Study Desk

the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, "Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his servants to explore the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?"

And he placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.

Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight."

So Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, who fled before him.

In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his servants and the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.

One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing-a very beautiful woman.

But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master's servants; he did not go down to his house.

Uriah answered, "The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!"

Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie down on his cot with his master's servants, but he did not go home.

And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for his guest."

Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.

David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.

The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.

When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, "Is the child dead?" "He is dead," they replied.

Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.

"What is this you have done?" his servants asked. "While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate."

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child

David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.