14. The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
15. He wrote in the letter, "Place Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle, and then pull back from him so that he will be struck down and die."
16. So as Joab was attacking the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew there were strong warriors.
17. When the city’s soldiers came out and attacked Joab, some of the people from David’s army fell. Uriah the Hittite was also killed.
18. Joab sent a complete report of the battle to David.
19. "When you have finished reporting all the news of the battle to the king," Joab instructed the messenger,
20. "if the king gets angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? didn’t you know they would shoot from the wall?
21. Who killed Jerubbaal’s son Abimelech? didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone on top of him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ then say: ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.’"
22. So the messenger set off, and when he arrived he reported to David everything Joab sent him to say.
23. "The men overpowered us," the messenger told David. "They came out against us in the open field, but we fought against them up to the entrance of the city gate.