David Returns to Jerusalem

⁹ Now all the people were in a dispute throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king saved us from the hand of our ^(A)enemies, he delivered us from the hand of the ^(B)Philistines, and now he has ^(C)fled from the land because of Absalom.

¹⁴ So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us ^(A)flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

David’s Further Conquests^(A)

8 After this it came to pass that David ^[a]attacked the Philistines and subdued them. And David took ^[b]Metheg Ammah from the hand of the Philistines.

² Then ^(B)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 ^(C)servants, and ^(D)brought tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^(E)Zobah, as he went to recover ^(F)his territory at the River Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him one thousand chariots, ^[c]seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David ^(G)hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.

^5 (H)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 ^(I)the Lord preserved David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took ^(J)the shields of gold that had belonged to the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[d]Betah and from ^(K)Berothai,^[e] cities of Hadadezer, King David took a large amount of bronze.

⁹ When ^[f]Toi king of ^(L)Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ then Toi sent ^[g]Joram his son to King David, to ^[h]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 ^(M)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 ^[i]Syria, from Moab, from the people of Ammon, from the ^(N)Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

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

¹² Then the man said, ^(A)“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, ^(B)“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ But if you have ^(A)bitter envy and ^[a]self-seeking in your hearts, ^(B)do not boast and lie against the truth. ^15 (C)This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶ For ^(D)where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

²⁰ So David went to ^(A)Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place ^[a]Baal Perazim.

⁵ For he took his ^(A)life in his hands and ^(B)killed the Philistine, and ^(C)the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. ^(D)Why then will you ^(E)sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any ^(A)dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take ^(B)vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul ^(C)thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

⁵ So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and ^[a]behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. ⁶ Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the ^[b]Philistine, that ^(A)the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷ So the women ^(B)sang as they danced, and said: