David and Bathsheba (1951) - full transcript

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 have 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...

I cannot tell you.

As your commander

I order you to tell me.

The king pledged me to silence.

Where is he?

He went with the 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 100 of your best men

and go after them.

Sir.

- To arms, men.

- 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 orders...

- 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 are 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 them, 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 young to know much of women

and too brave, whereas I'm 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.

You will serve me better

if you live, Uriah.

Come, Joab.

Remain seated.

Continue with your meal.

I will return to Jerusalem in the morning.

Oh, King of Judah and Israel, live forever.

The pharaoh of Egypt sends greetings

to his beloved cousin.

The pharaoh bids me...

...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 you 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 have lived in a tent.

Have I ever, in all these years...

...demanded that a temple

be built for me?

Now therefore I say to

'I took you from the pasture

from guarding your sheep...

...to make you shepherd over my people,

even over all Israel.'"

Yes, yes. I understand.

God sees no need of a temple,

is that it?

That is his word.

Very well.

I 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.

You must try to understand my problem.

Amnon is the heir. He's been anointed.

If it became known

that I favored you...

...it would weaken him

in the eyes of the people.

We both know he needs all

the strength 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 are always welcome.

If the sight of me is so welcome...

...why haven't you come

to my chamber 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 am 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.

And your sarcasm is wasted.

We both know that royalty is a fraud.

It was no fraud

when my father was king.

I have 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...

...Iove 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.

- 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 have been together six days.

A poor return on the hopes

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.

How 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?

Well, 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...

...would come to me

and beg 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

that 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's 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 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 the 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 I...

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 am 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

is 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 had killed wolves.

At 13, 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.

Mmm.

Did you dream, David?

What did you dream about?

Surely a man is entitled to the privacy

of his dreams.

- Then they were of women.

- Naturally.

A whole procession of them.

And every one of them

ravishingly beautiful.

I'm jealous of every one of them.

Ah...

Uh, 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 midsummer we were slaughtering

sheep, saving only the ewe lambs.

That was the year

that I fought the wolves.

Tell me.

Well, they'd 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 the sling.

Here I'll show you.

May I try your sling?

That tree. Watch.

Very well, if you think 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.

- I'll give you some help.

- Thank you, sir.

Let's clear those hind feet.

No, use both hands.

Oh.

I'm an old soldier, sir.

Fought for the king.

- David?

- Not him.

But 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 livelong day.

His friends went down

but still he fought against tens...

...then against hundreds

until they overwhelmed him.

Those Philistines...

...and their brass

and heathenish helmets.

Ah, it was 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!

Oh, how the mighty have 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 has thou been unto me.

Thy love to me was wonderful.

Passing the love of women.

How have the mighty fallen.

And the weapons of war...

...perished.

Hyah!

Hyah.

Slow it up.

Greetings, Abishai.

I received your message.

Am I in time?

Yes, sire. Even now

the caravan approaches Jerusalem.

Look, Bathsheba.

The Ark of the Covenant.

A shrine that has traveled with our

people through all their wanderings.

I am 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.

No.

No.

Mercy. I beg you. Mercy.

Mercy, I beg you.

It's for you to cast the first stone.

Mercy!

Mercy.

An adulteress, sire. She betrayed

her husband in the arms of another.

Judged and condemned under the law.

Go. Take her home.

- 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 mountain top.

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 has fallen!

He is dead.

Let all take heed and bear witness

to what they have seen...

...that the people may know

the will of God.

The 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.

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 have had the law of Moses for hundreds.

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

if it's 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 be 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 will 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 is late and our guest must be weary

from the road.

Come, Uriah.

Absalom, it is many days

since we have seen you at the palace.

I have 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.

- I am at my king's service.

I will not keep you long.

You must be eager to go home

to your wife.

- You said the attack is planned.

- Yes, sire.

Joab's confident

it'll meet with success.

He promises you Rabbah

within a week, sire.

With your permission, 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.

Well, I might believe that,

but you have a wife.

My wife is nothing, sire,

beside my duty.

Sit down, Uriah.

They say she is 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 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.

- Lf 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?

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 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 goatherds.

- 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.

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 Jurabiel,

and Heled the son of lkkesh.

Of the captains of a hundred:

Hezro the Carmelite...

...Igal the son of Zelek...

...Ittai the son of Ribai...

...Abiel the Arbathite...

...Eliam the son of Reuben...

...Shammah the Harodite...

...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 orders, sire.

Uriah advanced too far into the breach

and was cut off from his command.

When you've eaten and rested, prepare

to return to Rabbah, I'll 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...

...the flocks to grow thin.

I will waste the land with drought,

the 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 am buying grain

in Egypt and Philistia.

There will be enough 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, 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 and 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.

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 past.

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.

The heart of a 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 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.

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 seven-fold.

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.

Then 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've paid for your adultery,

but you have also killed.

You've 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 is being denounced.

She also must expiate her sin.

She has lost her child.

- Is 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.

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.

- Not that way.

They'll be watching.

Go by way of the terrace.

We'll be out

before they know 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.

I 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...

...and the stars burning in the sky.

And knew his hand...

...in everything.

Then I wandered from him.

And 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.

And you two at the gate here.

- Where is 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.

I will not believe 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 has 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 choose 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.

They 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 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.