The Reign of David

In the morning David wrote a letter to Yo'av and sent it with Uriyah.

In the letter he wrote, "Put Uriyah on the front lines of the fiercest fighting; then pull back from him, so that he will be wounded and killed."

So while Yo'av had the city under siege, he assigned Uriyah to the place where he knew the toughest defenders were.

The men of the city went out and fought Yo'av; a number of people fell, including some of David's servants, with Uriyah the Hitti among the dead.

Yo'av sent a message to David reporting all the news concerning the war,

and he instructed the messenger, "When you have finished telling the king all the news about the war,

he may become angry and ask you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot from the wall?

Didn't you think about the person who struck Avimelekh the son of Yerubeshet, that a woman threw an upper millstone down on him from the wall, so that he died at Tevetz? Why did you go so near the wall?' If he says this, tell him, 'Your servant Uriyah is dead also.'"

So the messenger left, and on arrival he told David all that Yo'av had sent him to say.

The messenger said to David, "The men were overpowering us and came out after us into the countryside. But we chased them back all the way to the entrance of the city gate.

The archers shot at your servants from the wall; some of the king's servants are dead; also your servant Uriyah the Hitti is dead."

David said to the messenger, "Tell Yo'av, 'Don't let this matter get you down - the sword devours in one way or another. Intensify your battle against the city, and overthrow it.'And encourage him."

When the wife of Uriyah heard that Uriyah her husband was dead, she mourned her husband.

When the mourning was over, David sent and took her home to his palace, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But ADONAI saw what David had done as evil.

ADONAI sent Natan to David. He came and said to him, "In a certain city there were two men, one rich, the other poor.

The rich man had vast flocks and herds;

but the poor man had nothing, except for one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and reared. It had grown up with him and his children; it ate from his plate, drank from his cup, lay on his chest - it was like a daughter to him.

One day a traveler visited the rich man, and instead of picking an animal from his own flock or herd to cook for his visitor, he took the poor man's lamb and cooked it for the man who had come to him."

David exploded with anger against the man and said to Natan, "As ADONAI lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

For doing such a thing, he has to pay back four times the value of the lamb - and also because he had no pity."

Natan said to David, "You are the man. "Here is what ADONAI, the God of Isra'el says: 'I anointed you king over Isra'el. I rescued you from the power of Sha'ul.

I gave you your master's house and your master's wives to embrace. I gave you the house of Isra'el and the house of Y'hudah. And if that had been too little, I would have added to you a lot more.

"'So why have you shown such contempt for the word of ADONAI and done what I see as evil? You murdered Uriyah the Hitti with the sword and taken his wife as your own wife; you put him to death with the sword of the people of 'Amon.

Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house - because you have shown contempt for me and taken the wife of Uriyah the Hitti as your own wife.'

Here is what ADONAI says: 'I will generate evil against you out of your own household. I will take your wives before your very eyes and give them to your neighbor; he will go to bed with your wives, and everyone will know about it.