14. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
15. In the letter he wrote, “Put Uriah on the front line where the fighting is heaviest. Then abandon him so that he’ll be struck down and die.”
16. Since Joab had kept the city under observation, he put Uriah at the place where he knew the experienced warriors were.
17. The men of the city came out and fought Joab. Some of the people, namely, some of David’s mercenaries, fell and died—including Uriah the Hittite.
18. Then Joab sent ⌊a messenger⌋ to report to David all the details of the battle.
19. And he commanded the messenger, “When you finish telling the king about the battle,
20. the king may become angry. He might ask 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 Jerubbesheth’s son Abimelech? Didn’t a woman on the wall of Thebez throw a small millstone at him and kill him? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ If the king asks this, then say, ‘Your man Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’ ”