2 Samuel 9-11

Legacy Standard Bible

David’s Lovingkindness to Mephibosheth

9 Then David said, “Is there yet ^[a]anyone left of the house of Saul, ^(A)that I may show him lovingkindness for Jonathan’s sake?” ² Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you ^(B)Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³ And the king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the ^(C)lovingkindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “^(D)There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.” ⁴ So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is ^(E)in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.” ⁵ Then King David sent and took him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. ^6 (F)So Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and ^(G)fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” ⁷ And David said to him, “Do not fear, for ^(H)I will surely show lovingkindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and ^(I)will restore to you all the ^[b]land of your ^[c]grandfather Saul; and ^(J)you shall ^[d]eat at my table continually.” ⁸ So he prostrated himself and said, “What is your servant, that you should regard ^(K)a dead dog like me?”

⁹ Then the king called Saul’s young man Ziba and said to him, “^(L)All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s ^[e]grandson. ¹⁰ And you and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master’s grandson may have food and eat of it; nevertheless ^(M)Mephibosheth your master’s grandson ^(N)shall ^[f]eat at my table continually.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According ^(O)to all that my lord the king commands his servant so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth ate at ^[g]David’s table as one of the king’s sons. ¹² Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^(P)he ate at the king’s table continually. Now ^(Q)he was lame in both feet.

The Ammonites Dishonor David’s Men

10 ^(R)Now it happened afterwards, that ^(S)the king of the sons of Ammon died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. ² So David said, “I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of ^(T)Nahash, just as his father showed lovingkindness to me.” So David sent to comfort him concerning his father by the hand of his servants. And David’s servants came to the land of the sons of Ammon. ³ But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “In your eyes, is David honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? ^(U)Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and ^(V)shaved off half of their beards, and ^(W)cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ Then they told it to David. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly dishonored. And the king said, “^[h]Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶ Then the sons of Ammon saw that ^(X)they had become odious to David. So the sons of Ammon sent and ^(Y)hired the Arameans of ^(Z)Beth-rehob and the ^(AA)Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^(AB)Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men. ⁷ Then David heard of it and sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁸ And the sons of Ammon came out and arranged themselves for battle ^(AC)at the entrance of the gate of the city. But the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^(AD)Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram

⁹ Then Joab saw that ^[i]the battle was set against him from the front and from the rear. So he chose from all the choice men of Israel, and they arranged themselves to meet the Arameans. ¹⁰ But the remainder of the people he put in the hand of Abishai his brother; and he arranged them to meet the sons of Ammon. ¹¹ And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall save me, but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to save you. ^12 (AE)Be strong, and let us show strength for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and ^(AF)may Yahweh do what is good in His sight.” ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Arameans, and ^(AG)they fled before him. ¹⁴ Now the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled. So they also fled before Abishai and came into the city. ^(AH)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Then the Arameans saw that they had been ^[j]defeated by Israel. So they gathered themselves together. ^16 (AI)And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the ^[k]River, and they came to Helam; and ^(AJ)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[l]led them. ¹⁷ And it was told to David, so he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans arranged themselves to meet David and fought against him. ¹⁸ But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans ^(AK)700 charioteers and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. ¹⁹ Then all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that they were ^[m]defeated by Israel. So ^(AL)they made peace with Israel and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to save the sons of Ammon anymore.

David and Bathsheba

11 ^(AM)Now it happened ^[n](AN)in the spring, at the time when ^[o]kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and ^(AO)besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

² Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on ^(AP)the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. ³ So David sent and ^[p]inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not ^(AQ)Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^(AR)Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and ^(AS)he lay with her; ^(AT)and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman became pregnant; and she sent and told David, and said, “^(AU)I am pregnant.”

⁶ Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah came to him, ^(AV)David asked concerning the ^[q]state of Joab and the ^[r]state of the people and the ^[s]state of the war. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and ^(AW)wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king went out after him. ⁹ But Uriah lay down ^(AX)at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. ¹⁰ Then they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” And David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” ¹¹ And Uriah said to David, “^(AY)The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in ^[t]booths, and my lord Joab and ^(AZ)the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” ¹² Then David said to Uriah, “^(BA)Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will send you out.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the ^[u]next. ¹³ Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he ^(BB)made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed ^(BC)with his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.

¹⁴ Now it happened in the morning that David ^(BD)wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ^15 (BE)And he had written in the letter, saying, “^[v]Place Uriah in the front line of the ^[w]fiercest battle and withdraw from him, ^(BF)so that he may be struck down and die.” ¹⁶ So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ And the men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and ^(BG)Uriah the Hittite also died. ¹⁸ Then Joab sent and told David all the events of the war. ¹⁹ And he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, ²⁰ and if it happens that the king’s 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? ²¹ Who ^(BH)struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall so he died at Thebez? Why did you approach the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

²² So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. ²³ And the messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we ^[x]pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ And the archers shot at your servants from the wall; so some of the king’s servants died, and your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.” ²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not let this thing be evil in your sight, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle against the city stronger and ^[y]tear it down’; and so strengthen him.”

²⁶ Then the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband had died, so ^(BI)she lamented over her husband. ²⁷ Then the time of mourning passed by, and David sent and gathered her to his house and ^(BJ)she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But ^(BK)the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of Yahweh.