Parallel Bible results for "2 samuel 11"

2 Samuel 11

The Message Bible MSG

1 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 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 to ask about her, and was told, "Isn't this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?"

4 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 Before long she realized she was pregnant. Later she sent word to David: "I'm pregnant."

6 David then got in touch with Joab: "Send Uriah the Hittite to me." Joab sent him.

7 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 he said to Uriah, "Go home. Have a refreshing bath and a good night's rest."

9 But Uriah didn't go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance, along with the king's servants.

10 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 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 "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 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 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

15 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 Joab, holding the city under siege, put Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce enemy fighters.

17 When the city's defenders came out to fight Joab, some of David's soldiers were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.

18 Joab sent David a full report on the battle.

19 He instructed the messenger, "After you have given to the king a detailed report on the battle,

20 if he flares in anger,

21 say, 'And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'"

22 Joab's messenger arrived in Jerusalem and gave the king a full report.

23 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 But then arrows came hot and heavy on us from the city wall, and eighteen of the king's soldiers died."

25 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 was dead, she grieved for her husband.

27 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,

New Century Version NCV

1 In the spring, when the kings normally went out to war, David sent out Joab, his servants, and all the Israelites. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked the city of Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem.

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roofn of his palace. While he was on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. She was very beautiful.

3 So David sent his servants to find out who she was. A servant answered, "That woman is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite."

4 So David sent messengers to bring Bathsheba to him. When she came to him, he had sexual relations with her. (Now Bathsheba had purified herself from her monthly period.) Then she went back to her house.

5 But Bathsheba became pregnant and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."

6 So David sent a message to Joab: "Send Uriah the Hittite to me." And Joab sent Uriah to David.

7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were, and how the war was going.

8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go home and rest." So Uriah left the palace, and the king sent a gift to him.

9 But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept outside the door of the palace as all the king's officers did.

10 The officers told David, "Uriah did not go home." Then David said to Uriah, "You came from a long trip. Why didn't you go home?"

11 Uriah said to him, "The Ark and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents. My master Joab and his officers are camping out in the fields. It isn't right for me to go home to eat and drink and have sexual relations with my wife!"

12 David said to Uriah, "Stay here today. Tomorrow I'll send you back to the battle." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.

13 Then David called Uriah to come to see him, so Uriah ate and drank with David. David made Uriah drunk, but he still did not go home. That evening Uriah again slept with the king's officers.

14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah.

15 In the letter David wrote, "Put Uriah on the front lines where the fighting is worst and leave him there alone. Let him be killed in battle."

16 Joab watched the city and saw where its strongest defenders were and put Uriah there.

17 When the men of the city came out to fight against Joab, some of David's men were killed. And Uriah the Hittite was one of them.

18 Then Joab sent David a complete account of the war.

19 Joab told the messenger, "Tell King David what happened in the war.

20 After you finish, the king may be angry and ask, 'Why did you go so near the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the city wall?

21 Do you remember who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth? It was a woman on the city wall. She threw a large stone for grinding grain on Abimelech and killed him there in Thebez. Why did you go so near the wall?' If King David asks that, tell him, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.'"

22 The messenger left and went to David and told him everything Joab had told him to say.

23 The messenger told David, "The men of Ammon were winning. They came out and attacked us in the field, but we fought them back to the city gate.

24 The archers on the city wall shot at your servants, and some of your men were killed. Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died."

25 David said to the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't be upset about this. The sword kills everyone the same. Make a stronger attack against the city and capture it.' Encourage Joab with these words."

26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she cried for him.

27 After she finished her time of sadness, David sent servants to bring her to his house. She became David's wife and gave birth to his son, but the Lord did not like what David had done.