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.

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.

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.”

^18 (F)Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then ^(G)Sibbechai the Hushathite killed ^[b]Saph, who was one of the sons of ^[c]the giant. ¹⁹ Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where ^(H)Elhanan the son of ^[d]Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed ^(I)the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

²⁰ Yet again ^(J)there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to ^[e]the giant. ²¹ So when he ^(K)defied Israel, Jonathan the son of ^[f]Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

^22 (L)These four were born to ^[g]the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

⁹ And ^(A)I have been with you wherever you have gone, ^(B)and have ^[a]cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.

²⁴ Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner. And the sun was going down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah by the road to the Wilderness of Gibeon.