The citie Rabbah is beſieged 4 Dauid committeth adulterie 17 Vriah is ſlaine 27 Dauid marieth Bath-ſhéba.

1.1 ANd when the yere was ^a expired in y^e time when Kings go forthe to battel, Dauid ſent ^* Ióab, and his ſeruants with him, & all Iſraél, who deſtroyed the children of Ammón, and beſieged Rabbáh: but Dauid remained in Ieruſalém.

2.2 And when it was euening tide, Dauid aroſe out of his ^b bed, and walked vpon the roofe of the Kings palace: and frõ the roofe he ſawe a woman waſhing her ſelfe: and the womã was very beautiful to loke vpon.

3.3 And Dauid ſent and inquired what woman it was: and one ſaid, Is not this Bath-ſhéba y^e daughter of Eliám, wife to Vriáh the ^c Hittite?

4.4 Then Dauid ſent meſſengers, and toke her away: and ſhe came vnto him and he lay with her: (now ſhe was ^* purified from her vnclẽnnes) and ſhe returned vnto her houſe.

5.5 And y^e womã cõceiued: therefore ſhe ſent & ^d tolde Dauid & ſaid, I am with childe.

6.6 ¶ Then Dauid ſent to Ióab, ſaying, Send me Vriáh the Hittite. And Ióab ſent Vriáh to Dauid.

7.7 And when Vriáh came vnto him, Dauid demanded him how Ióab did, & how the people fared, and how the warre proſpered.

8.8 Afterwarde Dauid ſaid to Vriáh, ^e Go downe to thine houſe, and waſh thy feete. So Vriáh departed out of the Kings palace, & the King ſent a preſent after him.

9.9 But Vriáh ſlept at the dore of the Kings palace with all the ſeruants of his lord, and went not downe to his houſe.

10.10 Then they tolde Dauid, ſaying, Vriáh went not downe to his houſe: and Dauid ſaid vnto Vriáh, Comeſt thou not from thy iourney? why dideſt thou not go downe to thine houſe?

11.11 Thẽ Vriáh anſwered Dauid, ^f The Arke of Iſraél, and Iudáh dwel in tents: and my lord Ióab and the ſeruants of my lord abide in the open fields. ſhal I then go in to mine houſe to eat and drinke, and lie with my wife? by thy life, & by the life of thy ſoule, I wil not do this thing.

12.12 Then Dauid ſaid vnto Vriáh, Tarie yet this daye, and tomorowe I wil ſend thee away. So Vriáh abode in Ieruſalém that day, and the morowe.

13.13 Then Dauid called him, & he did eat and drinke before him, & he made him ^g drõke: & at euen he wẽnt out to lie on his couche with the ſeruants of his lord, but went not downe to his houſe.

14.14 And on the morowe Dauid wrote a letter to Ióab, and ſent it by the hand of Vriáh.

15.15 And he wrote thus in the letter, ^h Put ye Vriáh in the forefrõte of the ſtrength of the battel, & recule ye backe from him, that he may be ſmitten, and dye.

16.16 ¶ So whẽ Ióab beſieged y^e citie, he aſsigned Vriáh vnto a place, where he knewe that ſtrong men were.

17.17 And the men of the citie came out, and foght with Ióab: & there fel of the people of the ſeruants of Dauid, & Vriáh the Hittite alſo dyed.

18.18 Then Ióab ſent and tolde Dauid all the things concerning the warre,

19.19 ¶ And he charged the meſſenger, ſaying, When thou haſt made an end of telling the matters of the warre vnto the King,

20.20 ^" And if the Kings angre ariſe, ſo that he ſay vnto thee, Wherefore approched ye vnto y^e citie to fight? knewe ye not that they wolde hurle from the wall?

21.21 Who ſmote Abimélech ſonne of ⁱ Ierubéſheth? did not a woman caſt a piece of a milſtone vpon him from the wall, and he dyed in Thebéz? why went you nye the wall? Then ſay thou, Thy ſeruant Vriáh the Hittite is alſo dead.

22.22 ¶ So the meſſenger went, and came and ſhewed Dauid all that Ióab had ſent him for.

23.23 And the meſſenger ſaid vnto Dauid, Certeinly the men preuailed againſt vs, and came out vnto vs into the field, but we ^" purſued them vnto the entring of the gate.

24.24 But y^e ſhooters ſhot frõ the wall againſt thy ſeruants, and ſome of the Kings ſeruants be dead: and thy ſeruant Vriáh the Hittite is alſo dead.

25.25 Then Dauid ſaid vnto the meſſenger, ^k Thus ſhalt thou ſay vnto Ióab, Let not this thing trouble thee: for the ſworde de- uoureth ^" one aſwel as another: make thy battel more ſtrong againſt the citie & deſtroy it, & encourage thou him.

26.26 ¶ And when the wife of Vriáh heard that her houſband Vriáh was dead, ſhe mourned for her houſband.

27.27 So when the mourning was paſt, Dauid ſent & toke her into his houſe, and ſhe became his wife, and bare him a ſonne: but the thing that Dauid had done, ^" diſpleaſed the Lord.

2 Samuel 11

Notes