All language subtitles for David and Bathsheba (1951).en

Wait here.

- Lord Commander.
- Well?

- The king is not in his tent.
- Not in his tent?

- No, sir.
- Well, he must be somewhere.

- Have you searched the camp?
- Yes, sir.

I brought the aide
you assigned to him.

I think the man knows something.

That is the man, sir.

- You were assigned to attend the king?
- Yes, sir.

- Where did he go?
- Sir, I-l cannot tell you.

As your commander,
I order you to tell me.

The king pledged me to silence.

- Where is he?
- He went with a scouting party.

Scouting party?

- What scouting party?
- Every night, sir...

we send out small patrols
to test the walls of the city.

And tonight?

Tonight the waterway
under the north wall.

A patrol of 20 men
under Captain Uriah.

- You let him go?
- I could not stop him, sir.

We had finished the dispatches.

The king stood in the mouth of the tent
as the patrol went by.

He looked after them, and suddenly
he took up a sword and followed them.

Take a hundred of your best men
and go after them.

Sir.

- To arms, men!
- The king.

- Ira's hundred! To arms!
- King of all Israel...

out there in the darkness,
exposing himself to the enemy.

Crawling on his belly
like a common soldier.

Attack!

- Sire, I am the commander of the
army. My order is... Yes, I know.

We'll speak of it later.
Come in, Uriah.

I apologize
for delaying your supper.

Sit down, Uriah.

Pour us some wine.

Sit down.

- Sire?
- Hmm?

You're wounded.
Let me call the physician.

No, no, let it alone.

It's a long time
since I've shed any blood.

It's good to have proof
that it still runs in my veins.

Sit down, Joab.

We must decide on our strategy,
for Rabbah is well defended.

Unfortunately, there are
no Joshuas among us...

to command the walls
to fall down.

- What would you do, Uriah?
- I can speak for the men, sire.

Every man in the army would be glad
to die for David.

A thousand dead, perhaps two.

A thousand vineyards
and flocks left untended.

A thousand women
wailing on my doorstep.

- You have a wife, Uriah?
- Yes, sire.

She will come
to my door in tears.

- If I am unlucky.
- No, it is a certainty.

In wartime, the best are always
the first to die.

Then her tears
will be tears of pride.

You are too young to know
much of women and too brave...

where as I am a coward.

A coward, sire?

My men go into battle
singing an old song-

"Saul has slain his thousands
and David his ten thousands."

That was years ago when I was captain
of a hundred, like yourself.

I was not the king.

It will serve me better
if you live, Uriah.

Come, Joab.

Remain seated.
Continue with your meal.

I will return to Jerusalem
in the morning.

O king of Judah and Israel...

live forever.

The pharaoh of Egypt sends greetings
to his beloved cousin.

The pharaoh bids me to prostrate myself
before the great king.

And to present this humble token
of Egypt's regard.

The king of Israel warms himself
in the sun of the pharaoh's regard.

My beloved cousin, the pharaoh, probably
hopes that I'll cut my throat with this.

Nathan, the prophet of God.

May God walk with David.

It is his custom
to walk with Nathan.

God looks with favor on your plan to bring
the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.

- Excellent.
- But as to your intention...

of building a temple
to receive the ark...

he has commanded me
to say this to you...

thus speaks the Lord-

"Should my servant David
build me a house to dwell in?

"For I have not dwelt in
a house since the day

I brought the Israelites
up out of Egypt.

"Even to this day,
but I've lived in a tent.

"Have I ever,
in all these years...

"demanded that a temple
be built for me?

"Now, therefore,
I say to David...

"I took you from the pasture,
from guarding your sheep...

"to make you shepherd
over my people...

- even overall lsrael"-
- Yes, yes, I understand.

God sees no need of a temple.

- Is that it?
- That is his word.

Very well. I'll leave
such decisions to you.

To God, sire.

Whatever you like. You may take
full charge of the arrangements...

to bring the ark
here from Baal Judah.

My father,
will you hear my petition?

Amnon, my son, you need
not beg for an audience.

You promised me,
as the heir to Israel...

all the vineyards
north of the Mount of Olives...

as far as the borders
of Ephraim...

yet you have given the large vineyard
on the Gibeon Road to Absalom.

- Did I?
- Only last month you said it was mine...

- yet Amnon claims it.
- I demand only justice.

- And what does Absalom demand?
- Justice too.

Then no matter how I decide,
I am unjust.

The vineyard belongs to Amnon.

Thank you, my father.

Come with me.

Just try to understand my problem.
Amnon is the heir.

He has been anointed. If it
became known that I favored you...

it would weaken him in the eyes
of the people.

We both know that he needs
all the strength that we can give him.

We both know
he is not fit to be heir.

That I cannot help.

You could anoint me
in his place.

Even if I wanted to,
I am bound by the Law.

With our people, the Law
is everything. It is in their bones.

It's only one vineyard, Absalom.

I'll give you your choice
of my own holdings.

I want only what is mine.

Here, take this.

It is worth 20 vineyards.

Michal.

I did not expect to see you here.

Does my presence
displease the king?

Of course not.
You're always welcome.

If the sight of me
is so welcome...

why haven't you come to my chambers
since your return?

I have much on my mind.

Yet you found time to
greet your other wives.

I was the first.

And now I'm the last.

If you had been with the others,
I would have greeted you too.

You remain aloof
by your own choice.

There was a time when you thought
well of my aloofness.

I make no objection to it now.

Do as you please.

How graciously...

you give your royal approval.

Your sarcasm is wasted.
We both know that royalty is a fraud.

It was no fraud
when my father was king.

I've never denied that Saul
was every inch a king.

And his successor,
every inch a fraud.

I will not argue
with that either.

Do you think...

that hanging his spear
on your wall...

- will make you royal?
- Michal, please.

- I have messages to read.
- Oh.

I understand.

I am dismissed.

The shepherd's son is dismissing
the daughter of Saul.

I am to go and sit
with the concubines.

They are my wives.

And you are my wife.

Is that not enough?

Why did you marry me, David?

Why?

Because I loved you.

You lie.

You have never loved
anyone but yourself.

"David" meaning "beloved."

- David, the beloved of David.
- Whatever you say-

My love was wasted.
You had no need of it.

Is your memory so short?

I had great need of it once.

I begged you on my knees,
but you deserted me.

You refused to follow me
into exile.

You even dishonored your vows
and let your father marry you to another.

- Against my will.
- You can say so!

But I cannot help thinking that real love
would have fathered a stronger will.

Then why did you take me back?

You might have guessed.

Without Saul's daughter
at my side...

the northern tribes would not have
acknowledged me as king.

By taking you back...

I made Israel one.

Michal...

we're past the days
of our passion...

love or hatred or anguish,
even cruelty.

Why should we torture ourselves?

We have to go on living, Michal.

Abishai.

There is a house over there...

under that big terebinth tree.

- You know it?
- Yes, sire.

- The house of Uriah the Hittite.
- Uriah the Hittite.

- He's a captain with the army.
- Yes, I know him.

Does he by any chance
have a sister?

No, sire. He has a wife.

A Hebrew woman of Benjamin
called Bathsheba.

Bathsheba.

During my visit to the army...

this Uriah's gallantry
was called to my attention.

It's been in my mind
to reward him.

Perhaps in his absence...

his wife could accept
the reward.

I'll send for the woman
in the morning, sire.

No, send for her now.

She shall dine with me tonight.

Yes, sire.

You're not eating.

I dined earlier, sire.

It is my custom when I am alone.

As a soldier's wife, you have
good reason to hate the king...

who keeps your husband
from your side.

The king does what he must.

His needs are the kingdom's.

Not all of them.

This wine is Phoenician.

I find it mellower than ours.
It has the blandness of the sea air.

- Have you ever visited the coast?
- No, sire.

I lived for several years
among the Philistines-

A cold people, like their sea.

We Hebrews are of the desert.

We breathe its wind,
and our blood runs hot with it.

Our emotions are fierce,
like the desert wind.

We worship our God fiercely. We love
fiercely. We feel sorrow fiercely.

Even the lesser sorrows
like the absence of a loved one.

Has Uriah been away for long?

We have been married
seven months.

Of this time,
we've been together six days.

A poor return on the hopes
of your betrothal.

You are generous indeed
not to hate me.

I had no hopes, sire.

I first saw Uriah
on our wedding day...

when my father
brought me to his house.

Then six days is
the sum total of your love?

Of our marriage. Yes, sire.

One of the vanities of kings
is that they think...

virtue can be rewarded
with a bauble.

Our God must laugh at the spectacle
of unvirtuous kings...

hanging bits of rock and metal
on virtuous men.

That is for virtue.

Now you understand
why I sent for you.

My understanding
is not necessary, sire.

- Why not?
- You are the king.

Is that all?

Leave the king out of it.

Think if any man would be content
with such an answer.

What other answer
can I give, sire?

You have sent for me
and made known to me your will.

What else is there
for me to say?

In Egypt, that would be enough.

There, the pharaoh
has certain rights.

He can command, but I-
Even if I had the right...

I've never used my power
to take anything by force.

All that I have ever had
has been given to me...

freely, without restraint.

Even Israel.
I refused the throne...

until every elder of every tribe
had come to me and begged me to take it.

It's been a kind of pride...

my pride...

never to force myself on anyone.

So, I said nothing to you...

until you told me there is no love
in your marriage.

Yes, you told me that,
and so did Uriah.

His dream of glory
is his wife in tears.

You better go.

Oh, no, keep that. It's only a stone,
but you lend it beauty.

Uriah is a fool.

When I looked on you
from my terrace tonight...

I knew that every future moment
spent away from you...

would be a moment lost.

Yet he's found only six days
for you in seven months.

The perfume of his beloved
is the stink of war.

Does he think that a man
was made only for the agony of battle?

Does he call that manhood?
Has he no blood, no heart?

Now go.

And be thankful
that I am not pharaoh.

At least I can console
myself with the thought

that your modesty matches
your beauty.

Perhaps you would prefer
truth to modesty, sire.

Before you went away,
I used to watch you every evening...

as you walked on your terrace.

Always at the same hour.

Always alone.

Today I heard you had returned.

- Then you knew that-
- You would be on your terrace tonight.

Yes.

I had heard that
never had the king...

found a woman to please him.

I dared to hope that
I might be that woman.

Why are you telling me this now?
Why not before?

Because first I had to know
what was in your heart.

If the Law of Moses
is to be broken, David...

let us break it
in full understanding...

of what we want from each other.

No, please. I'm not finished.

There are women you could send
for and send away again.

I am not one of them.

What do you want?

To please you.

Have I not made it plain enough
that you please me?

I'll never send you away
if that is what you want.

Never, as long as I live.

No, David.
That is not all I want.

Think not of this one night...

but of all the days
and all the nights to come.

Think if I can give
you what you need...

for as long as you live...

as your wife.

But you're not free.

If I were free-

A king is not supposed
to need anything.

Only a fool would suppose that.

Well, then...

friendship.

I had a friend once,
but I destroyed him.

The others who call
themselves friends, I-

I never see their eyes, only the tops
of their heads as they bow to me.

Their hands are extended to me,
but palms upwards...

for favors.

Even my own sons.

Will I see your eyes, Bathsheba?

You will see them.

And my hand will be in yours.

That much is easy, David.

I'm only a man, Bathsheba.

I need someone
to understand that.

I need the kind
of understanding...

that only one human being
can give to another.

I need someone
to share my heart.

The man I watched from my window
was not the king...

but a man...

whose heart is well
worth the sharing.

Oh, David!

No, David.
The boy, he'll see us.

No matter. Shepherd boys
learn early about life.

Did you, David?

- Did I what?
- Learn about life early.

Before I was 12, I knew almost everything
there was to know about life...

and death.

At 12, I'd kill wolves.

Thirteen, a man.

Tell me, not about the killing.

Tell me about the boy you were.

It couldn't be
of any interest to you.

A woman is interested
in everything about her man.

Particularly in what he was
before she knew him.

Well, there's not much to tell.

I was a shepherd,
like thousands of others, in Judah.

You slept out under the stars.

Hmm.

Did you dream, David?

What did you dream about?

Surely a man is entitled
to the privacy of his dreams.

- Then there were women.
- Naturally.

A whole procession of them.

And every one of them
ravishingly beautiful.

I'm jealous of every one of them.

Well, it's been a dry year.

The shepherds are driven
early to the wells.

Once when I was a boy, we had a year
when even the wells went dry.

By mid-summer, we were slaughtering sheep,
saving only the ewe lambs.

That was the year
that I fought the wolves.

Tell me.

Well, they had been
made desperate by hunger.

I fought them for eight hours
with my slingshot.

In the morning,
six of them lay dead.

And you were only a boy.

Well, I was
quite a hand with a sling.

Here, I'll show you.

May I try your sling?

Now, that tree, watch.

Very well. If you think that
you can do better.

Yes.

Well, I, uh, I lack practice.

David, did you
really kill Goliath?

After seeing me with that sling,
how could you doubt me?

Was he truly as big as they say?

Well, I will admit that he grows
a little bit bigger every year.

A new life.

Oh, that's his mother.

She's caught in the brambles.

- Uh, I'll give you some help.
- Thank you, sir.

Let's clear those hind feet.

No, use both hands.

Oh.

There we are.

I'm an old soldier, sir.

- I fought for the king.
- David?

Not him, sir.
With the king-King Saul.

It was in his last battle.

There, at the Mount of Gilboa.

It's peaceful now.
Good grazing for the flocks.

Though we lack rain this year.

But that day it rained blood.

- Yes.
- I saw the king die.

Saw him fall on his sword
when he knew the battle was lost.

Tell me. Did you also see
the king's son die, Jonathan?

Yes, sir, I did.

You see that rock that juts out
from the face of the mountain?

The big one with the sun on it?

Prince Jonathan stood there...

with a loyal friend
on each side of him.

He fought there
the live-long day.

His friends went down,
but still he fought...

against tens...

then against hundreds.

They overwhelmed him,
those Philistines...

in their brass
and heathenish helmets.

Oh, 'twas a black day
for Israel.

The king gone. Jonathan gone.

None worthy to take their place.

Yet Israel found a king...
in David.

Saul was king.

Jonathan should be king today.

Here.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you kindly.

David.

Come. It's getting late.

Jonathan.

Jonathan!

How are the mighty fallen...

in the midst of the battle.

Oh, Jonathan.

Thou was slain...

in thine high places.

I am distressed for thee,
my brother Jonathan.

Very pleasant hast thou
been unto me.

Thy love to me was wonderful.

Passing the love of women.

How are the mighty fallen...

and the weapons of war...

perished.

Hiyah!

Hiyah!

Greetings, Abishai.

- I received your message. Am I on time?
- Yes, sire.

Even now, the caravan
approaches Jerusalem.

Look, Bathsheba.

The Ark of the Covenant-

The shrine that has traveled
with our people...

through all their wanderings.

I'm bringing it here
to its proper home.

Get in, Abishai.
I'll go down to meet Nathan.

You'll take Bathsheba
to her house.

I beg you, please! No!

No!

Mercy! I beg you, mercy!

Mercy, I beg you.

It is for you
to cast the first stone.

Mercy!

Mercy.

An adulteress, sire. She betrayed
her husband in the arms of another.

She was judged
and condemned under the Law.

Go. Take her home.

Hup!

- Sire.
- Nathan.

God's design
is a strange one, Nathan.

Consider how this box of wood...

has outlived the flesh
that made it...

and preserved it
and venerated it.

A pity that it
is mute and blind...

and cannot tell us
of our ancient dead-

Of Moses on the mountaintop,
of Miriam and Aaron...

of Joshua at the walls of Jericho.

No, sire!

Do not tempt
the thunderbolts of the Lord.

His dwelling is not to be
profaned by unconsecrated hands.

To touch it is to die.

As you say, Nathan.

The Ark!
The Ark of the Covenant is falling!

He is dead.

Let all take heed and bear witness
to what they've seen...

that the people may know
the will of God.

Time is not right
for the entrance into the city.

Unhitch the oxen!

Let a tabernacle
be erected on this spot.

Let the ark remain here
outside the walls...

until God has signified
the appeasement of his wrath.

David.

Bathsheba.

You shouldn't have come here.

I had no choice.

My news would not wait.

David... I bring you trouble.

Our secret is
no longer a secret.

- Who has learned it?
- No one yet.

But soon all will know
who have eyes to see.

I'm sure now of what
I have feared this past week.

I am with child.

Beloved.

There's no need for tears.
You bring me only joy.

What man would not be happy to learn
that his wife will give him a child?

- I am not your wife.
- You are my only wife.

Please, beloved,
do not be afraid.

I am not afraid.

Soon enough,
we must all go down to Sheol.

My tears are for our child
who will never see the light.

Bathsheba, listen to me.
You will not die.

- The Law says that I must.
- They would not dare. I am the king.

The Israelites have had kings
for less than 50 years.

They've had the Law of Moses
for hundreds.

Then I will give them their kingdom.
You and I will flee into Egypt.

No, David.

Your life is marked out
on a certain course.

Even you cannot change it.
It is God's design.

There is another answer.

Uriah. Uriah is a soldier.

Soldiers die every day
in battle...

- and not always by enemy hands.
- No, David.

Even our love could not bear
the burden of such a crime.

The crime lies in the chance
that I was born a Hebrew.

In any other nation on earth,
Uriah's life would be forfeit.

It would no less a crime.

If I sent for him,
told him everything-

We both know what he would say.

Yes. Honor is everything,
charity nothing.

For the sake of honor,
blood must flow...

lives must be ruined,
humanity denied.

I can see Uriah now,
hurrying to the gate...

eager to be the first
to cast a stone.

- Sire.
- What is it, Abishai?

The orders for Joab, sire.

Yes.

Do not send it now.

I may want to add to the message.

Yes, sire.

There is another way.

Perhaps it will solve nothing...

but at least
it will gain us time.

If Uriah can be made to believe
that the child is his-

But he has been away
almost a year.

I will send for him...

to report on the campaign.

He'll be here
in Jerusalem one night...

perhaps two.

- You called me your wife.
- The Law calls you his!

That is not worthy
of you, David.

It tears my heart
to suggest such a thing.

But it is your life, beloved.

Your life.

It is shameful what you ask.

There is no shame too great...

no act so vile that
I would not commit it...

if it would save my love.

It's late, and our guest
must be weary from the road.

Come, Uriah.

Absalom, my son, it is many days
since we've seen you at the palace.

I've been in Judah, sire,
tending to my vines.

And do you expect
a good yield from your vines?

I have no reason
to be dissatisfied, sire.

In such a bad year.

You're to be congratulated.

I should like a word
with you in private, Uriah.

I'm at my king's service.

I will not keep you long.

You must be eager
to go home to your wife.

You say the attack is planned
for the day after tomorrow?

Yes, sire.

Joab is confident
it will meet with success.

He promises you Rabbah
within a week, sire.

With your permission, sire,
I plan to return to camp early tomorrow...

so that I may lead my hundred
into the battle.

As you wish. Abishai will have
dispatches for you to carry.

But if you desire to remain
in Jerusalem longer-

My only desire
is to serve my king.

I might believe that,
but you have a wife.

My wife is nothing,
sire, beside my duty.

Sit down, Uriah.

They say she's very beautiful.

As women go.

A woman does not always share
her husband's devotion to duty.

Have you ever tried to think
of things from her point of view?

No, sire.

But supposing her wishes
and yours come into conflict.

A woman's wishes cannot conflict
with her husband's, sire.

- That is the Law.
- The Law?

The Law can only control what we do,
not what we think.

What does your wife think, Uriah?

I do not know, sire.

Is it possible that you believe
that she does not think or feel?

A woman is flesh and blood,
Uriah, like us.

Perhaps even more so,
because we give her

so little to think of but
matters of the flesh.

In all our history,
only a handful of women...

have been permitted to write
their names beside the men-

Miriam, Deborah, Jael.
Perhaps one or two more.

A woman's occupation
is her husband...

and her life is her love.

But if her husband
rejects her love...

if he puts another
love before it...

if he denies her the only meaning
that her life can have...

is it not understandable if she seeks
a meaning for it elsewhere?

With another man?

- Yes.
- If she does, she breaks the Law.

But if her husband
feels pity for her?

Under the Law, he is the one
who must condemn her.

Then it is doubly his duty
to be sure that the Law is obeyed.

Would you condemn
your own wife, Uriah?

Bathsheba?

Well, that is not possible.

But if it were possible?

I would not hesitate
to do my duty, sire.

You would force her to suffer
the most horrible of deaths...

let the mob drive her
like a dog...

through the streets
to the city gates...

watch the cruel stones
strike her flesh...

let-

Yes, sire.

If she had broken the Law.

I've kept you too long
from your bed. You may go.

Sire.

Will you grant me a boon?

What is your wish?

When Abishai
prepares the dispatches...

let him say this
to Joab in your name-

"Set Uriah in the forefront
of the hottest battle...

that he may serve his king
to the utmost of his ability."

I will consider it, Uriah.

My thanks, sire.

You are up late, David.

So are you.

I thought I might be of
comfort to my husband.

It's a terrible thing...

to know that your beloved...

is in the arms of another.

Do not trouble to lie.

You see, I know your secret-

yours and the lady Bathsheba's.

- You know nothing.
- The lady has servants.

Servants tell things
to other servants...

and they in turn tell them
to their mistresses.

So the daughter of Saul concocts
a fantasy from servants' gossip.

Bathsheba's condition
is no fantasy...

and the child
she carries is yours.

Oh, my husband, I guessed at once
why you had sent for Uriah.

Only David would have
thought of it.

A clever trick,
worthy of the son of goatherders.

Get out.

You cannot save Bathsheba now.

Your scheme has failed.

Uriah has not been
to his house all night.

Even now, he sleeps here
in the palace...

with the officers of your guard.

Sire. Forgive me.

- I have slept late.
- I told you to go home.

I ask your pardon, sire.

- I could not go to my wife.
- Why not?

It's a matter
of my own worthiness.

Perhaps you will
consider this foolish...

but when Joab told me
I was to come to Jerusalem...

I swore an oath on my sword.

I swore that while the army
still slept in tents...

while Rabbah still stood
in defiance of God's will...

I would deny myself the comforts
and the pleasures of my own house.

I would keep myself
clean for battle...

as if for entering
the tabernacle of the ark.

I am sorry if I have
offended my king.

If the dispatches
are ready, I will go.

You fool.

You stupid, blind fool.

Sire.

Dispatches for Joab, sire.

The dispatches.

Shall I give them to Uriah?

No.

No!

There is an additional order.

Set Uriah in the forefront
of the hottest battle.

It is his own wish, Abishai...

even his own words.

Is that all?

No.

I will not add hypocrisy
to my other sins.

Even if Joab should understand
what I intend...

I cannot ask him to share
the burden of my guilt.

Here is the order-

Set Uriah in the forefront
of the hottest battle...

and retire from him that he may
be smitten and die.

- Yes.
- When it is finished...

seal it and give it to Uriah.

Yes, sire.

Sire, we bring great news.

The walls of Rabbah
have been breached.

When we left, there was fighting
in the streets of the city.

Joab bids me urge you to come
to Rabbah with all speed...

to receive the surrender
of your enemies.

And our dead?

Our losses have
been heavy, sire.

Of the captains of a thousand-

Abimelech,
the son of Jerubbaal...

and Heled, the son of Ikkesh.

Of the captains of a hundred-

Hezrai the Carmelite...

Igal, the son of Zelek...

Ittai, the son of Ribai...

Abiel the Arbathite...

Eliam, the son of Reuben...

Shammah the Hararite...

Uriah the Hittite...

Bani the Gadite...

Azmaveth, the son of Eli...

and many more are wounded.

How did...

Uriah the Hittite die?

There was a mistake
in the order, sire.

Uriah advanced
too far into the breach...

and was cut off
from his command.

When you have eaten and rested,
prepare to return to Rabbah.

- I will ride with you.
- Sire.

Sire...

the lady Bathsheba's servant
is waiting for your answer.

Go to Bathsheba.

Tell her that Uriah is dead.

Tell her to prepare
for our marriage...

at the end of her
month of mourning.

Will you not go to her yourself?

No.

The hand of God...

is heavy on his people.

Thus speaks the Lord-

"I will withhold the rains...

"and cause the fields
and vineyards to dry up...

"and the flocks to grow thin.

"I will waste
the land with drought...

"and people with famine.

"Yea, I will smite Israel...

"for its sin against me.

"Woe unto Israel.

Woe unto my people
who have sinned."

What sin, Nathan?

The Lord has not
vouchsafed to me its nature.

But evidently
the sin is great...

thus to incur his wrath.

Does it take so much
to make him angry?

That soldier who laid
hands on the ark...

he was only trying to be helpful.

It is not for us
to question the ways of the Lord.

I question nothing.

Yet the sun was hot that day.
The man had been drinking wine.

All were excited
when the Ark began to fall.

Is it not possible
that the man...

might have died naturally,
from other causes.

All causes are of God.

We've had droughts
before, Nathan.

I'm buying grain in Egypt
and in Philistia.

There will be enough
for everyone

until the rains come if I have to empty
my treasuries.

Now what more can I do?

- Is there anything else?
- Yes, sire.

I have sat in the gate and listened
to the people talk of the king.

- What do they say?
- They say that David is no longer David.

They say that he neglects his duty,
that he is often away from the city.

When he is here, he has turned
his face from his people.

Petitioners are sent away from
his door without a hearing.

In hard times, it's natural
that some will complain.

Complain, yes, sire...

but not talk openly of
overthrowing the king.

Explain yourself.

The hearts of the Israelites
are turning after your son.

Well, it's difficult to imagine
poor Amnon winning anyone's heart.

Not Amnon.
Your second son, Absalom.

The boy?

Every day he is at the gate
seeking those you have turned away.

To these he says...

"Oh, that I were made
a judge in the land...

that all may come to me
and receive justice."

Confine yourself
to the affairs of God.

Leave the affairs of
the kingdom to me.

- Sire?
- Oh, Abishai, I have orders for Joab.

The king forgets that he, too,
is a servant of the Lord.

The priests are waiting.

I have been waiting
these days and weeks...

waiting for a word from the one
who called himself my lover...

for a sign that all of
his promises were not lies.

Beloved, I-

Do not call me that.
Even the word is a lie.

If you still loved me,
you would not have avoided me.

You would not have
left me in darkness...

- alone with my fears.
- You know that I was called to Rabbah.

It is a week since your return.

They are waiting.

Let them wait.

There will be no wedding.

I will not try
to justify my behavior.

But even if I have
earned your hatred...

you know why the wedding
must take place.

I could more easily find courage
to face the stones of the mob.

If our marriage is no more than an act
of charity on your part, then say so.

If I have lost
your love, tell me...

and I will trouble you no longer.

I am not a beggar, David.

Beloved...

it is I who am the beggar.

I beg your patience.

If you love me, say no more.

Take my love on faith.

It is yours.

It will always be yours.

Come, my wife.

My lady, the king
should be called...

if he would again
see his son alive.

Call him.

Sire.

The lady Bathsheba
asks your presence.

The child is better?

No, sire.

The physicians can do no more.

They say he will die.

I know.

I have known it
these seven days.

I have lain in sackcloth
on the earth.

I have fasted.
I have tried to pray...

but my prayers were only words...

going out into emptiness.

They fell on no ears but my own.

Sire...

you told me to inform you.

The ambassador
from Egypt has arrived.

Shall I send him away?

No, I will go down.

The time for grieving
has passed.

Will it bring my son back
if I mourn for him?

No, I shall go to him...

but he will not return to me.

The heart of the pharaoh
bleeds for his cousin...

and for the people of Israel...

but alas...

the pharaoh's
storehouses are empty.

There is barely
enough grain to feed Egypt.

A heart of the pharaoh
cannot bleed...

for it is bloodless.

The storehouses
of Egypt are full.

By sacred Osiris,
I swear to you I speak truth.

Dog of Egypt. you lie...

and your master lies.

It is only what I expected.

Charity is not to be
found among the virtues...

of those who make
gods of vultures and hyenas.

Now go!

Nathan, the prophet of God!

I come on a matter
of justice, sire.

Hear and render judgment.

You may speak.

There were two men,
one rich and one poor.

The rich man owned
great flocks and herds...

but the poor man
had naught but one ewe lamb.

He reared it, and it grew up
with him and his children.

It ate of his food
and drank of his cup...

and it was like
a daughter to him.

Now, there came a wayfarer
to the rich man asking meat.

But the rich man did not
take of his own flocks to feed his guest.

Instead, he took the poor man's
one ewe lamb and slew it...

and prepared it
for the wayfarer.

What is your verdict
upon this man?

He shall restore
the lamb sevenfold.

The lamb is dead.
It cannot be restored.

Then the man deserves to die
because he had no pity.

You are the man.

You have made me
pronounce sentence upon myself.

Very well.

It is done...

and there is no appeal.

It is the will of God
and I accept it...

gladly.

It is not his will that
you should die, David.

Worthy or unworthy,
you are his anointed.

Through Samuel, he chose you
to lead his people.

Your labors in his behalf
are still unfinished.

But you cannot escape
the punishment of the Lord.

I have not escaped it.

My son is dead.

His justice is still unsatisfied.

You have paid for your adultery,
but you have also killed.

You have taken up the sword and slain
your fellow creature for your desire.

Now, therefore, the sword
shall never depart from your house.

You shall know the hatred
and ingratitude of your own flesh.

Brother shall turn against
brother and son against father.

The history of David's house
shall be a history written in blood.

You tell me nothing new.

I am content.

Even so, the tally
of the Lord is not paid.

The woman has been denounced.
She also must expiate her sin.

She has lost her child.
ls that not enough?

Bathsheba has sinned, and she must render
payment according to the Law of Moses.

Uriah's death was my act
and mine alone.

She was a faithless wife.

Faithless only because
I made her so.

Could she deny the king?

When I called her, could she refuse
to obey my commands?

No. She would never
lie for herself...

and I will not lie for her.

But even if she sinned...

she has done no evil.

She came to me
with love and tenderness.

She lifted up my heart.

She has brought
no evil with her.

She has brought
adultery and murder.

She has brought the drought
and the famine.

She has brought
the wrath of God upon Israel.

They know the Law,
and so does David.

Yes, I know the Law.

Where are the accusers?

Under the Law, they must cast
the first stone.

Where are those who will say that I knew
Bathsheba before our marriage?

Who will dare
to say it to my face?

So there are no accusers.

You have none.

Michal.

I cannot find it in my heart...

to blame you for what you do.

But you, Absalom...

my Son...

have I given you
cause to hate me so?

Go, David, and bring Bathsheba here
to face her judges.

You have made her
a queen in Israel.

It is not fitting that she should
be dragged to judgment by the people.

My lady.

Abishai, go to the stable
and get horses.

Bring them to the gate in
the garden wall.

- Yes, sire.
- No, not that way. They'll be watching.

Go by way of the terrace.

We'll be out of this city
before they know that we've gone.

Sire!

The palace is surrounded.

Call the guards.
Surely my own bodyguard can be trusted.

Go. Go!

No, David.

We cannot fight
against the will of God.

A god who punishes
the guiltless.

I am not without guilt, David.

Now I know how Uriah died.

I think I really knew
before our marriage...

knew and put it from my mind.

I lacked the courage
to face the truth.

My guilt is as great as yours.

Greater, because I let
you bear the burden of it alone.

- I killed him.
- I wished him dead.

God sees into our hearts, David.

I am ready.

But I cannot let them take you...

cannot let you die.

David-

Yes, love?

In all our time together,
you have never played for me.

Something from your boyhood...

when you were a shepherd.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures.

He leadeth me
beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths
of righteousness...

for his name's sake.

Yea...

though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death...

I will fear no evil-

for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff...

they comfort me.

Thou preparest
a table before me...

in the presence of mine enemies.

Thou anointest my head with oil.

My cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy...

shall follow me
all the days of my life.

And I will dwell
in the house of the Lord...

forever.

Goodness...

and mercy.

When I wrote those words...

I believed in such a god.

I was only
an ignorant shepherd boy.

There was no one
to teach me about God...

so I taught myself.

I saw him...

in the hills...

in the trees...

in the miracle
of the birth of lambs.

I felt his mercy when the wolves
had fled and my flock was safe...

when spring broke
the grip of snow and ice...

when the cool wind blew...

after the heat of the day.

I saw his splendor...

in the flowers
blazing on the hillsides...

in the stars burning in the sky.

And knew his hand...

in everything.

Then I wandered from him.

When I tried
to find him again...

I had lost him...

somewhere in Saul's court...

or when I roamed
the desert in exile...

or in the camp
of the Philistines.

His image paled
in the lights of the cities...

and his voice was drowned
in the quarreling and scheming...

of the ambitious and the mighty.

And now Nathan
has found him for me...

not the god
of my boyhood days...

but a god without mercy...

a god who thinks
only of his justice.

So you must die...

as the soldier died
when he tried...

to save the ark from falling.

He put his hands
on the ark like this.

You shall not die.

You shall not die.

These are all
who are willing, sire.

They will be enough.
Take your stand at this door.

If anyone tries to enter,
cut him down.

You two at the right of the door.

Two at the left.
Two at the wall.

You two at the stairs.
You two at the gate here.

- Where's the woman?
- She is not coming.

Silence!

He is the king.

You have heard the word of God.

I have heard the word of Nathan.

You have told me
that God demands justice.

That I will believe.

But I will not believe
that he would condemn...

- a helpless woman for another's crime.
- Where are you going?

To the tabernacle.
If God is what you say he is...

if this is truly his justice...

then let him speak for himself.

Will you go to him in anger?

He's shown me nothing but anger.

He has turned his face from me.

It was David who first
turned his face from God.

Once there was a David
who knew how to pray...

who sought nothing for himself
at the hands of God...

who found his strength
in faith alone.

If that David still lives...

his god will not deny him mercy.

O God...

thou God of my early youth...

hear my prayer.

Let thine eyes...

which alone see clearly...

fall upon thy worthless servant.

In all things...

have I failed thee.

My life is a waste.

My crimes are many...

and terrible.

To my sons, I have bequeathed
the evil that is in my blood.

I have led my people
into misery...

and want.

I have used thee with...

ingratitude...

and betrayed thy trust.

I have been a faithless...

shepherd.

I am dust in the sight
of thine eyes.

I am less than
the meanest creature...

crawling on the earth.

And yet, O God...

I am also thy creation.

Take not...

thy holy spirit from me...

thy spirit
which abode with me...

in the wilderness.

I ask nothing for myself. O God.

By my sins...

I have put myself beyond
the compass of thy forgiveness.

But lift thine hand
from thy people...

who suffer for my crimes.

Forgive them the sin
that is not theirs...

but mine.

Let the land thou gavest
their fathers...

flow once more...

with thine abundance.

And let Bathsheba live...

to praise thy name...

and testify to thy mercy.

Show her the loving
kindness of thy heart.

Cleanse her from sin.

And let thy punishment...

fall on thy servant
who has earned it.

Look not on the sinner
who comes before thee...

but on the boy he was...

who loved thee...

and who would have
died for thee.

Make my heart as his.

Let the boy live again...

in his innocence.

Grant him thy mercy...

and take this David's life.

David!

David!

David!

David!

Your father bids you
come to his house.

I am to stay with the sheep.

The prophet is there.
The prophet Samuel himself.

It is said that he comes
to chose a king over Israel.

Eliab.

Abinadab.

Shammah.

The Lord has not chosen
one of these.

Any father would be
proud of such sons.

You do well
to feel pride, Jesse.

But the Lord does not
See as man sees...

for man looks on
the outward appearance...

but the Lord looks on the heart.

Who is this?

My youngest son, David,
who tends the sheep.

But he's only a boy...

a dreamer, a singer of songs.

Come hither, David.

The Lord has chosen.

Honor him, David.

Walk in his light...

and you shall serve him...

as few are permitted to serve.

Where is your champion, Hebrews?

Who will stand forth
and face me?

It is the giant of Gath, sire...

challenging us
to send a champion against him...

and so decide the battle.

Sire, the men have heard his
challenge these 40 dawns.

They cower like
whipped dogs at his voice.

Unless he is met and soon,
our cause is lost.

And is there no one
in the ranks of Israel...

who dares to meet this man?

Sire, if Goliath were only a man,
any one of us would go.

But he's like no man
born of woman.

His height is six cubits
and a span...

and his spear is
like a weaver's beam.

We are dogs indeed
to run before one Philistine.

Is there no courage in Israel?

Sire, courage alone
is not enough.

No arrow can pierce
the giant's armor.

No spear can thrust
beneath the reach of his arms.

He casts his spear
a hundred long paces.

We call ourselves
the chosen of the Lord.

Are we to let the enemies
of God take Israel...

because we lack a champion?

Sire, I will meet Goliath.

Who is it that speaks?
Come forward.

David, my armor bearer.

- I will meet him, sire.
- Sire...

Samuel calls this boy
the Lord's anointed.

If you let him go down
to face the giant...

Samuel's prophecy can be proved-

or disproved.

David, you may meet Goliath.

No, David. father, he is my friend.

Silence, Jonathan.

- Go, David.
- With God, David.

Is Goliath a dog...

that you send a boy to meet him?

Come closer, little one.

Come closer.

Come closer, little one.

My father, let me go down
in David's place.

No, Jonathan.

Let the Philistine prove the folly
of Samuel's prophecy.

David! David, get up!

No man can ever hope to know
the real nature of God...

but he has given us
a glimpse of his face.