大衛犯罪
1第二年春天，諸王又要發動戰爭。大衛差遣約押率領眾將領和以色列大軍出征，自己卻留在耶路撒冷。他們打敗了亞捫人之後又圍攻拉巴。 2一天黃昏，大衛從床上起來在王宮頂上散步，看見一個長得非常漂亮的女人在沐浴。 3大衛就派人去打聽這個女人是誰，得知她是以連的女兒、赫人烏利亞的妻子拔示芭。 4大衛差人把她接來，她來了，大衛就與她同寢，那時她的月經剛潔淨。事後，她便回家去了。 5拔示芭懷孕了，就派人去告訴大衛。
6大衛便傳信給約押，說：「你派赫人烏利亞來見我。」約押就派烏利亞去見大衛。 7烏利亞來了，大衛問他有關約押、士兵和戰爭的情況， 8然後吩咐他回家休息。烏利亞離開王宮後，收到大衛送的一份禮物。 9但他跟王的其他僕人一同睡在王宮門口，沒有回家。 10大衛得知烏利亞沒有回家，便對他說：「你遠道而來，為什麼不回家休息呢？」 11烏利亞答道：「約櫃、以色列人和猶大人都在帳篷裡，而我主約押及其軍隊也在田間紮營，我怎麼可以回家吃喝快樂，與妻子同房呢？我敢在王面前起誓，我決不做這樣的事！」 12大衛對烏利亞說：「你再住一天，明天我會派你回去。」於是烏利亞那日就留在耶路撒冷。 13第二天，大衛邀請他一同吃飯，把他灌醉了。可是到了晚上，烏利亞還是不肯回家，仍然跟王的其他士兵一同住宿。
14第二天早上，大衛給約押寫了一封信，要烏利亞帶去。 15大衛在信上吩咐約押：「你把烏利亞派到前線最險惡的地方，到時其他人都要撤退，好讓敵人殺死他。」 16於是約押圍攻城池時，便派烏利亞到最強悍的敵人那裡。 17敵人出來迎戰，大衛的軍中有幾位陣亡，赫人烏利亞也死了。 18約押就派人去向大衛稟告戰爭的詳情， 19並叮囑信使：「你向王稟告戰情後， 20他若發怒責問你，『為什麼還冒死逼近呢？你們難道不知道敵人會從城牆上射箭嗎？ 21難道你們不知道耶路·比設11·21 「耶路·比設」又名「耶路·巴力」，參見士師記6·32。的兒子亞比米勒是誰殺的嗎？一個婦人從城牆上扔下一塊磨石，把他砸死在提備斯。你們為什麼還要逼近城牆呢？』你就對王說，『你的僕人赫人烏利亞也死了。』」
22於是，信使前來見大衛，照約押的吩咐向大衛稟告。 23他說：「敵軍勢力強大，在城外跟我們交戰，但我們把他們追到城門口。 24敵軍的弓箭手從城牆上射死了王的幾個士兵，赫人烏利亞也死了。」 25大衛便對信使說：「你去告訴約押不要為這事難過，因為刀劍無情。讓他只管竭力攻陷城池。要這樣勉勵約押。」
26拔示芭聽到丈夫烏利亞的死訊之後就為他守喪。 27守喪結束後，大衛便派人把她接進宮裡，她就做了大衛的妻子，並給他生了個兒子。然而，大衛的所作所為令耶和華十分不悅。
David and Bathsheba
1It was spring. It was the time when kings go off to war. So David sent Joab out with the king’s special troops and the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites. They marched to the city of Rabbah. They surrounded it and got ready to attack it. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2One evening David got up from his bed. He walked around on the roof of his palace. From the roof he saw a woman taking a bath. She was very beautiful. 3David sent a messenger to find out who she was. The messenger returned and said, “She is Bathsheba. She’s the daughter of Eliam. She’s the wife of Uriah. He’s a Hittite.” 4Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him. And he slept with her. Then she went back home. All of that took place after she had already made herself “clean” from her monthly period. 5Later, Bathsheba found out she was pregnant. She sent a message to David. She said, “I’m pregnant.”
6So David sent a message to Joab. David said, “Send me Uriah, the Hittite.” Joab sent him to David. 7Uriah came to David. David asked him how Joab and the soldiers were doing. He also asked him how the war was going. 8David said to Uriah, “Go home and enjoy some time with your wife.” So Uriah left the palace. Then the king sent him a gift. 9But Uriah didn’t go home. Instead, he slept at the entrance to the palace. He stayed there with all his master’s servants.
10David was told, “Uriah didn’t go home.” So he sent for Uriah. David said to him, “You have been away for a long time. Why didn’t you go home?”
11Uriah said to David, “The ark and the army of Israel and Judah are out there in tents. My commander Joab and your special troops are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink? How could I go there and sleep with my wife? I could never do a thing like that. And that’s just as sure as you are alive!”
12Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day. Tomorrow I’ll send you back to the battle.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him. David got him drunk. But Uriah still didn’t go home. In the evening he went out and slept on his mat. He stayed there among his master’s servants.
14The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab. He sent it along with Uriah. 15In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front. That’s where the fighting is the heaviest. Then pull your men back from him. When you do, the Ammonites will strike him down and kill him.”
16So Joab attacked the city. He put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest enemy fighters were. 17The troops came out of the city. They fought against Joab. Some of the men in David’s army were killed. Uriah, the Hittite, also died.
18Joab sent David a full report of the battle. 19He told the messenger, “Tell the king everything that happened in the battle. When you are finished, 20his anger might explode. He might ask you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight against it? Didn’t you know that the enemy soldiers would shoot arrows down from the wall? 21Don’t you remember how Abimelek, the son of Jerub-Besheth, was killed? A woman dropped a large millstone on him from the wall. That’s how he died in Thebez. So why did you go so close to the wall?’ If the king asks you that, tell him, ‘And your servant Uriah, the Hittite, is also dead.’ ”
22The messenger started out for Jerusalem. When he arrived there, he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23The messenger said to David, “The men in the city were more powerful than we were. They came out to fight against us in the open. But we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24Then those who were armed with bows shot arrows at us from the wall. Some of your special troops were killed. Your servant Uriah, the Hittite, is also dead.”
25David told the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t get upset over what happened. Swords kill one person as well as another. So keep on attacking the city. Destroy it.’ Tell that to Joab. It will cheer him up.”
26Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead. She mourned over him. 27When her time of sadness was over, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife. And she had a son by him. But the Lord wasn’t pleased with what David had done.
