²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing^[a] and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.

¹⁹ Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. ²⁰ He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.”

¹⁵ “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them.

⁸ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. This is the day^(A) I have spoken of.

⁹ “‘Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows,^(B) the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel.^(C)

⁹ Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”

¹⁰ So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” ¹¹ The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.

¹² The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide^(A) in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’”

¹³ One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”

¹⁴ So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” ¹⁵ They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight.^(B) So the messengers returned and reported to the king. ¹⁶ Then the people went out and plundered^(C) the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel,^(D) as the Lord had said.

²⁴ And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring^(A) from your share of the plunder.^(B)” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites^(C) to wear gold earrings.)

²⁵ They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. ²⁶ The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels,^[a] not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains^(D) that were on their camels’ necks.

³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold^(A) and for clothing.^{(B) 36} The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed^(C) toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered^(D) the Egyptians.