This is a simplified version of the Bible story found in 2 Samuel 11-12:25, written for children to understand. For the original version, please refer to the Bible passage.
Once upon a time, there was a man named David. He was a king, which means he was in charge of a whole country called Israel. David had lots of soldiers, and they went to fight against other countries when they needed to.
One day, David stayed home while his soldiers went to fight. While he was walking on the roof of his house, he saw a woman taking a bath. Her name was Bathsheba, and David thought she was very beautiful. He asked his helpers who she was, and they told him she was married to a man named Uriah.
David didn’t listen to them, and he sent for Bathsheba to come see him. They did something very bad together, and Bathsheba became pregnant. David didn’t want anyone to know, so he tried to cover up what he did by bringing Uriah back from the war and telling him to go home and be with his wife. But Uriah wouldn’t go home, because he didn’t want to rest while his friends were still fighting in the war.
David did something even worse then. He wrote a letter to the leader of his army, telling him to put Uriah in the front of the battle and then leave him there so he would be killed. This was very, very bad.
After Uriah was killed, David took Bathsheba to be his wife. But what David did made God very unhappy.
God sent a man named Nathan to talk to David. Nathan told him a story about two men in a city. One man was rich and had many animals, while the other was poor and had only one little lamb that he loved very much. The lamb ate from the man’s plate, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms like a daughter.
One day, a traveler came to the rich man’s house, but instead of taking one of his own animals to prepare a meal, the rich man took the poor man’s only lamb and killed it for food. David was very angry when he heard this story and said that the rich man deserved to die and should pay back the poor man four times as much as he had taken.
Then Nathan said to David, “You are that rich man! You have everything you could want, but you took another man’s wife and killed him in battle. Because of what you have done, bad things will happen to your family.”
David was very sad and realized that he had done something very wrong. He said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan told David that God had forgiven him, but that there would still be consequences for what he had done.
David’s baby with Bathsheba became very sick and died, but David knew that God had forgiven him and that even though the baby was gone, he would go to be with God in heaven. Then he went to the temple and worshipped God, thanking Him for His forgiveness.
David and Bathsheba had another baby later, and they named him Solomon. God loved Solomon very much, and he grew up to be a wise king.
Biblical Lessons
- God wants us to do what is right, even when no one is looking.
- It’s important to tell the truth, even if it’s hard.
- Everyone makes mistakes, but we can ask God to forgive us and try to do better.
- Bad choices can have bad consequences.