David and Bathsheba
1 The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem.
2 One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful. 3 So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learned that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 4 David sent messengers to get her; they brought her to him and he made love to her. (She had just finished her monthly ritual of purification.) Then she went back home. 5 Afterward she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him.
6 David then sent a message to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, “Go on home and rest a while.” Uriah left, and David had a present sent to his home. 9 But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards. 10 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he asked him, “You have just returned after a long absence; why didn't you go home?”
11 Uriah answered, “The men of Israel and Judah are away in battle, and the Covenant Box is with them; my commander Joab and his officers are camping out in the open. How could I go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By all that's sacred, I swear that I could never do such a thing!”
12 So David said, “Then stay here the rest of the day, and tomorrow I'll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 David invited him to supper and got him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket in the palace guardroom.
14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. 15 He wrote: “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed.” 16 So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong. 17 The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah.
18 Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle, 19 and he instructed the messenger, “After you have told the king all about the battle, 20 he may get angry and ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight them? Didn't you realize that they would shoot arrows from the walls? 21 Don't you remember how Abimelech son of Gideon was killed? It was at Thebez, where a woman threw a millstone down from the wall and killed him. Why, then, did you go so near the wall?’ If the king asks you this, tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah was also killed.’”
22 So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say. 23 He said, “Our enemies were stronger than we were and came out of the city to fight us in the open, but we drove them back to the city gate. 24 Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed.”
25 David said to the messenger, “Encourage Joab and tell him not to be upset, since you never can tell who will die in battle. Tell him to launch a stronger attack on the city and capture it.”
26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. 27 When the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with what David had done.
David naBatseba
1 Oshitemamvula sha landula, ethimbo ndyoka lyomumvo omukwaniilwa ha ka hinga olwindji iita, David okwa tumu Joab naambala ye netangakwiita lyAaisraeli. Oya dhenge Aayammoni e taa kondeke oshilando shawo Rabba. Ihe David ye mwene okwa kala muJerusalem.
2 Esiku limwe komatango David okwa zi momutala gwe e ta ka lyanga kontala yongulu. Manga ta lyanga nkoka, okwa mono omukulukadhi ti iyogo. Okwa li o opala. 3 David okwa tumu omutumwa, a uve kutya oye olye, nokwa koneke kutya nani oye Batseba yaEliam, omukiintu gwaUria Omuheti. 4 David okwa tumu aatumwa, ye ke mu tale. Oye mu eta kuye, oye nokwa lala naye. (Okwa adhika opo a mana eiyopaleko lye lyokomwedhi.) Nena okwa shuna kaandjawo. 5 Konima yaambika okwi idhimbulula kutya nani omusimba e ta tumu elaka kuDavid oku mu tseyithila.
6 Nena David okwa tumu elaka kuJoab tali ti: “Tumina ndje Uria Omuheti.” Osho ngaaka Joab okwe mu tumu kuDavid. 7 Uria sho a thiki, David okwe mu pula, ngele Joab naakwiita oye li nawa, nolugodhi kutya olwa tya ngiini. 8 Nena okwa ti kuUria: “Inda kaandjeni, u ka vululukwe manga.” Urija okwa zi po, naDavid okwa tumu omulongelo kaandjawo. 9 Ihe Uria ina ya kegumbo, ndele okwa lala kehale lyuuwa pamwe naalangeli yomukwaniilwa. 10 David sho u uvu kutya Uria ina ya kaandjawo, okwe mu pula a ti: “Ndishi owa kala ethimbo ele kuu po pegumbo; omolwashike nduno inoo ya kegumbo?”
11 Uria okwa yamukula a ti: “Aalumentu Aaisraeli nAajuda oye li kiita, noshikethahangano oshi li pamwe nayo; mwene gwandje Joab naantu ye oye li montanda melundu. Ote vulu ngiini okuya kaandjetu, ndi ka lye e tandi nu nokulala pamwe nomukiintu gwandje? Oshili ngaashi u na omwenyo, otandi gana kutya itandi ka ninga nando iinima ya tya ngeyi!”
12 David okwa ti: “Kala ano muka esiku limwe, ngula otandi ke ku laleka, u shune.” Osho Uria a kalele muJerusalem esiku ndyoka nesiku lyanofu wo. 13 David okwe mu ithana koshililo nokwe mu kolitha. Ihe uusiku mboka wo Uria ina ya kegumbo; okwi igonyene ashike mekumbyatha lye komitala dhaalangeli yombala.
14 Ongula sho kwa shi, David okwa nyolele Joab ombilive nokwe yi tumu naUria. 15 Okwa nyola ngeyi: “Tula Uria pokuma pu na olugodhi olupyu, ne mu ze po ondapo, opo a dhipagwe.” 16 Nena mokukondeka oshilando Joab okwa tula Uria pehala mpoka a tseya kutya opu na aatondi aanankondo. 17 Omatanga gaatondi oga tsinuka ko ga zi koshilando taga kondjitha Joab naantu ye; omalenga gamwe gaDavid ga dhipagwa nosho wo Uria.
18 Nena Joab okwa tumu etseyitho kuDavid e te mu hokololele olugodhi. 19 Joab okwa longo omutumwa ta ti: “Shampa wa mana okuhokololela omukwaniilwa olugodhi, 20 otashi vulika a geye e te ku pula ta ti: ‘Omolwashike mwa yile pooha dhoshilando noku ya kondjitha? Inamu shi dhimbulula nani kutya aanamatati otaye mu yaha ya londa kedhingililokuma lyoshilando? 21 Itamu dhimbulukwa, nkene Abimelek yaGideon a dhipagwa puTebes, mpoka omukulukadhi e mu umbile oshikweyithilomanya okuza kekuma e tali mu dhipaga. Omolwashike nduno mwa yi popepi nekuma?’ Omukwaniilwa ngele ote ku pula shika, mu lombwela u tye: ‘Omumati gwoye Uria okwa sa wo.’ ”
22 Omutumwa okwa yi nduno kuDavid nokwe mu hokololele shoka Joab e mu lombwele, a tye. 23 Okwa ti: “Aatondi yetu oya li aanankondo ye tu vule. Oye tu gwililile po ya piti mo moshilando, ye tu kondjithe melundu, ihe tse otwe ya shunitha mo sigo posheelo. 24 Nena oye ta umbu iikuti okuza kekuma, nayamwe yomomalenga goye, Nkeyama, oya dhipagwa; omumati gwoye Uria okwa dhipagwa wo.”
25 David okwa ti komutumwa: “Tsa Joab omukumo, ngoye u mu lombwele u tye: ‘Ino piyagana, oshoka egonga otali dhipaga nena ngu, ngula ngwiyaka. Ponokeleni ashike oshilando, mu shi kwate po.’ ”
26 Batseba sho a kundana omulume a dhipagwa, okwe mu lili. 27 Oosa sho dha halakana, David okwe mu tumu a ka talwe ko, e ye kombala. Okwa ningi omukiintu gwe e te mu valele okanona okamati. Ihe Omuwa ka li a panda shoka David a ningi.
