David Captures Rabbah

²⁶ Meanwhile, Joab was fighting against Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, and he captured the royal fortifications.^{[a] 27} Joab sent messengers to tell David, “I have fought against Rabbah and captured its water supply.^{[b] 28} Now bring the rest of the army and capture the city. Otherwise, I will capture it and get credit for the victory.”

Psalm 20

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

²⁹ So David gathered the rest of the army and went to Rabbah, and he fought against it and captured it. ³⁰ David removed the crown from the king’s head,^[a] and it was placed on his own head. The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and it weighed seventy-five pounds.^[b] David took a vast amount of plunder from the city. ³¹ He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with^[c] saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to work in the brick kilns.^[d] That is how he dealt with the people of all the Ammonite towns. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

Psalm 21

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

David’s Military Victories

18 After this, David defeated and subdued the Philistines by conquering Gath and its surrounding towns.

Battles against Philistine Giants

¹⁵ Once again the Philistines were at war with Israel. And when David and his men were in the thick of battle, David became weak and exhausted. ¹⁶ Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants^[a]; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds,^[b] and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him. ¹⁷ But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

Battles against Philistine Giants

⁴ After this, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph,^[a] a descendant of the giants,^[b] and so the Philistines were subdued.

⁵ During another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of Lahmi’s spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam!

⁶ In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants. ⁷ But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.

⁸ These Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.

² David also conquered the land of Moab. He made the people lie down on the ground in a row, and he measured them off in groups with a length of rope. He measured off two groups to be executed for every one group to be spared. The Moabites who were spared became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money.

³ David also destroyed the forces of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when Hadadezer marched out to strengthen his control along the Euphrates River. ⁴ David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers,^[a] and 20,000 foot soldiers. He crippled all the chariot horses except enough for 100 chariots.

⁵ When Arameans from Damascus arrived to help King Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 of them. ⁶ Then he placed several army garrisons in Damascus, the Aramean capital, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money. So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

⁷ David brought the gold shields of Hadadezer’s officers to Jerusalem,

⁸ along with a large amount of bronze from Hadadezer’s towns of Tebah^[a] and Cun. Later Solomon melted the bronze and molded it into the great bronze basin called the Sea, the pillars, and the various bronze articles used at the Temple.