2 Samuel 10-12

Young's Literal Translation

10 And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the king of the Bene-Ammon dieth, and Hanun his son reigneth in his stead,

² and David saith, `I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did with me kindness;' and David sendeth to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David come in to the land of the Bene-Ammon.

³ And the heads of the Bene-Ammon say unto Hanun their lord, `Is David honouring thy father in thine eyes because he hath sent to thee comforters? for to search the city, and to spy it, and to overthrow it, hath not David sent his servants unto thee?'

⁴ And Hanun taketh the servants of David, and shaveth off the half of their beard, and cutteth off their long robes in the midst -- unto their buttocks, and sendeth them away;

⁵ and they declare [it] to David, and he sendeth to meet them, for the men have been greatly ashamed, and the king saith, `Abide in Jericho till your beard doth spring up -- then ye have returned.'

⁶ And the Bene-Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the Bene-Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah [with] a thousand men, and Ish-Tob [with] twelve thousand men;

⁷ and David heareth, and sendeth Joab, and all the host -- the mighty men.

⁸ And the Bene-Ammon come out, and set battle in array, at the opening of the gate, and Aram of Zoba, and Rehob, and Ish-Tob, and Maacah, [are] by themselves in the field;

⁹ and Joab seeth that the front of the battle hath been unto him before and behind, and he chooseth of all the chosen in Israel, and setteth in array to meet Aram,

¹⁰ and the rest of the people he hath given into the hand of Abishai his brother, and setteth in array to meet the Bene-Ammon.

¹¹ And he saith, `If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation, and if the Bene-Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have come to give salvation to thee;

¹² be strong and strengthen thyself for our people, and for the cities of our God, and Jehovah doth that which is good in His eyes.'

¹³ And Joab draweth nigh, and the people who [are] with him, to battle against Aram, and they flee from his presence;

¹⁴ and the Bene-Ammon have seen that Aram hath fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go in to the city; and Joab turneth back from the Bene-Ammon, and cometh in to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ And Aram seeth that it is smitten before Israel, and they are gathered together;

¹⁶ and Hadadezer sendeth, and bringeth out Aram which [is] beyond the River, and they come in to Helam, and Shobach head of the host of Hadadezer [is] before them.

¹⁷ And it is declared to David, and he gathereth all Israel, and passeth over the Jordan, and cometh in to Helam, and Aram setteth itself in array to meet David, and they fight with him;

¹⁸ and Aram fleeth from the presence of Israel, and David slayeth of Aram seven hundred charioteers, and forty thousand horsemen, and Shobach head of its host he hath smitten, and he dieth there.

¹⁹ And all the kings -- servants of Hadadezer -- see that they have been smitten before Israel, and make peace with Israel, and serve them; and Aram is afraid to help any more the Bene-Ammon.

11 And it cometh to pass, at the revolution of the year -- at the time of the going out of the messengers -- that David sendeth Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroy the Bene-Ammon, and lay siege against Rabbah. And David is dwelling in Jerusalem,

² and it cometh to pass, at evening-time, that David riseth from off his couch, and walketh up and down on the roof of the king's house, and seeth from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman [is] of very good appearance,

³ and David sendeth and inquireth about the woman, and saith, `Is not this Bath-Sheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah the Hittite?'

⁴ And David sendeth messengers, and taketh her, and she cometh unto him, and he lieth with her -- and she is purifying herself from her uncleanness -- and she turneth back unto her house;

⁵ and the woman conceiveth, and sendeth, and declareth to David, and saith, `I [am] conceiving.'

⁶ And David sendeth unto Joab, `Send unto me Uriah the Hittite,' and Joab sendeth Uriah unto David;

⁷ and Uriah cometh unto him, and David asketh of the prosperity of Joab, and of the prosperity of the people, and of the prosperity of the war.

⁸ And David saith to Uriah, `Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet;' and Uriah goeth out of the king's house, and there goeth out after him a gift from the king,

⁹ and Uriah lieth down at the opening of the king's house, with all the servants of his lord, and hath not gone down unto his house.

¹⁰ And they declare to David, saying, `Uriah hath not gone down unto his house;' and David saith unto Uriah, `Hast thou not come from a journey? wherefore hast thou not gone down unto thy house?'

¹¹ And Uriah saith unto David, `The ark, and Israel, and Judah, are abiding in booths, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, on the face of the field are encamping; and I -- I go in unto my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife! -- thy life, and the life of thy soul -- if I do this thing.'

¹² And David saith unto Uriah, `Abide in this [place] also to-day, and to-morrow I send thee away;' and Uriah abideth in Jerusalem, on that day, and on the morrow,

¹³ and David calleth for him, and he eateth before him, and drinketh, and he causeth him to drink, and he goeth out in the evening to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, and unto his house he hath not gone down.

¹⁴ And it cometh to pass in the morning, that David writeth a letter unto Joab, and sendeth by the hand of Uriah;

¹⁵ and he writeth in the letter, saying, `Place ye Uriah over-against the front of the severest battle, and ye have turned back from after him, and he hath been smitten, and hath died.'

¹⁶ And it cometh to pass in Joab's watching of the city, that he appointeth Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men [are];

¹⁷ and the men of the city go out and fight with Joab, and there fall [some] of the people, of the servants of David; and there dieth also Uriah the Hittite.

¹⁸ And Joab sendeth and declareth to David all the matters of the war,

¹⁹ and commandeth the messenger, saying, `At thy finishing all the matters of the war to speak unto the king,

²⁰ then, it hath been, if the king's fury ascend, and he hath said to thee, Wherefore did ye draw nigh unto the city to fight? did ye not know that they shoot from off the wall?

²¹ Who smote Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast on him a piece of a rider from the wall, and he dieth in Thebez? why drew ye nigh unto the wall? that thou hast said, Also thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'

²² And the messenger goeth, and cometh in, and declareth to David all that with which Joab sent him,

²³ and the messenger saith unto David, `Surely the men have been mighty against us, and come out unto us into the field, and we are upon them unto the opening of the gate,

²⁴ and those shooting shoot at thy servants from off the wall, and [some] of the servants of the king are dead, and also, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.

²⁵ And David saith unto the messenger, `Thus dost thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing be evil in thine eyes; for thus and thus doth the sword devour; strengthen thy warfare against the city, and throw it down -- and strengthen thou him.'

²⁶ And the wife of Uriah heareth that Uriah her husband [is] dead, and lamenteth for her lord;

²⁷ and the mourning passeth by, and David sendeth and gathereth her unto his house, and she is to him for a wife, and beareth to him a son; and the thing which David hath done is evil in the eyes of Jehovah.

12 And Jehovah sendeth Nathan unto David, and he cometh unto him, and saith to him: `Two men have been in one city; One rich and one poor;

² The rich hath flocks and herds very many;

³ And the poor one hath nothing, Except one little ewe-lamb, Which he hath bought, and keepeth alive, And it groweth up with him, And with his sons together; Of his morsel it eateth, And from his cup it drinketh, And in his bosom it lieth, And it is to him as a daughter;

⁴ And there cometh a traveller to the rich man, And he spareth to take Of his own flock, and of his own herd, To prepare for the traveller Who hath come to him, And he taketh the ewe-lamb of the poor man, And prepareth it for the man Who hath come unto him.'

⁵ And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, `Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death [is] the man who is doing this,

⁶ and the ewe-lamb he doth repay fourfold, because that he hath done this thing, and because that he had no pity.'

⁷ And Nathan saith unto David, `Thou [art] the man! Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I anointed thee for king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

⁸ and I give to thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord, into thy bosom, and I give to thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if little, then I add to thee such and such [things].

⁹ `Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do the evil thing in His eyes? Uriah the Hittite thou hast smitten by the sword, and his wife thou hast taken to thee for a wife, and him thou hast slain by the sword of the Bene-Ammon.

¹⁰ `And now, the sword doth not turn aside from thy house unto the age, because thou hast despised Me, and dost take the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be to thee for a wife;

¹¹ thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am raising up against thee evil, out of thy house, and have taken thy wives before thine eyes, and given to thy neighbour, and he hath lain with thy wives before the eyes of this sun;

¹² for thou hast done [it] in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'

¹³ And David saith unto Nathan, `I have sinned against Jehovah.' And Nathan saith unto David, `Also -- Jehovah hath caused thy sin to pass away; thou dost not die;

¹⁴ only, because thou hast caused the enemies of Jehovah greatly to despise by this thing, also the son who is born to thee doth surely die.'

¹⁵ And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable;

¹⁶ and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth.

¹⁷ And the elders of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he hath not been willing, nor hath he eaten with them bread;

¹⁸ and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the lad dieth, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the lad is dead, for they said, `Lo, in the lad being alive we spake unto him, and he did not hearken to our voice; and how do we say unto him, The lad is dead? -- then he hath done evil.'

¹⁹ And David seeth that his servants are whispering, and David understandeth that the lad is dead, and David saith unto his servants, `Is the lad dead?' and they say, `Dead.'

²⁰ And David riseth from the earth, and doth bathe and anoint [himself], and changeth his raiment, and cometh in to the house of Jehovah, and boweth himself, and cometh unto his house, and asketh and they place for him bread, and he eateth.

²¹ And his servants say unto him, `What [is] this thing thou hast done? because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.'

²² And he saith, `While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth? -- Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived;

²³ and now, he hath died, why [is] this -- I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'

²⁴ And David comforteth Bath-Sheba his wife, and goeth in unto her, and lieth with her, and she beareth a son, and he calleth his name Solomon; and Jehovah hath loved him,

²⁵ and sendeth by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calleth his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah.

²⁶ And Joab fighteth against Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and captureth the royal city,

²⁷ and Joab sendeth messengers unto David, and saith, `I have fought against Rabbah -- also I have captured the city of waters;

²⁸ and now, gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and capture it, lest I capture the city, and my name hath been called upon it.'

²⁹ And David gathereth all the people, and goeth to Rabbah, and fighteth against it, and captureth it;

³⁰ and he taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and its weight [is] a talent of gold, and precious stones, and it is on the head of David; and the spoil of the city he hath brought out, very much;

³¹ and the people who [are] in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron, and hath caused them to pass over into the brick-kiln; and so he doth to all the cities of the Bene-Ammon; and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.