داود وبتشابع
1 ولمَّا جاءَ الرَّبـيعُ، وهوَ وقتُ خُروجِ المُلوكِ إلى الحربِ، أرسلَ داوُدُ يوآبَ والقادةَ معَهُ على رأسِ كُلِّ جيشِ بَني إِسرائيلَ، فسحقوا بَني عَمُّونَ وحاصروا مدينةَ رِبَّةَ. وأمَّا داوُدُ فبَقيَ في أورُشليمَ.
2 وعِندَ المَساءِ قامَ داوُدُ عَنْ سريرهِ وتمشَّى على سطحِ القصرِ، فرأى على السَّطحِ امرأةً تَستحِمُّ وكانَت جميلةً جدًّا. 3 فسألَ عَنها، فقيلَ لَه: «هذِهِ بَتشابَعُ بنتُ أليعامَ، زوجَةُ أوريَّا الحِثِّـيِّ». 4 فأرسَلَ إليها رُسُلا عادوا بها وكانَت اغتَسلت وتَطهَّرت، فدخَلَ علَيها ونامَ معَها، ثُمَّ رجعت إلى بَيتِها. 5 وحينَ أحسَّت أنَّها حُبلى أعلَمتهُ بذلِكَ.
6 فأرسَلَ داوُدُ إلى يوآبَ يقولُ: «أرسِلْ إليَّ أوريَّا الحِثِّيَّ» فأرسَلَهُ. 7 فلمَّا جاءَ سألَهُ داوُدُ عَنْ سلامةِ يوآبَ والجيشِ وعَنِ الحربِ، 8 ثُمَّ قالَ لَه: «إنزِلْ إلى بَيتِكَ واغسِلْ رِجلَيكَ واسترِحْ». فخَرجَ أوريَّا مِنَ القصرِ وتَبِــعتْهُ هديَّةٌ مِنْ عِندِ داوُدَ. 9 فنامَ على بابِ القصرِ معَ الحرَسِ ولم ينزِلْ إلى بَيتِهِ. 10 فلمَّا قيلَ لداوُدَ: «أوريَّا لم يَنزِلْ إلى بَيتِهِ»، دَعاهُ وقالَ لَه: «أما جِئتَ مِنَ السَّفرِ؟ فما بالُكَ لا تنزِلُ إلى بَيتِكَ؟» 11 فأجابَهُ أوريَّا: «تابوتُ العَهدِ ورِجالُ إسرائيلَ ويَهوذا مُقيمونَ في الخيامِ، ويوآبُ وقادَةُ سيِّدي المَلِكِ في البَرِّيَّةِ، فكيفَ أدخُلُ بَيتي وآكُلُ وأشربُ وأنامُ معَ زوجَتي؟ لا وحياتِكَ، لا أفعَلُ هذا». 12 فقالَ لَه داوُدُ: «أقمْ هُنا اليومَ، وغَدا أصرِفُكَ». فبقيَ أوريَّا ذلِكَ اليومَ في أورُشليمَ، 13 وفي اليومِ التَّالي دعاهُ داوُدُ، فأكلَ معَهُ وشربَ حتّى سَكِرَ. ثُمَّ خرَجَ مساءً، فنامَ حيثُ ينامُ الحرَسُ، ولم ينزِلْ إلى بَيتِهِ.
14 فلمَّا طلَعَ الصَّباحُ كتَبَ داوُدُ إلى يوآبَ مكتوبا وأرسَلَهُ بـيَدِ أوريَّا، 15 يقولُ فيهِ: «وجِّهوا أوريَّا إلى حيثُ يكونُ القِتالُ شديدا، وارجِعوا مِنْ ورائِه فيَضرِبَهُ العَدوُّ ويموتُ». 16 وكانَ يوآبُ يحاصِرُ المدينةَ، فعيَّنَ لأوريَّا موضِعا عَلِمَ أنَّ للعدوِّ فيهِ رِجالا أشدَّاءَ. 17 فخرَجَ رِجالُ المدينةِ وحارَبوا يوآبَ، فسقَطَ لداوُدَ بَعضُ القادَةِ ومِنْ بَينِهِم أوريَّا الحِثِّيُّ. 18 فأرسَلَ يوآبُ وأخبَرَ داوُدَ بكلِّ ما جرى في الحربِ. 19 وقالَ يوآبُ للرَّسولِ: «بَعدَما تُخبِرُ الملكَ بكُلِّ ما جرى في الحربِ، 20 وإذا ثارَ غضَبُهُ وقالَ: لماذا دنَوتُم مِنْ سورِ المدينةِ لِتُحاربوا؟ أما تعلَمونَ أنَّ الّذينَ فوقَ السُّورِ يَرمونَكُم بالسِّهامِ؟ 21 مَنْ قتَلَ أبـيمالِكَ بنَ يَروبَّشْثَ؟ أما هيَ امرأةٌ في تاباصَ رَمتْهُ بِـحَجرِ طاحونةٍ مِنْ فوقِ السُّورِ فقُتِلَ؟ فلماذا دَنوتم مِنَ السُّورِ؟» إذا قالَ لكَ هذا الكلامَ أجِبْهُ: «عبدُكَ أوريَّا الحِثِّيُّ أيضا ماتَ».
22 فذهَبَ الرَّسولُ إلى داوُدَ وأخبرَهُ بِـجميعِ ما أمرَهُ بهِ يوآبُ، 23 وقالَ لداوُدَ: «قَويَ علَينا الأعداءُ وخرَجوا لقِتالِنا في البَرِّيَّةِ، فطارَدناهُم إلى بابِ المدينةِ، 24 فرَمانا العَدوُّ بالسِّهامِ مِنْ فوقِ السُّورِ، فماتَ البَعضُ مِنْ قادَةِ المَلِكِ، وقُتِلَ أيضا عبدُكَ أوريَّا الحِثِّيُّ». 25 فقالَ لَه داوُدُ: «هذا ما تقولُ ليوآبَ: «لا يُحزِنُكَ ذلِكَ، لأنَّ السَّيفَ لا يرحَمُ أحدا. تابِــعْ هُجومَكَ على المدينةِ ودمِّرْها. قُلْ لَه ذلِكَ حتّى يتشجَّعَ».
26 وسمِعَت زوجَةُ أوريَّا أنَّ زوجَها ماتَ، فّناحَت علَيهِ. 27 ولمَّا انتَهَت أيّام مَناحَتِها، أرسَلَ داوُدُ وضَمَّها إلى بَيتِهِ، فكانَت زوجَةً لَه وولدَت لَه ابنا. واستاءَ الرّبُّ مِمَّا فعلَهُ داوُدُ.
David and Bathsheba
(1 Chronicles 20.1a)1 It was now spring, the time when kings go to war. David sent out the whole Israelite army under the command of Joab and his officers. They destroyed the Ammonite army and surrounded the capital city of Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem.
2-4 Late one afternoon, David got up from a nap and was walking around on the flat roof of his palace. A beautiful young woman was down below in her courtyard, bathing as her religion required. David happened to see her, and he sent one of his servants to find out who she was.
The servant came back and told David, “Her name is Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
David sent some messengers to bring her to his palace. She came to him, and he slept with her. Then she returned home. 5 But later, when she found out that she was going to have a baby, she sent someone to David with this message: “I'm pregnant!”
6 David sent a message to Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.”
Joab sent Uriah 7 to David's palace, and David asked him, “Is Joab well? How is the army doing? And how about the war?” 8 Then David told Uriah, “Go home and clean up.” Uriah left the king's palace, and David had dinner sent to Uriah's house. 9 But Uriah didn't go home. Instead, he slept outside the entrance to the royal palace, where the king's guards slept.
10 Someone told David that Uriah had not gone home. So the next morning David asked him, “Why didn't you go home? Haven't you been away for a long time?”
11 Uriah answered, “The sacred chest and the armies of Israel and Judah are camping out somewhere in the fields with our commander Joab and his officers and troops. Do you really think I would go home to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? I swear by your life that I would not!”
12 Then David said, “Stay here in Jerusalem today, and I will send you back tomorrow.”
Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day. Then the next day, 13 David invited him for dinner. Uriah ate with David, who gave him so much to drink that he got drunk. But Uriah still did not go home. He went out and slept on his mat near the palace guards. 14 Early the next morning, David wrote a letter and told Uriah to deliver it to Joab. 15 The letter said: “Put Uriah on the front line where the fighting is the worst. Then pull the troops back from him, so that he will be wounded and die.”
16 Joab had been carefully watching the city of Rabbah, and he put Uriah in a place where he knew there were some of the enemy's best soldiers. 17 When the men of the city came out, they fought and killed some of David's soldiers—Uriah the Hittite was one of them.
18 Joab sent a messenger to tell David everything that was happening in the war. 19 He gave the messenger these orders:
When you finish telling the king everything that has happened, 20 he may get angry and ask, “Why did you go so near the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21 Don't you know how Abimelech the son of Gideon was killed at Thebez? Didn't a woman kill him by dropping a large rock from the top of the city wall? Why did you go so close to the city walls?”
Then tell him, “One of your soldiers who was killed was Uriah the Hittite.”
22 The messenger went to David and reported everything Joab had told him. 23 He added, “The enemy chased us from the wall and out into the open fields. But we pushed them back as far as the city gate. 24 Then they shot arrows at us from the top of the wall. Some of your soldiers were killed, and one of them was Uriah the Hittite.”
25 David replied, “Tell Joab to cheer up and not to be upset about what happened. You never know who will be killed in a war. Tell him to strengthen his attack against the city and break through its walls.”
26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 Then after the time for mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to the palace. She became David's wife, and they had a son.
The Lord's Message for David
The Lord was angry because of what David had done,
