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.

Philistine Giants Destroyed^(A)

¹⁵ When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. ¹⁶ Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of ^[a]the ^(B)giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. ¹⁷ But ^(C)Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, ^(D)“You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the ^(E)lamp of Israel.”

Philistine Giants Destroyed^(A)

⁴ Now it happened afterward ^(B)that war broke out at ^[a]Gezer with the Philistines, at which time ^(C)Sibbechai the Hushathite killed ^[b]Sippai, who was one of the sons of ^[c]the giant. And they were subdued.

⁵ Again there was war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of ^[d]Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s ^(D)beam.

⁶ Yet again ^(E)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 ^[e]the giant. ⁷ So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of ^[f]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.

² Then ^(A)he defeated Moab. Forcing them down to the ground, he measured them off with a line. With two lines he measured off those to be put to death, and with one full line those to be kept alive. So the Moabites became David’s ^(B)servants, and ^(C)brought tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^(D)Zobah, as he went to recover ^(E)his territory at the River Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him one thousand chariots, ^[a]seven hundred 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 (G)When the 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 ^(H)the Lord preserved David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took ^(I)the shields of gold that had belonged to the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

⁸ Also from ^[a]Tibhath and from ^[b]Chun, cities of ^[c]Hadadezer, David brought a large amount of ^(A)bronze, with which ^(B)Solomon made the bronze ^[d]Sea, the pillars, and the articles of bronze.

⁹ When ^[a]Toi king of ^(A)Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ then Toi sent ^[b]Joram his son to King David, to ^[c]greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi); and Joram brought with him articles of silver, articles of gold, and articles of bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(B)dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued— ¹² from ^[d]Syria, from Moab, from the people of Ammon, from the ^(C)Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ And David made himself a ^(D)name when he returned from killing ^(E)eighteen thousand ^[e]Syrians in ^(F)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He also put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(G)all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

David’s Administration^(H)

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people. ^16 (I)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; ^(J)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ^17 (K)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; ^[f]Seraiah was the ^[g]scribe; ^18 (L)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the ^(M)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^[h]chief ministers.

Adversaries of Solomon

¹⁴ Now the Lord ^(A)raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom. ^15 (B)For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, ^(C)after he had killed every male in Edom ¹⁶ (because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom), ¹⁷ that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still a little child. ¹⁸ Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave him land.

²³ And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, ^(A)Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders, ^(B)when David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus.

Urgent Prayer for the Restored Favor of God^(A)

To the Chief Musician. ^(B)Set to ^[a]“Lily of the Testimony.” A Michtam of David. For teaching. ^(C)When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.