David’s Messengers Abused

19 ^(A)Now it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him. ³ But the commanders among the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “^[a]Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have his servants not come to you to search, to demolish, and to spy out the land?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ Then certain people went and told David about the men. And he sent messengers to meet them, because the men were very humiliated. And the king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow back, then return.”

⁶ When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent ^[b]a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and ^(B)Zobah. ⁷ So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped opposite ^(C)Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to the battle. ⁸ When David heard about it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁹ The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of the city; and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.