a journey? Why didn't you go home?"
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David was told that Uriah had not gone home. He asked Uriah, "Didn't you just come off a hard trip? So why didn't you go home?"
11 "The chest and Israel and Judah are all living in tents," Uriah told David. "And my master Joab and my master's troops are camping in the open field. How could I go home and eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? I swear on your very life, I will not do that!"
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Uriah replied to David, "The Chest is out there with the fighting men of Israel and Judah - in tents. My master Joab and his servants are roughing it out in the fields. So, how can I go home and eat and drink and enjoy my wife? On your life, I'll not do it!"
12 Then David told Uriah, "Stay here one more day. Tomorrow I'll send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day. The next day
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"All right," said David, "have it your way. Stay for the day and I'll send you back tomorrow." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem the rest of the day.
13 David called for him, and he ate and drank, and David got him drunk. In the evening Uriah went out to sleep in the same place, alongside his master's servants, but he did not go down to his own home.
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David invited him to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. But in the evening Uriah again went out and slept with his master's servants. He didn't go home.
14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
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In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
15 He wrote in the letter, "Place Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle, and then pull back from him so that he will be struck down and die."
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In the letter he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front lines where the fighting is the fiercest. Then pull back and leave him exposed so that he's sure to be killed."
16 So as Joab was attacking the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew there were strong warriors.
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So Joab, holding the city under siege, put Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce enemy fighters.
17 When the city's soldiers came out and attacked Joab, some of the people from David's army fell. Uriah the Hittite was also killed.
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When the city's defenders came out to fight Joab, some of David's soldiers were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.
18 Joab sent a complete report of the battle to David.
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Joab sent David a full report on the battle.
19 "When you have finished reporting all the news of the battle to the king," Joab instructed the messenger,
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He instructed the messenger, "After you have given to the king a detailed report on the battle,
20 "if the king gets angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? didn't you know they would shoot from the wall?
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if he flares in anger,
21 Who killed Jerubbaal's son Abimelech? didn't a woman throw an upper millstone on top of him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?' then say: ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.'"
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say, 'And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'"
22 So the messenger set off, and when he arrived he reported to David everything Joab sent him to say.
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Joab's messenger arrived in Jerusalem and gave the king a full report.
23 "The men overpowered us," the messenger told David. "They came out against us in the open field, but we fought against them up to the entrance of the city gate.
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He said, "The enemy was too much for us. They advanced on us in the open field, and we pushed them back to the city gate.
24 Archers shot down on your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants died. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too."
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But then arrows came hot and heavy on us from the city wall, and eighteen of the king's soldiers died."
25 David said to the messenger, "Say this to Joab: ‘Don't be upset about this because the sword is that way: taking the life of this person or that person. Continue attacking the city and destroy it!' Encourage Joab!"
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When the messenger completed his report of the battle, David got angry at Joab. He vented it on the messenger: "Why did you get so close to the city? Didn't you know you'd be attacked from the wall? Didn't you remember how Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth got killed? Wasn't it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall and crushed him at Thebez? Why did you go close to the wall!" "By the way," said Joab's messenger, "your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead." Then David told the messenger, "Oh. I see. Tell Joab, 'Don't trouble yourself over this. War kills - sometimes one, sometimes another - you never know who's next. Redouble your assault on the city and destroy it.' Encourage Joab."
26 When Uriah's wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband.
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When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she grieved for her husband.
27 After the time of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her back to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. But what David had done was evil in the LORD's eyes.
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When the time of mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. But God was not at all pleased with what David had done,
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.