2 Samuel 10

• 1. Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king.
• 2. David said, "I am going to show complete loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always completely loyal to me." So David sent ambassadors to express sympathy to Hanun about his father's death. But when David's ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon,
• 3. Hanun's advisers said to their master, "Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the city so that they can come in and conquer it!"
• 4. So Hanun seized David's ambassadors and shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.
• 5. When David heard what had happened, he sent messengers to tell the men to stay at Jericho until their beards grew out, for they were very embarrassed by their appearance.
• 6. Now the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, so they hired twenty thousand Aramean mercenaries from the lands of Beth-rehob and Zobah, one thousand from the king of Maacah, and twelve thousand from the land of Tob.
• 7. When David heard about this, he sent Joab and the entire Israelite army to fight them.
• 8. The Ammonite troops drew up their battle lines at the entrance of the city gates, while the Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah positioned themselves to fight in the open fields.
• 9. When Joab saw that he would have to fight on two fronts, he chose the best troops in his army. He placed them under his personal command and led them out to fight the Arameans in the fields.
• 10. He left the rest of the army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the Ammonites.
• 11. "If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me," Joab told his brother. "And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you.
• 12. Be courageous! Let us fight bravely to save our people and the cities of our God. May the LORD's will be done."
• 13. When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away.
• 14. And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they ran from Abishai and retreated into the city. After the battle was over, Joab returned to Jerusalem.
• 15. The Arameans now realized that they were no match for Israel. So when they regrouped,
• 16. they were joined by additional Aramean troops summoned by Hadadezer from the other side of the Euphrates River. These troops arrived at Helam under the command of Shobach, the commander of all Hadadezer's forces.
• 17. When David heard what was happening, he mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and led the army to Helam. The Arameans positioned themselves there in battle formation and then attacked David.
• 18. But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David's forces killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand horsemen, including Shobach, the commander of their army.
• 19. When Hadadezer and his Aramean allies realized they had been defeated by Israel, they surrendered to them and became their subjects. After that, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 11

• 1. The following spring, the time of year when kings go to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to destroy the Ammonites. In the process they laid siege to the city of Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
• 2. Late one afternoon David got out of bed after taking a nap and went for a stroll on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
• 3. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, "She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite."
• 4. Then David sent for her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. (She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period.) Then she returned home.
• 5. Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent a message to inform David.
• 6. So David sent word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite."
• 7. When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing.
• 8. Then he told Uriah, "Go on home and relax." David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace.
• 9. But Uriah wouldn't go home. He stayed that night at the palace entrance with some of the king's other servants.
• 10. When David heard what Uriah had done, he summoned him and asked, "What's the matter with you? Why didn't you go home last night after being away for so long?"
• 11. Uriah replied, "The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and his officers are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I will never be guilty of acting like that."
• 12. "Well, stay here tonight," David told him, "and tomorrow you may return to the army." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.
• 13. Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn't get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance.
• 14. So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver.
• 15. The letter instructed Joab, "Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed."
• 16. So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy's strongest men were fighting.
• 17. And Uriah was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.
• 18. Then Joab sent a battle report to David.
• 19. He told his messenger, "Report all the news of the battle to the king.
• 20. But he might get angry and ask, `Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn't they know there would be shooting from the walls?
• 21. Wasn't Gideon's son Abimelech killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him?' Then tell him, `Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.'"
• 22. So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David.
• 23. "The enemy came out against us," he said. "And as we chased them back to the city gates,
• 24. the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of our men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite."
• 25. "Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged," David said. "The sword kills one as well as another! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!"
• 26. When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
• 27. When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the LORD was very displeased with what David had done.

2 Samuel 12

• 1. So the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: "There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor.
• 2. The rich man owned many sheep and cattle.
• 3. The poor man owned nothing but a little lamb he had worked hard to buy. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man's own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.
• 4. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing a lamb from his own flocks for food, he took the poor man's lamb and killed it and served it to his guest."
• 5. David was furious. "As surely as the LORD lives," he vowed, "any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!
• 6. He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity."
• 7. Then Nathan said to David, "You are that man! The LORD, the God of Israel, says, `I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.
• 8. I gave you his house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.
• 9. Why, then, have you despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah and stolen his wife.
• 10. From this time on, the sword will be a constant threat to your family, because you have despised me by taking Uriah's wife to be your own.
• 11. " `Because of what you have done, I, the LORD, will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man, and he will go to bed with them in public view.
• 12. You did it secretly, but I will do this to you openly in the sight of all Israel.'"
• 13. Then David confessed to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "Yes, but the LORD has forgiven you, and you won't die for this sin.
• 14. But you have given the enemies of the LORD great opportunity to despise and blaspheme him, so your child will die."
• 15. After Nathan returned to his home, the LORD made Bathsheba's baby deathly ill.
• 16. David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground.
• 17. The leaders of the nation pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.
• 18. Then on the seventh day the baby died. David's advisers were afraid to tell him. "He was so broken up about the baby being sick," they said. "What will he do to himself when we tell him the child is dead?"
• 19. But when David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. "Is the baby dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied.
• 20. Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the LORD. After that, he returned to the palace and ate.
• 21. His advisers were amazed. "We don't understand you," they told him. "While the baby was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the baby is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again."
• 22. David replied, "I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, `Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.'
• 23. But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me."
• 24. Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved the child
• 25. and sent word through Nathan the prophet that his name should be Jedidiah--"beloved of the LORD"--because the LORD loved him.
• 26. Meanwhile, Joab and the Israelite army were successfully ending their siege of Rabbah, the capital of Ammon.
• 27. Joab sent messengers to tell David, "I have fought against Rabbah and captured its water supply.
• 28. Now bring the rest of the army and finish the job, so you will get credit for the victory instead of me."
• 29. So David led the rest of his army to Rabbah and captured it.
• 30. David removed the crown from the king's head, and it was placed on David's own head. The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and it weighed about seventy-five pounds. David took a vast amount of plunder from the city.
• 31. He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with saws, picks, and axes, and to work in the brick kilns. That is how he dealt with the people of all the Ammonite cities. Then David and his army returned to Jerusalem.

New Living Translation: 96 of 324 days.