14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah.
15 In the letter David wrote, “Put Uriah on the front lines where the fighting is worst. Then leave him there alone. Let him be killed in battle.”
16 Joab watched the city and saw where its strongest defenders were. He put Uriah there.
17 The men of the city came out to fight against Joab. Some of David’s men were killed. And Uriah the Hittite was one of them.
18 Then Joab sent a report to David about everything that had happened in the war.
19 Joab told the messenger, “Tell King David what happened in the war.
20 After you finish, the king may become angry. He may ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the city wall?