2 Samuel 8; 2 Samuel 9; 2 Samuel 10; 2 Samuel 11; 2 Samuel 12

1 Later, David defeated the Philistines, conquered them, and took the city of Metheg Ammah.

2 He also defeated the people of Moab. He made them lie on the ground, and then he used a rope to measure them. Those who were measured within two rope lengths were killed, but those who were within the next rope length were allowed to live. So the people of Moab became servants of David and gave him the payment he demanded.

3 David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to take control again at the Euphrates River.

4 David captured one thousand chariots, seven thousand men who rode in chariots, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He crippled all but a hundred of the chariot horses.

5 Arameans from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, but David killed twenty-two thousand of them.

6 Then David put groups of soldiers in Damascus in Aram. The Arameans became David's servants and gave him the payment he demanded. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

7 David took the shields of gold that had belonged to Hadadezer's officers and brought them to Jerusalem.

8 David also took many things made of bronze from Tebah and Berothai, which had been cities under Hadadezer's control.

9 Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer.

10 So Toi sent his son Joram to greet and congratulate King David for defeating Hadadezer. (Hadadezer had been at war with Toi.) Joram brought items made of silver, gold, and bronze.

11 King David gave them to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had taken from the other nations he had defeated.

12 These nations were Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek. David also gave the Lord what he had taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

13 David was famous after he returned from defeating eighteen thousand Arameans in the Valley of Salt.

14 He put groups of soldiers all over Edom, and all the Edomites became his servants. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

15 David was king over all Israel, and he did what was fair and right for all his people.

16 Joab son of Zeruiah was commander over the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder.

17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Abiathar son of Ahimelech were priests. Seraiah was the royal secretary.

18 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites. And David's sons were priests.

1 David asked, "Is anyone still left in Saul's family? I want to show kind- ness to that person for Jonathan's sake!"

2 Now there was a servant named Ziba from Saul's family. So David's servants called Ziba to him. King David said to him, "Are you Ziba?" He answered, "Yes, I am your servant."

3 The king asked, "Is anyone left in Saul's family? I want to show God's kindness to that person." Ziba answered the king, "Jonathan has a son still living who is crippled in both feet."

4 The king asked Ziba, "Where is this son?" Ziba answered, "He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar."

5 Then King David had servants bring Jonathan's son from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.

6 Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son, came before David and bowed facedown on the floor. David said, "Mephibosheth!" Mephibosheth said, "I am your servant."

7 David said to him, "Don't be afraid. I will be kind to you for your father Jonathan's sake. I will give you back all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table."

8 Mephibosheth bowed to David again and said, "You are being very kind to me, your servant! And I am no better than a dead dog!"

9 Then King David called Saul's servant Ziba. David said to him, "I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family.

10 You, your sons, and your servants will farm the land and harvest the crops. Then your family will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, will always eat at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

11 Ziba said to King David, "I, your servant, will do everything my master, the king, commands me." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table as if he were one of the king's sons.

12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. Everyone in Ziba's family became Mephibosheth's servants.

13 Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table. And he was crippled in both feet.

1 When Nahash king of the Ammonites died, his son Hanun became king after him.

2 David said, "Nahash was loyal to me, so I will be loyal to his son Hanun." So David sent his messengers to comfort Hanun about his father's death. David's officers went to the land of the Ammonites.

3 But the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, their master, "Do you think David wants to honor your father by sending men to comfort you? No! David sent them to study the city and spy it out and capture it!"

4 So Hanun arrested David's officers. To shame them he shaved off half their beards and cut off their clothes at the hips. Then he sent them away.

5 When the people told David, he sent messengers to meet his officers because they were very ashamed. King David said, "Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back. Then come home."

6 The Ammonites knew that they had insulted David. So they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah. They also hired the king of Maacah with a thousand men and twelve thousand men from Tob.

7 When David heard about this, he sent Joab with the whole army.

8 The Ammonites came out and prepared for battle at the city gate. The Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah were out in the field by themselves.

9 Joab saw that there were enemies both in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best soldiers of Israel and sent them out to fight the Arameans.

10 Joab put the rest of the army under the command of Abishai, his brother. Then he sent them out to fight the Ammonites.

11 Joab said to Abishai, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, you must help me. Or, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will help you.

12 Be strong. We must fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is right."

13 Then Joab and the army with him went to attack the Arameans, and the Arameans ran away.

14 When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans were running away, they also ran away from Abishai and went back to their city. So Joab returned from the battle with the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

15 When the Arameans saw that Israel had defeated them, they came together into one big army.

16 Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans from east of the Euphrates River, and they went to Helam. Their leader was Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer's army.

17 When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites together. They crossed over the Jordan River and went to Helam. There the Arameans prepared for battle and attacked him.

18 But the Arameans ran away from the Israelites. David killed seven hundred Aramean chariot drivers and forty thousand Aramean horsemen. He also killed Shobach, the commander of the Aramean army.

19 When the kings who served Hadadezer saw that the Israelites had defeated them, they made peace with the Israelites and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.

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.

1 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, he said, "There were two men in a city. One was rich, but the other was poor.

2 The rich man had many sheep and cattle.

3 But the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb he had bought. The poor man fed the lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup and slept in his arms. The lamb was like a daughter to him.

4 "Then a traveler stopped to visit the rich man. The rich man wanted to feed the traveler, but he didn't want to take one of his own sheep or cattle. Instead, he took the lamb from the poor man and cooked it for his visitor."

5 David became very angry at the rich man. He said to Nathan, "As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this should die!

6 He must pay for the lamb four times for doing such a thing. He had no mercy!"

7 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I appointed you king of Israel and saved you from Saul.

8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives. And I made you king of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you even more.

9 So why did you ignore the Lord's command? Why did you do what he says is wrong? You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and took his wife to be your wife!

10 Now there will always be people in your family who will die by a sword, because you did not respect me; you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite for yourself!'

11 "This is what the Lord says: 'I am bringing trouble to you from your own family. While you watch, I will take your wives from you and give them to someone who is very close to you. He will have sexual relations with your wives, and everyone will know it.

12 You had sexual relations with Bathsheba in secret, but I will do this so all the people of Israel can see it.'"

13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan answered, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You will not die.

14 But what you did caused the Lord's enemies to lose all respect for him. For this reason the son who was born to you will die."

15 Then Nathan went home. And the Lord caused the son of David and Bathsheba, Uriah's widow, to be very sick.

16 David prayed to God for the baby. David refused to eat or drink. He went into his house and stayed there, lying on the ground all night.

17 The older leaders of David's family came to him and tried to pull him up from the ground, but he refused to get up or to eat food with them.

18 On the seventh day the baby died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead. They said, "Look, we tried to talk to David while the baby was alive, but he refused to listen to us. If we tell him the baby is dead, he may do something awful."

19 When David saw his servants whispering, he knew that the baby was dead. So he asked them, "Is the baby dead?" They answered, "Yes, he is dead."

20 Then David got up from the floor, washed himself, put lotions on, and changed his clothes. Then he went into the Lord's house to worship. After that, he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate.

21 David's servants said to him, "Why are you doing this? When the baby was still alive, you refused to eat and you cried. Now that the baby is dead, you get up and eat food."

22 David said, "While the baby was still alive, I refused to eat, and I cried. I thought, 'Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.'

23 But now that the baby is dead, why should I go without food? I can't bring him back to life. Some day I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me."

24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He slept with her and had sexual relations with her. She became pregnant again and had another son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon.

25 The Lord sent word through Nathan the prophet to name the baby Jedidiah, because the Lord loved the child.

26 Joab fought against Rabbah, a royal city of the Ammonites, and he was about to capture it.

27 Joab sent messengers to David and said, "I have fought against Rabbah and have captured its water supply.

28 Now bring the other soldiers together and attack this city. Capture it before I capture it myself and it is called by my name!"

29 So David gathered all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it.

30 David took the crown off their king's head and had it placed on his own head. That gold crown weighed about seventy-five pounds, and it had valuable gems in it. And David took many valuable things from the city.

31 He also brought out the people of the city and forced them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. He also made them build with bricks. David did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his army returned to Jerusalem.