Her husband went along behind her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Finally Abner said to him, “Go back!” So he returned home.

So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he’s gone on his way!

When David later heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the shed blood of Abner son of Ner!

Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great leader has fallen this day in Israel?

So David asked the Lord what he should do. This time the Lord said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees.

The king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of God sits in the middle of a tent.”

King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point?

Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?”

Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master’s grandson.

Messengers told David what had happened, so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”

Joab said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, I will come to your rescue.

So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him.

So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one.

The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way to the door of the city gate.

Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die!

When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.”

He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Perhaps the Lord will show pity and the child will live.

Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.

But when she took the pan and set it before him, he refused to eat. Instead Amnon said, “Get everyone out of here!” So everyone left.