THE BOOK OF SAMUEL
Thou Art the Man
It happened at a time when Israel was at war, and King David had sent into battle Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and were besieging the city of Rabbah. But David himself remained at Jerusalem.
One evening, David, in Jerusalem, arose from his bed, and walked onto the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful. And David asked his advisers who the woman was. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and she came to him, and he lay with her; and she returned to her house. And the woman became pregnant, and sent for and told David, ”I am with child."
And David sent to Joab, who was on the battlefield, saying, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah came to him, David demanded that Uriah tell him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, "Now go down to your house, and wash your feet."
And Uriah left the king’s house, and there followed him a large portion of meat from the king. But Uriah didn't return home. Instead, he slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord. The servants told David, saying, "Uriah did not go home." So David spoke to Uriah, "Have you not come back from the battle? Why then didn't you go down to your home?" And Uriah said to David, "The ark, and Israel, and Judah all live in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are camped in the open fields; shall I then go to my own house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? I will not, and will never do such a thing."
And David said to Uriah, "Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go back to the battlefield." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem until the following day. Later when David called for him, they ate and drank together; and David made him drunk. And that evening Uriah left the room to lie on his bed with the servants of his king, but again did not go down to his own home.
And on the following day in the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and gave the letter to Uriah to deliver it. In the letter he had written, "Place Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and don't support him, so that he may be attacked by the enemy, and be killed." Upon reading the note, Joab assigned Uriah to a place, just under the wall of the city of Rabbah where he knew that valiant men of the enemy were. These men came out of the city and attacked Joab, fighting with him as well as other soldiers of Israel: there fell many of the soldiers; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; and told the messenger, "The king may become angry when you tell him that his soldiers fought the enemy too near their city wall, where they were easily killed. So then tell him 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also'."
So the messenger went, and came and told David everything that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger said to David, "At first the enemy came out of the city and pushed us back, but we then forced them back into their city. And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king’s servants were killed, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also." Then David said to the messenger, Tell Joab that he should not be discouraged, that he should fight more strongly against the city, and overthrow it. "Encourage him for my sake."
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and had her brought to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
The Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan said to him, "There were two men in a city, the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had many flocks of sheep and herds of goats: but the poor man had nothing, except for one tiny female lamb, which he had bought and nourishing: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; the lamb ate the poor man's own food, and drank from his own cup, and would lay in his lap, and was treated as a daughter. And one day there came a traveler to the rich man. The rich man refused to take an animal from his own flock or herd in order to be a good host to the traveler and prepare a feast, but instead took the poor man’s lamb, killed it, and had it prepared for his guest."
And David was fiercely angry about the behavior of the rich man. He said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man that did this thing must surely die: and he must give back to the poor man not just one lamb but four, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity."
And Nathan said to David, "Thou art the man."