1 And it happened at the turn of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David {Dawid: king of Israel} sent Joab and his officers with him and all Israel; they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David was staying {yashav: dwelling in place} in Jerusalem.
2 And it happened at twilight {ha‘erev: time of dusk} that David rose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful of appearance {mareh: outward form}.
3 And David sent and inquired {vayidrosh: investigated matter} about the woman; and it was said, “Is this not Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, wife {eshet: married woman} of Uriah the Hittite?”
4 And David sent messengers {malakhim: official envoys} and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. And she was purifying herself from her impurity {tum’ah: ritual uncleanness}. Then she returned to her house.
5 The woman conceived {vattahar: became pregnant}, and she sent and told David, saying, “I am pregnant” {harah: pregnant condition}.
6 Then David sent to Joab, “Send{shlach: directive order} Uriah the Hittite to me,” and Joab{yoav: field commander} sent Uriah to David.
7 And Uriah came to him, and David asked {lishlom: inquired after well-being} of Joab, of the people {ha-am: Israelite troops}, and of the war.
8 And David {David: king of Israel} said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet {raglayim: customary hospitality}.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
9 But Uriah lay down at the entrance {petach: gateway threshold} of the king’s house with all the servants {avdei: loyal attendants}, and he did not go down to his house.
10 And they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey {miderekh: route of travel}? Why did you not go down to your house {bayit: personal dwelling}?”
11 And Uriah said to David, “The ark {ha'aron: sacred chest} and Israel and Judah are dwelling in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping on the open field {sadeh: exposed plain}. Shall I go to my house to eat, to drink, and to lie with my wife? I will not do this thing.”
12 And David said to Uriah {Uriyah: loyal soldier}, “Remain in this place also today, and tomorrow I will send you.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem {Yerushalayim: city of peace} that day and the next.
13 Then David {Dawid: anointed king} called him, and he ate before him and drank, and David made him drunk {shikkar: state of intoxication}. In the evening he went out to lie down in his bed with the servants of his master, but he did not go down to his house.
14 And in the morning {baboker: temporal setting}, David composed a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah in his hand {beyad: commissioned agency}.
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Put Uriah opposite the front line of the fiercest battle {milchamah: armed conflict}; then withdraw from behind him, so that he will be struck down {nikah: fatally wounded} and die.”
16 And it came to pass, as Joab {Yoav: commander-in-chief} was besieging the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew men of valor {anshei-chayil: proven warriors} were stationed.
17 The men of the city came out and fought against Joab, and some from David’s servants {avdei: personal retainers} fell in the clash; and Uriah {Uriyah: Yahweh my light} the Hittite also died.
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the words {divrei: detailed reports} of the war {milchamah: armed engagement}.
19 And he commanded the messenger {mal’akh: royal envoy} to say, “When you have finished telling all the words of the battle to the king {melech: royal authority}.”
20 And it will happen if the king’s anger {chamat: Royal Wrath} rises, and he says to you, “Why did you approach the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall {hachomah: Protective Barrier}?”
21 Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth {Jerubbaal’s alias}? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of an upper millstone {pelakh: upper grinding stone} upon him from the wall, so that he died in Tevetz? Why did you come near the wall? Then you shall say, “Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”
22 So the messenger went and came, and he told David {David: beloved leader} everything that Joab {Yoav, military commander} had sent him to say.
23 The messenger {malakh: official envoy} said to David, “Because the men prevailed {gavru: gained advantage} against us, they came out against us into the field, and we pressed upon them up to the entrance of the gate.”
24 The archers {hamorim: arrow shooters} shot at your servants from atop the wall, and some of the king’s {hamelech: sovereign ruler} servants died; and also your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.
25 And David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter be displeasing {yera: personally distressing} in your eyes; for like this and like that the sword devours. Strengthen your battle against the city and overthrow it, and encourage him {hazkehu: renew his courage}.’”
26 And the wife {eshet: marital status} of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband had died, and she mourned for her husband {ba’al: lawful partner}.
27 And when the period of grieving had ended, David summoned her and brought her into his household, she became his wife {ishah: covenant partner} and bore him a son. Yet the deed that David carried out was evil in the sight of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}.