David and Bathsheba

At the time of year when kings go out to war, David sends Joab to besiege Rabbah but stays in Jerusalem. One evening, from the roof of his palace, he sees a very beautiful woman bathing: Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of his soldiers. He sends for her and sleeps with her; she becomes pregnant. To cover up his sin, David calls Uriah back from the front, but the loyal soldier refuses to go home while the ark and the army are living in tents. David then gives him a letter for Joab: put him in the front line of the fiercest fighting. Uriah dies, and David marries the widow. God sends the prophet Nathan, who tells the story of a rich man who took a poor man’s one little ewe lamb. Outraged, David condemns the rich man. “Thou art the man!” David confesses: “I have sinned against the LORD.” God forgives him, but the child dies. Later, Solomon is born.