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.
Dafite na Bhatisheba
1 Kukati mu tjilimo, nge tjibaka tja bomambo bebhuda beyenda ku ngwa, Dafite katuma Joabu ne makombgwa awe ne ngwa yose ye Iziraela. Bakalobesa Baamoni, bebuya bekomba Rabha nge ngwa. Koga Dafite iye wakabe asala ku Jerusalema.
2 Kukati limwe zhuba kuli matewuko Dafite emuka pa bulawo gugwe, kabe eyendayenda pezhugwi kwe denga le ng'umba iye ye bushe. Kati ali pezhugwi kwe ng'umba kabona nkadzi engula, nkadzi mbuya kwazo. 3 Dafite katuma ntumwa kunobhuzwisisa ngekwe nkadzi iwoyo. Kukalebgwa kuyi, “Ndi Bhatisheba nkololokadzi wa Eliamu, nkadzi wa Uriya we Nhiti.” 4 Ndizo Dafite katuma batumwa kunon'dana, nkadzi kazha, Dafite kalala naye. (Bhatisheba wakabe atjadwa mu kuzwitjenapadza shule kwe mazhuba awe e mangulilo.) Shule kwa ipapo kabgwilila ku nzi uwe. 5 Ngono nkadzi kazwisenga katumila dama kuna Dafite eti, “Ndakazwisenga.”
6 Ndizo Dafite katumila dama kuna Joabu eti, “Tumila Uriya we Nhiti kundili.” Ngono Joabu katumila Uriya kuna Dafite. 7 Kwakati Uriya eswika kuna Dafite, kambhuzwa kuti Joabu ne babhayani bamuka tjini nenge ngwa kuti inoyenda tjini. 8 Ipapo Dafite kadwa Uriya kati, “Yenda ku ng'umba iyo, unonyatutuka.” Uriya kadwa mu ng'umba ye bushe kayenda, ngono katobedziwa tjipo ku ng'umba iye tjidwa kuna mambo. 9 Koga Uriya kayizela pa nkoba we ng'umba ye bushe ne balanda bose ba tetshi uwe, kasitongoyenda ku nzi uwe. 10 Kukati Dafite ehwa kuti Uriya aazoyenda ku nzi uwe, kambhuzwa kati, “Apa ateiko kwawabe utjaswika wagala usipo, ini usayenda ku nzi uwo kene?”
11 Uriya kashandula Dafite eti, “Balume be Iziraela ne Juda ba mu ngwa ku shango, ne Bhokisi le Tjidumano banalo ikoko na tetshi wangu Joabu ne makombgwa awe bagele mu shango pa liteya njelele. Apa ndingayenda ku nzi wangu ndinoja nding'wa ndibuya ndilala ne nkadzi wangu kene? Ndolebesa ndotuna, se mutjatjila, andingafe ndathama kuthu kwakajalo.”
12 Ndizo Dafite kadwa Uriya kati, “Ushwe ipapa kakale nasi, ngono mangwana ndowokuletja ukabgwililazo.” Ndizo Uriya kashwa mu Jerusalema zhuba ilelo nenge tjimuka. 13 Dafite kankoka kunoja ebuya eng'wa naye, ngono kanlaladzisa, kukati madekwana Uriya kabhuda kanoyizela pa thobo dzidze ne balanda ba tetshi uwe, koga kasitongoyenda ku nzi uwe.
14 Tjimuka mangwanana Dafite kakwalila Joabu lukwalo, kagupa Uriya kunompa igo. 15 Mu lukwalo wakakwala eti, “Mutungamidze Uriya mu ngwa kwainolema kwazo, mube muntshedukila kuti abhaiwe afe.” 16 Kukati Joabu ekomba nzi nge ngwa, kadwa Uriya kunongina paakabe eziba kuti zwita zwakasima. 17 Balume be nzi iwoyo bakabhuda kuwobhayana na Joabu, bamwe be babhayani, balanda ba Dafite bakafa na Uriya we Nhiti kabulawabo. 18 Joabu wakatuma ntumwa kunobudza Dafite nge buzhalo ngekwe ngwa. 19 Kadwa ntumwa kati, “Ha usinopedza kubudza mambo thawu dzose ngekwe ngwa, 20 ha mambo bangazhala bushongola, ha bangakubhuzwa beti, ‘Ini makangina kusi kwe nzi kwazo kugwa? Apa makabe musingazibe kuti banowoposa misebe betjuludza guma kene? 21 Apa ndiyani wakabulaya Abimeleki nkololo wa Jerubesheti kene? Apa nkadzi azoposa gwiyo katjuludza guma likan'wila, kabe efa ku Thebesi? Ini makabe musedzela kusi kwe guma?’ Ube udwa mambo uti, ‘Ne nlanda wenyu Uriya we Nhiti wafabo.’ ”
22 Ndizo ntumwa kayenda, ngono wakati eswika kabudza Dafite zose zwaakabe adwiwa ndi Joabu kuti azwilebe. 23 Ntumwa wakabudza Dafite eti, “Balume ibabaje bakatikulila, bakabhuda bakagwa naswi mu shango, koga takabatutudzila shule tikanobasiya pa nkoba we nzi. 24 Ipapo Baposi be misebe bakaposela misebe ku balanda benyu balipezhugwi kwe guma, ngono bamwe be balanda ba mambo bakafa ne nlanda wenyu Uriya we Nhiti wakafabo.”
25 Dafite wakadwa ntumwa kati, “Udwe Joabu uti, ‘Kuthu ikoku kusikugwadzise moyo, ngobe thumo lobhaya walinobe lalingisana naye. Igwani makasima mukolomodze nzi iwoyu.’ Ulebe uijalo kusimisa Joabu tjilopa.”
26 Kwakati nkadzi wa Uriya ehwa kuti nlume uwe wafa, akanlilila. 27 Kukati tjibaka tje tjililo tjapinda, Dafite kabe eti nkadzi wa Uriya azhisiwe ku ng'umba iye, ngono kanlobola, akawanila Dafite mwana we tjilisana. Koga kuthu ikoku kwakathamwa ndi Dafite kukasishathise Yahwe.