WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.140 Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the daily bible reading experience. 00:00:03.257 --> 00:00:04.437 Day 200 and 2 00:00:04.854 --> 00:00:08.904 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, 00:00:09.344 --> 00:00:13.434 David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. 00:00:14.304 --> 00:00:18.564 They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. 00:00:19.134 --> 00:00:22.274 However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 00:00:23.604 --> 00:00:28.624 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was 00:00:28.634 --> 00:00:30.344 walking on the roof of the palace. 00:00:31.494 --> 00:00:36.784 As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 00:00:37.694 --> 00:00:42.654 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, she is 00:00:42.684 --> 00:00:47.524 Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 00:00:48.744 --> 00:00:52.434 Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to 00:00:52.434 --> 00:00:54.434 the palace, He slept with her. 00:00:55.234 --> 00:00:59.644 She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. 00:01:00.694 --> 00:01:02.054 Then she returned home. 00:01:02.944 --> 00:01:07.134 Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent 00:01:07.144 --> 00:01:10.204 David a message saying, I'm pregnant. 00:01:11.194 --> 00:01:16.644 Then David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah the Hittite. 00:01:17.444 --> 00:01:19.174 So Joab sent him to David. 00:01:20.089 --> 00:01:24.739 When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting 00:01:24.739 --> 00:01:27.039 along and how the war was progressing. 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:31.709 Then he told Uriah, Go on home and relax. 00:01:32.559 --> 00:01:36.179 David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. 00:01:37.119 --> 00:01:38.749 But Uriah didn't go home. 00:01:39.189 --> 00:01:43.119 He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king's palace guard. 00:01:44.139 --> 00:01:48.219 When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him 00:01:48.219 --> 00:01:50.364 and asked, What's the matter? 00:01:50.944 --> 00:01:54.384 Why didn't you go home last night after being away for so long? 00:01:55.664 --> 00:02:01.684 Uriah replied, The ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in 00:02:01.684 --> 00:02:06.854 tents, and Joab and my master's men are camping in the open fields. 00:02:07.629 --> 00:02:11.779 How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? 00:02:12.549 --> 00:02:14.969 I swear that I would never do such a thing. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:22.179 Well, stay here today, David told him, and tomorrow you may return to the army. 00:02:23.189 --> 00:02:26.719 So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:32.699 Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk, but even then he couldn't 00:02:32.709 --> 00:02:35.079 get Uriah to go home to his wife. 00:02:35.949 --> 00:02:39.869 Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king's palace guard. 00:02:40.869 --> 00:02:46.239 So, the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. 00:02:47.169 --> 00:02:52.489 The letter instructed Joab, Station Uriah on the front lines where 00:02:52.489 --> 00:02:57.189 the battle is fiercest, then pull back so that he will be killed. 00:02:58.459 --> 00:03:03.559 So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the 00:03:03.559 --> 00:03:05.629 enemy's strongest men were fighting. 00:03:06.329 --> 00:03:10.359 And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:14.119 the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers. 00:03:15.339 --> 00:03:17.629 Then Joab sent a battle report to David. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:22.919 He told his messenger, Report all the news of the battle to the king. 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:28.389 But he might get angry and ask, Why did the troops go so close to the city? 00:03:29.029 --> 00:03:31.729 Didn't they know there would be shooting from the walls? 00:03:32.274 --> 00:03:36.904 Wasn't Abimelech son of Gideon killed at Thebes by a woman who threw a 00:03:36.904 --> 00:03:38.994 millstone down on him from the wall? 00:03:39.924 --> 00:03:42.144 Why would you get so close to the wall? 00:03:43.074 --> 00:03:47.134 Then tell him, Uriah the Hittite was killed, too. 00:03:48.454 --> 00:03:52.494 So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. 00:03:53.664 --> 00:03:58.544 The enemy came out against us in the open fields, he said, and as we 00:03:58.544 --> 00:04:00.544 chased them back to the city gate. 00:04:01.104 --> 00:04:03.524 The archers on the wall shot arrows at us. 00:04:04.164 --> 00:04:08.254 Some of the king's men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite. 00:04:09.194 --> 00:04:13.134 Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged, David said. 00:04:13.414 --> 00:04:17.324 The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow. 00:04:17.654 --> 00:04:20.294 Fight harder next time, and conquer the city. 00:04:21.564 --> 00:04:26.224 When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 00:04:26.924 --> 00:04:30.494 When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her 00:04:30.494 --> 00:04:31.834 and brought her to the palace. 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:34.079 And she became one of his wives. 00:04:35.009 --> 00:04:40.769 Then she gave birth to a son, but the Lord was displeased with what David had done. 00:04:42.339 --> 00:04:46.189 So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story. 00:04:47.209 --> 00:04:49.389 There were two men in a certain town. 00:04:49.979 --> 00:04:52.149 One was rich and one was poor. 00:04:52.799 --> 00:04:55.459 The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. 00:04:56.039 --> 00:04:59.639 The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. 00:05:00.299 --> 00:05:03.829 He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. 00:05:04.449 --> 00:05:07.509 It ate from the man's own plate and drank from his cup. 00:05:08.294 --> 00:05:10.904 He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. 00:05:12.134 --> 00:05:14.914 One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. 00:05:15.364 --> 00:05:19.414 But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he 00:05:19.414 --> 00:05:23.844 took the poor man's lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest. 00:05:24.884 --> 00:05:26.534 David was furious. 00:05:27.264 --> 00:05:31.604 As surely as the Lord lives, he vowed, any man who would do 00:05:31.604 --> 00:05:33.194 such a thing deserves to die. 00:05:33.434 --> 00:05:36.554 He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he 00:05:36.554 --> 00:05:38.434 stole and for having no pity. 00:05:39.504 --> 00:05:44.034 Then Nathan said to David, You are that man. 00:05:44.784 --> 00:05:50.764 The Lord, the God of Israel, says, I anointed you king of Israel and 00:05:50.764 --> 00:05:52.734 saved you from the power of Saul. 00:05:53.344 --> 00:05:56.494 I gave you your master's house and his wives and the 00:05:56.494 --> 00:05:58.374 kingdoms of Israel and Judah. 00:05:59.264 --> 00:06:03.564 And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. 00:06:04.314 --> 00:06:09.604 Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? 00:06:10.204 --> 00:06:14.844 For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites. 00:06:15.174 --> 00:06:16.644 And stolen his wife. 00:06:17.344 --> 00:06:22.644 From this time on, your family will live by the sword, because you have despised 00:06:22.684 --> 00:06:25.304 me by taking Uriah's wife to be your own. 00:06:26.464 --> 00:06:28.214 This is what the Lord says. 00:06:29.074 --> 00:06:32.344 Because of what you have done, I will cause your own 00:06:32.344 --> 00:06:34.164 household to rebel against you. 00:06:34.794 --> 00:06:38.974 I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will 00:06:38.974 --> 00:06:41.034 go to bed with them in public view. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:45.849 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly 00:06:45.849 --> 00:06:47.449 in the sight of all Israel. 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:53.359 Then David confessed to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:59.839 Nathan replied, Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:01.399 you won't die for this sin. 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:06.639 Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord 00:07:06.649 --> 00:07:09.409 by doing this, your child will die. 00:07:11.114 --> 00:07:15.734 After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to 00:07:15.734 --> 00:07:17.994 the child of David and Uriah's wife. 00:07:18.964 --> 00:07:21.324 David begged God to spare the child. 00:07:21.554 --> 00:07:24.774 He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. 00:07:25.454 --> 00:07:28.784 The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and 00:07:28.784 --> 00:07:31.014 eat with them, but he refused. 00:07:31.904 --> 00:07:34.354 Then on the seventh day, the child died. 00:07:35.394 --> 00:07:37.744 David's advisors were afraid to tell him. 00:07:38.434 --> 00:07:42.184 He wouldn't listen to reason while the child was ill, they said. 00:07:42.544 --> 00:07:46.354 What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead? 00:07:47.404 --> 00:07:50.944 When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. 00:07:51.994 --> 00:07:53.364 Is the child dead? 00:07:53.634 --> 00:07:54.324 he asked. 00:07:54.864 --> 00:07:56.324 Yes, they replied. 00:07:56.844 --> 00:07:57.674 He is dead. 00:07:58.854 --> 00:08:02.694 Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on 00:08:02.694 --> 00:08:04.514 lotions and changed his clothes. 00:08:05.179 --> 00:08:07.719 He went to the tabernacle and worshipped the Lord. 00:08:08.469 --> 00:08:12.509 After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate. 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:15.179 His advisors were amazed. 00:08:16.109 --> 00:08:18.329 We don't understand you, they told him. 00:08:18.889 --> 00:08:22.729 While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. 00:08:23.459 --> 00:08:25.889 But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your 00:08:25.909 --> 00:08:27.319 mourning and are eating again. 00:08:28.189 --> 00:08:33.579 David replied, I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for 00:08:33.579 --> 00:08:37.869 I said, Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live. 00:08:38.599 --> 00:08:40.519 But why should I fast when he is dead? 00:08:41.209 --> 00:08:42.589 Can I bring him back again? 00:08:43.429 --> 00:08:47.239 I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me. 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:52.269 Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. 00:08:53.219 --> 00:08:57.999 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. 00:08:58.849 --> 00:09:02.409 The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet. 00:09:02.809 --> 00:09:07.209 that they should name him Jedidiah, which means Beloved of the Lord. 00:09:07.654 --> 00:09:09.044 As the Lord had commanded. 00:09:10.614 --> 00:09:16.344 Meanwhile, Joab was fighting against Rabba, the capital of Ammon, and he 00:09:16.344 --> 00:09:18.324 captured the royal fortifications. 00:09:19.144 --> 00:09:22.994 Joab sent messengers to tell David, I have fought against Rabba 00:09:23.034 --> 00:09:24.744 and captured its water supply. 00:09:25.334 --> 00:09:28.024 Now bring the rest of the army and capture the city. 00:09:28.624 --> 00:09:31.894 Otherwise, I will capture it and get credit for the victory. 00:09:33.029 --> 00:09:36.999 So David gathered the rest of the army and went to Rabbah, and he 00:09:36.999 --> 00:09:38.699 fought against it and captured it. 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:43.999 David removed the crown from the king's head, and it was placed on his own head. 00:09:44.719 --> 00:09:49.579 The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and it weighed seventy five pounds. 00:09:50.874 --> 00:09:53.384 David took a vast amount of plunder from the city. 00:09:53.854 --> 00:09:57.564 He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah, and forced them to labor 00:09:57.564 --> 00:10:02.914 with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to work in the brick kilns. 00:10:03.744 --> 00:10:06.974 That is how he dealt with the people of all the Ammonite towns. 00:10:07.874 --> 00:10:10.804 Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem. 00:10:12.434 --> 00:10:15.274 This concludes today's Immerse Reading experience. 00:10:15.424 --> 00:10:16.614 Thank you for joining us.