David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David.

Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him.

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

“Stay here today also,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.

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

In the letter he wrote:

Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.

Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David’s soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hittite also died.

if the king’s anger gets stirred up and he asks you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall?

At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? Why did you get so close to the wall?’—then say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

However, the archers shot down on your soldiers from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”

David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him.”

When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him.

So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him:

There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take 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.

I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

Why then have you despised the command of the Lord by doing what I consider evil? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.

Then Nathan went home.

The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill.

On the seventh day the baby died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him the baby was dead. They said, “Look, while the baby was alive, we spoke to him, and he wouldn’t listen to us. So how can we tell him the baby is dead? He may do something desperate.”

When David saw that his servants were whispering to each other, he guessed that the baby was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?”

“He is dead,” they replied.

Then David got up from the ground. He washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, went to the Lord’s house, and worshiped. Then he went home and requested something to eat. So they served him food, and he ate.

Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, “I have fought against Rabbah and have also captured the water supply.

So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; he fought against it and captured it.

He took the crown from the head of their king, and it was placed on David’s head. The crown weighed 75 pounds of gold, and it had a precious stone in it. In addition, David took away a large quantity of plunder from the city.

Some time passed. David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and David’s son Amnon was infatuated with her.

Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, a son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,

and he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so miserable every morning? Won’t you tell me?”

Amnon replied, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you’re sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare food in my presence so I can watch and eat from her hand.’”

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my presence so I can eat from her hand.”

David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Please go to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare a meal for him.”

“Bring the meal to the bedroom,” Amnon told Tamar, “so I can eat from your hand.” Tamar took the cakes she had made and went to her brother Amnon’s bedroom.

Amnon’s servant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a long-sleeved garment, because this is what the king’s virgin daughters wore.

Her brother Absalom said to her: “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in the house of her brother Absalom.

Absalom didn’t say anything to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon since he disgraced his sister Tamar.

Two years later, Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

But Absalom urged him, so he sent Amnon and all the king’s sons.

So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the rest of the king’s sons got up, and each fled on his mule.

While they were on the way, a report reached David: “Absalom struck down all the king’s sons; not even one of them survived!”

But Jonadab, son of David’s brother Shimeah, spoke up: “My lord must not think they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons, because only Amnon is dead. In fact, Absalom has planned this ever since the day Amnon disgraced his sister Tamar.

So now, my lord the king, don’t take seriously the report that says all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the king’s sons have come! It’s exactly like your servant said.”

Just as he finished speaking, the king’s sons entered and wept loudly. Then the king and all his servants also wept bitterly.

Then King David longed to go to Absalom, for David had finished grieving over Amnon’s death.

Joab son of Zeruiah observed that the king’s mind was on Absalom.

So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to bring a clever woman from there. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don’t put on any oil. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time.

Go to the king and speak these words to him.” Then Joab told her exactly what to say.

“What’s the matter?” the king asked her.

“To tell the truth, I am a widow; my husband died,” she said.

Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he murdered. We will destroy the heir!’ They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on earth.”

Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be innocent.”

She replied, “Please, may the king invoke the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not increase the loss, and they will not eliminate my son!”

“As the Lord lives,” he vowed, “not a hair of your son will fall to the ground.”

We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.

“Now therefore, I’ve come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant’s request.

The king will surely listen in order to rescue his servant from the hand of this man who would eliminate both me and my son from God’s inheritance.

The king asked, “Did Joab put you up to all this?”

The woman answered. “As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or left from all my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me; he told your servant exactly what to say.

So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

However, the king added, “He may return to his house, but he may not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his house, but he did not see the king.

When he shaved his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off—he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.

Absalom resided in Jerusalem two years but never saw the king.

Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come. So he sent again, a second time, but he still wouldn’t come.

Then Absalom said to his servants, “See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it!” So Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.

Then Joab came to Absalom’s house and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”

“Look,” Absalom explained to Joab, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? I’d be better off if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king. If I am guilty, let him kill me.”

Joab went to the king and told him. So David summoned Absalom, who came to the king and bowed down with his face to the ground before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.

Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for a settlement. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

“Go in peace,” the king said to him. So he went to Hebron.

Then Absalom sent messengers throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron!’”

While he was offering the sacrifices, Absalom sent for David’s adviser Ahithophel the Gilonite, from his city of Giloh. So the conspiracy grew strong, and the people supporting Absalom continued to increase.

The king’s servants said to him, “Whatever my lord the king decides, we are your servants.”

So the king set out, and all the people followed him. They stopped at the last house

“March on,” David replied to Ittai. So Ittai the Gittite marched past with all his men and the children who were with him.

Then the king instructed Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, He will bring me back and allow me to see both it and its dwelling place.

However, if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am—He can do with me whatever pleases Him.”

The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Look, return to the city in peace and your two sons with you: your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan.

So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.

but if you return to the city and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, my king! Previously, I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can counteract Ahithophel’s counsel for me.

Won’t Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report everything you hear from the king’s palace to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

Take note: their two sons, Zadok’s son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan, are there with them. Send me everything you hear through them.”

So Hushai, David’s personal adviser, entered Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.

When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant, was right there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 bunches of summer fruit, and a skin of wine.

The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who become exhausted in the desert.”

“Where is your master’s grandson?” the king asked.

“Why, he’s staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba replied to the king, “for he said, ‘Today, the house of Israel will restore my grandfather’s kingdom to me.’”

He threw stones at David and at all the royal servants, the people and the warriors on David’s right and left.

The king replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything? He curses me this way because the Lord told him, ‘Curse David!’ Therefore, who can say, ‘Why did you do that?’”

Perhaps the Lord will see my affliction and restore goodness to me instead of Shimei’s curses today.”

So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei was going along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he cursed David, and threw stones and dirt at him.

Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived exhausted, so they rested there.

When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

Furthermore, whom will I serve if not his son? As I served in your father’s presence, I will also serve in yours.”

Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Sleep with your father’s concubines he left to take care of the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become repulsive to your father, everyone with you will be encouraged.”

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.

Now the advice Ahithophel gave in those days was like someone asking about a word from God—such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice.

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Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite also. Let’s hear what he has to say as well.”

So Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him: “Ahithophel offered this proposal. Should we carry out his proposal? If not, what do you say?”

He’s probably already hiding in one of the caves or some other place. If some of our troops fall first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There’s been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba—as numerous as the sand by the sea—be gathered to you and that you personally go into battle.

Since the Lord had decreed that Ahithophel’s good advice be undermined in order to bring about Absalom’s ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.”

However, a young man did see them and informed Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.

Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything.

Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

“They passed by toward the water,” the woman replied to them. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one who had not crossed the Jordan.

When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.