1 Chronicles 18-21
King James Version
18 Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines.
2 And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.
3 And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates.
4 And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots.
5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
6 Then David put garrisons in Syriadamascus; and the Syrians became David's servants, and brought gifts. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.
7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
8 Likewise from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.
9 Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah;
10 He sent Hadoram his son to king David, to enquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadarezer, and smitten him; (for Hadarezer had war with Tou;) and with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass.
11 Them also king David dedicated unto the Lord, with the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.
12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand.
13 And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became David's servants. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.
14 So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.
15 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, recorder.
16 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Shavsha was scribe;
17 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief about the king.
19 Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.
2 And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.
3 But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?
4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.
5 Then there went certain, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them: for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.
6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syriamaachah, and out of Zobah.
7 So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.
8 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men.
9 And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array before the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.
10 Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.
11 And the rest of the people he delivered unto the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon.
12 And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.
13 Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.
14 So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.
15 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
16 And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.
17 And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.
18 But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.
19 And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.
20 And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it.
2 And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David's head: and he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city.
3 And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
4 And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.
5 And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver's beam.
6 And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot and he also was the son of the giant.
7 But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him.
8 These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
21 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
3 And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?
4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.
7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.
8 And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
9 And the Lord spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee
12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
14 So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
18 Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
19 And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the Lord.
20 And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
21 And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
22 Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
23 And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
26 And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
27 And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
28 At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.
29 For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.
30 But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
1 Chronicles 18-21
New King James Version
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.
The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated(R)
19 It(S) happened after this that Nahash the king of the people of Ammon died, and his son reigned 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 comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to Hanun in the land of the people of Ammon to comfort him.
3 And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun, [s]“Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Did his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”
4 Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments [t]in the middle, at their (T)buttocks, and sent them away. 5 Then some went and told David about the men; and he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”
6 When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the people of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from [u]Mesopotamia, from Syrian Maacah, (U)and from [v]Zobah. 7 So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, with the king of Maacah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. Also the people of Ammon gathered together from their cities, and came to battle.
8 Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. 9 Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array before the gate of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.
10 When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. 11 And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in battle array against the people of Ammon. 12 Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. 13 Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”
14 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 15 When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai his brother, and entered the city. So Joab went to Jerusalem.
16 Now when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought the Syrians who were beyond [w]the River, and [x]Shophach the commander of Hadadezer’s army went before them. 17 When it was told David, he gathered all Israel, crossed over the Jordan and came upon them, and set up in battle array against them. So when David had set up in battle array against the Syrians, they fought with him. 18 Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed [y]seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand [z]foot soldiers of the Syrians, and killed Shophach the commander of the army. 19 And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants. So the Syrians were not willing to help the people of Ammon anymore.
Rabbah Is Conquered(V)
20 It(W) happened [aa]in the spring of the year, at the time kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the armed forces and ravaged the country of the people of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But (X)David stayed at Jerusalem. And (Y)Joab defeated Rabbah and overthrew it. 2 Then David (Z)took their king’s crown from his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the [ab]spoil of the city in great abundance. 3 And he brought out the people who were in it, and [ac]put them to work with saws, with iron picks, and with axes. So David did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Philistine Giants Destroyed(AA)
4 Now it happened afterward (AB)that war broke out at [ad]Gezer with the Philistines, at which time (AC)Sibbechai the Hushathite killed [ae]Sippai, who was one of the sons of [af]the giant. And they were subdued.
5 Again there was war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of [ag]Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s (AD)beam.
6 Yet again (AE)there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, with twenty-four fingers and toes, six on each hand and six on each foot; and he also was born to [ah]the giant. 7 So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of [ai]Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.
8 These were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
The Census of Israel and Judah(AF)
21 Now (AG)Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to [aj]number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, (AH)and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”
3 And Joab answered, “May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?”
4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem. 5 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword. 6 (AI)But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s [ak]word was abominable to Joab.
7 And [al]God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. 8 So David said to God, (AJ)“I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; (AK)but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s (AL)seer, saying, 10 “Go and tell David, (AM)saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ”
11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Choose for yourself, 12 (AN)either [am]three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the Lord—the plague in the land, with the [an]angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
13 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His (AO)mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
14 So the Lord sent a (AP)plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent [ao]an (AQ)angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As [ap]he was destroying, the Lord looked and (AR)relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain [aq]your hand.” And the angel of the Lord stood by the (AS)threshing floor of [ar]Ornan the Jebusite.
16 Then David lifted his eyes and (AT)saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these (AU)sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”
18 Therefore, the (AV)angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. 20 Now Ornan turned and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves, but Ornan continued threshing wheat. 21 So David came to Ornan, and Ornan looked and saw David. And he went out from the threshing floor, and bowed before David with his face to the ground. 22 Then David said to Ornan, [as]“Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to the Lord. You shall grant it to me at the full price, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”
23 But Ornan said to David, “Take it to yourself, and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes. Look, I also give you the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing implements for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering; I give it all.”
24 Then King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price, for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.” 25 So (AW)David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. 26 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and (AX)He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
27 So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath.
28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29 (AY)For the tabernacle of the Lord and the altar of the burnt offering, which Moses had made in the wilderness, were at that time at the high place in (AZ)Gibeon. 30 But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 18:1 Lit. struck
- 1 Chronicles 18:2 Lit. struck
- 1 Chronicles 18:3 Lit. struck
- 1 Chronicles 18:3 Heb. Hadarezer
- 1 Chronicles 18:4 seven hundred, 2 Sam. 8:4
- 1 Chronicles 18:4 crippled
- 1 Chronicles 18:8 Betah, 2 Sam. 8:8
- 1 Chronicles 18:8 Berothai, 2 Sam. 8:8
- 1 Chronicles 18:8 Heb. Hadarezer
- 1 Chronicles 18:8 Great laver or basin
- 1 Chronicles 18:9 Toi, 2 Sam. 8:9, 10
- 1 Chronicles 18:9 Lit. struck
- 1 Chronicles 18:10 Joram, 2 Sam. 8:10
- 1 Chronicles 18:10 Lit. struck
- 1 Chronicles 18:12 Syrians, 2 Sam. 8:13
- 1 Chronicles 18:16 Ahimelech, 2 Sam. 8:17
- 1 Chronicles 18:16 Seraiah, 2 Sam. 8:17, or Shisha, 1 Kin. 4:3
- 1 Chronicles 18:17 Lit. at the hand of the king
- 1 Chronicles 19:3 Lit. In your eyes is David honoring your father because
- 1 Chronicles 19:4 in half
- 1 Chronicles 19:6 Heb. Aram Naharaim
- 1 Chronicles 19:6 Zoba, 2 Sam. 10:6
- 1 Chronicles 19:16 The Euphrates
- 1 Chronicles 19:16 Zoba, 2 Sam. 10:6, or Shobach, 2 Sam. 10:16
- 1 Chronicles 19:18 seven hundred, 2 Sam. 10:18
- 1 Chronicles 19:18 horsemen, 2 Sam. 10:18
- 1 Chronicles 20:1 Lit. at the return of the year
- 1 Chronicles 20:2 plunder
- 1 Chronicles 20:3 LXX cut them with
- 1 Chronicles 20:4 Gob, 2 Sam. 21:18
- 1 Chronicles 20:4 Saph, 2 Sam. 21:18
- 1 Chronicles 20:4 Or Raphah
- 1 Chronicles 20:5 Jaare-Oregim, 2 Sam. 21:19
- 1 Chronicles 20:6 Or Raphah
- 1 Chronicles 20:7 Shammah, 1 Sam. 16:9 or Shimeah, 2 Sam. 21:21
- 1 Chronicles 21:1 take a census of
- 1 Chronicles 21:6 command
- 1 Chronicles 21:7 Lit. it was evil in the eyes of God
- 1 Chronicles 21:12 seven, 2 Sam. 24:13
- 1 Chronicles 21:12 Or Angel, and so throughout the chapter
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Or the Angel
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Or He
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Or Your
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Araunah, 2 Sam. 24:16, 18–24
- 1 Chronicles 21:22 Lit. Give
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
