David and Bathsheba Story - Bible

In the spring, kings usually went off to war. But King David stayed in Jerusalem. One evening, David got up from his bed. He walked around on the roof of his palace. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful.

David sent someone to find out about her. The messenger said, 'She is Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.'

Uriah was one of David's best soldiers. He was fighting in David's army. But David sent messengers to get her. She came to him. David slept with her. Then she went back home.

Later, Bathsheba sent word to David. She said, 'I am pregnant.'

David was in trouble. He had done a very bad thing. He had committed adultery with another man's wife. Now she was going to have his baby. David tried to cover up his sin.

David sent a message to Joab, the commander of the army. He said, 'Send me Uriah the Hittite.' Joab sent Uriah to David.

When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was. He asked how the soldiers were. He asked how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, 'Go down to your house. Wash your feet.' Uriah left the palace. The king sent a gift to him.

But Uriah did not go home. He slept at the entrance of the palace with all the king's servants. David was told, 'Uriah did not go home.' So David asked Uriah, 'Haven't you just come from a journey? Why didn't you go home?'

Uriah said to David, 'The ark of God and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents. My commander Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house? How could I eat and drink with my wife? I could not do that. As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!'

David said to him, 'Stay here one more day. Tomorrow I will send you back.' So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day. The next day, David invited him to eat and drink with him. David made Uriah drunk. But in the evening, Uriah went out to sleep on his mat. He slept among his master's servants. He did not go home.

In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab. He sent it with Uriah. In the letter, David wrote, 'Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is the fiercest. Then pull back from him. Let him be struck down and die.'

So while Joab had the city surrounded, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out to fight Joab, some of David's men fell. Uriah the Hittite died.

Joab sent David a report of the battle. He told the messenger, 'When you have finished giving the king the report of the battle, the king's anger may flare up. He may ask you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? Who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall? Why did you get so close to the wall?' If he asks you that, then say to him, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.''

The messenger went to David. He reported everything Joab had sent him to say. He told David, 'The men overpowered us. They came out against us in the open field. We drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's men died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.'

David told the messenger, 'Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this upset you. The sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city. Destroy it.' Say this to encourage Joab.'

When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David sent for her. He brought her to his house. She became his wife. She had a son by him. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, 'There were two men in a certain town. One was rich. The other was poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle. But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it. It grew up with him and his children. It shared his food. It drank from his cup. It even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.'

'Now a traveler came to the rich man. The rich man did not want to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man. He prepared it for the traveler.'

David burned with anger against the rich man. He said to Nathan, 'As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over. He did such a thing and had no pity.'

Then Nathan said to David, 'You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel. I saved you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you. I gave his wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword. You took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, the sword will never depart from your house. You despised me. You took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.''

David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.'

Nathan replied, 'The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.'

Nathan went home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David. He became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted. He spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground. But he refused. He would not eat any food with them.

On the seventh day, the child died. David's attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. They thought, 'While the child was still alive, we spoke to David. He would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.'

David saw that his attendants were whispering among themselves. He realized that the child was dead. He asked, 'Is the child dead?'

They answered, 'Yes, he is dead.'

Then David got up from the ground. He washed. He put on lotions. He changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house. He asked for food. They served it to him, and he ate.

His attendants asked him, 'Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and you wept. Now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!'

David answered, 'While the child was still alive, I fasted and I wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me. The child may live.' But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him. But he will not return to me.'

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son. They named him Solomon. The Lord loved him. The Lord sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah, which means 'loved by the Lord.'

David learned that even kings must obey God's laws. Sin has consequences. But when we confess our sins, God forgives us. He is merciful and gracious. He gave David and Bathsheba another son. That son, Solomon, became one of the greatest kings of Israel. And from Solomon's family came Jesus, the Savior of the world.

The David and Bathsheba story teaches consequences of sin and the power of repentance. It shows that God forgives those who sincerely turn back to Him. This story highlights humility and redemption.