1 Om våren, på den tiden konger drar ut i krig, sendte David Joab og sine tjenere og hele Israel med ham. De herjet landet til ammonittene og omringet Rabbah. Men David ble værende i Jerusalem.

Now in the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, David sent Joab and his servants and all Israel with him; and they made waste the land of the children of Ammon, and took up their position before Rabbah, shutting it in. But David was still at Jerusalem.

2 En kveld sto David opp fra sengen og gikk en tur på taket av kongens hus. Derfra så han en kvinne som badet, og kvinnen var meget vakker.

Now one evening, David got up from his bed, and while he was walking on the roof of the king's house, he saw from there a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.

3 David sendte noen for å finne ut hvem kvinnen var. En sa: "Er ikke dette Batseba, datter av Eliam og kone til hetitten Uria?"

And David sent to get knowledge who the woman was. And one said, Is this not Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?

4 David sendte bud etter henne og tok henne til seg, og hun kom til ham. Han lå med henne (etter at hun hadde renset seg), de så gikk hun hjem.

And David sent and took her; and she came to him, and he took her to his bed: (for she had been made clean;) then she went back to her house.

5 Kvinnen ble gravid og sendte bud til David og sa at hun var gravid.

And the woman became with child; and she sent word to David that she was with child.

6 David sendte bud til Joab og sa: "Send Uria, hetitten, til meg." Joab sendte Uria til David.

And David sent to Joab saying, Send Uriah the Hittite to me. And Joab sent Uriah to David.

7 Da Uria kom til ham, spurte David om hvordan Joab hadde det, hvordan folket hadde det, og hvordan krigen gikk.

And when Uriah came to him, David put questions to him about how Joab and the people were, and how the war was going.

8 David sa til Uria: "Gå ned til ditt hus og vask dine føtter." Uria forlot kongens hus, og en gave fra kongen ble sendt etter ham.

And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house and let your feet be washed. And Uriah went away from the king's house, and an offering from the king was sent after him.

9 Men Uria la seg ved inngangsdøren til kongens hus sammen med alle kongens tjenere og gikk ikke ned til sitt hus.

But Uriah took his rest at the door of the king's house, with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.

10 Da David fikk vite at Uria ikke hadde gått ned til sitt hus, spurte han Uria: "Har du ikke reist langt? Hvorfor gikk du ikke hjem?"

And when word was given to David that Uriah had not gone down to his house, David said to Uriah, Have you not come from a journey? why did you not go down to your house?

11 Uria svarte David: "Israels og Judas menn og arken bor i telt, mens min herre Joab og herrens tjenere sover ute på marken. Skulle jeg da gå til mitt hus og spise, drikke og ligge med min kone? Så sant Herren lever og du lever, jeg gjør ikke slikt."

And Uriah said to David, Israel and Judah with the ark are living in tents, and my lord Joab and the other servants of my lord are sleeping in the open field; and am I to go to my house and take food and drink, and go to bed with my wife? By the living Lord, and by the life of your soul, I will not do such a thing.

12 David sa til Uria: "Bli her i dag også, så skal jeg la deg dra i morgen." Uria ble da i Jerusalem den dagen og dagen etter.

And David said to Uriah, Be here today, and after that I will let you go. So Uriah was in Jerusalem that day and the day after.

13 David kalte ham til seg, og han spiste og drakk hos David, som sørget for at han ble full. Om kvelden la han seg på sengen blant kongens tjenere, men han gikk ikke hjem.

And when David sent for him, he took meat and drink with him, and David made him the worse for drink: and when evening came, he went to rest on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

14 Morgenen etter skrev David et brev til Joab og gav det til Uria å bringe.

Now in the morning, David gave Uriah a letter to take to Joab.

15 I brevet sto det: "Sett Uria i frontlinjen der kampen er hardest, og trekk dere så tilbake fra ham, så han blir truffet og drept."

And in the letter he said, Take care to put Uriah in the very front of the line, where the fighting is most violent, and go back from him, so that he may be overcome and put to death.

16 Mens Joab voktet byen, plasserte han Uria der han visste de sterkeste krigerne var.

So while Joab was watching the town, he put Uriah in the place where it was clear to him the best fighters were.

17 Da mennene fra byen gikk ut for å kjempe mot Joab, falt flere av Davids menn, og blant dem hetitten Uria.

And the men of the town went out and had a fight with Joab: and a number of David's men came to their death in the fight, and with them Uriah the Hittite.

18 Joab sendte da David melding om alt som hadde skjedd i krigen.

Then Joab sent David news of everything which had taken place in the war:

19 Han ga budbæreren beskjed: "Når du har fortalt kongen alt om krigen,

And he gave orders to the man who took the news, saying, After you have given the king all the news about the war,

20 og hvis kongen blir sint og spør: 'Hvorfor gikk dere så nær byen for å kjempe? Visste dere ikke at bueskytterne ville skyte fra muren?

If the king is angry and says, Why did you go so near the town for the fight? was it not certain that their archers would be on the wall?

21 Hvem drepte Abimelek, Jerubbaals sønn? Var det ikke en kvinne som kastet en tung stein fra muren og drepte ham i Thebes? Hvorfor gikk dere så nær muren?' Da skal du si til ham: 'Uria, hetitten, er også blant de døde.'"

Who put Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, to death? did not a woman send a great stone down on him from the wall, putting him to death at Thebez? why did you go so near the wall? Then say to him, Your servant Uriah the Hittite is among the dead.

22 Budbæreren dro av sted, kom til David og fortalte ham alt Joab hadde sendt ham.

So the man went, and came to David, and gave him all the news which Joab had sent him to give; then David was angry with Joab and said, Why did you go so near the town for the fight? was it not certain that their archers would be on the wall? who put Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, to death? did not a woman send a great stone down on him from the wall, putting him to death at Thebez? why did you go so near the wall?

23 Budbæreren sa til David: "Mennene fikk overtaket på oss og kom ut mot oss i åpen mark, men vi drev dem tilbake til byporten.

And the man said to David, Truly the men got the better of us, and came out against us into the open country, but we sent them back to the very doors of the town.

24 Da skjøt bueskytterne fra muren på tjenerne dine, og noen av kongens tjenere er døde, blant dem er også Uria, hetitten."

And the archers sent their arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's servants are dead, and among them is your servant Uriah the Hittite.

25 David sa til budbæreren: "Si til Joab: 'La det ikke bekymre deg, for sverdet fortærer den ene som den andre. Forsterk angrepet mot byen og innta den.'" "Sett mot i ham."

Then David said to the man, Go and say to Joab, Do not let this be a grief to you; for one man may come to his death by the sword like another: put up an even stronger fight against the town, and take it: and do you put heart into him.

26 Da Urias kone hørte at mannen hennes var død, sørget hun over ham.

And when the wife of Uriah had news that her husband was dead, she gave herself up to weeping for him.

27 Etter sorgens dager sendte David bud etter henne, tok henne til sitt hus, og hun ble hans kone og fødte ham en sønn. Men Herren var ikke fornøyd med det David hadde gjort.

And when the days of weeping were past, David sent for her, and took her into his house, and she became his wife and gave him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with the thing David had done.