David’s Further Conquests^(A)

18 After this ^(B)it came to pass that David ^[a]attacked the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ² Then he ^[b]defeated ^(C)Moab, and the Moabites became David’s ^(D)servants, and brought tribute.

³ And ^(E)David ^[c]defeated ^[d]Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his power by the River Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him one thousand chariots, ^[e]seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David ^[f]hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.

⁵ When the ^(F)Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought tribute. So the Lord preserved David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[g]Tibhath and from ^[h]Chun, cities of ^[i]Hadadezer, David brought a large amount of ^(G)bronze, with which ^(H)Solomon made the bronze ^[j]Sea, the pillars, and the articles of bronze.

⁹ Now when ^[k]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had ^[l]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent ^[m]Hadoram his son to King David, to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and ^[n]defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou); and Hadoram brought with him all kinds of ^(I)articles of gold, silver, and bronze. ¹¹ King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had brought from all these nations—from Edom, from Moab, from the ^(J)people of Ammon, from the ^(K)Philistines, and from ^(L)Amalek.

¹² Moreover ^(M)Abishai the son of Zeruiah killed ^(N)eighteen thousand ^[o]Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ^13 (O)He also put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

David’s Administration^(P)

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel, and administered judgment and justice to all his people. ¹⁵ Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶ Zadok the son of Ahitub and ^[p]Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; ^[q]Shavsha was the scribe; ^17 (Q)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^[r]chief ministers at the king’s side.