Then Davidsaidto the messenger,"Thusyou shall sayto Joab,'Do not let thisthingdispleaseyou, for the sworddevoursoneas well as another;makeyour battleagainstthe citystrongerand overthrowit'; and [so] encouragehim."
"Moreover, the archersshotat your servantsfrom the wall;so someof the king'sservantsare dead,and your servantUriahthe Hittiteis alsodead."
Now when the wifeof Uriahheardthat Uriahher husbandwas dead,she mournedfor her husband.
Now Joabfoughtagainst Rabbahof the sonsof Ammonand capturedthe royalcity.
But the people,the menof Israel,encouragedthemselves and arrayedfor battleagainin the placewherethey had arrayedthemselves the firstday.
"Watch,ifit goesup by the wayof its own territoryto Beth-shemesh,then He has doneus thisgreatevil.But ifnot, then we will knowthat it was not His handthat struckus; it happenedto us by chance."
