¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel; and David ^[a]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ^16 (A)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^(B)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^(C)recorder. ^17 (D)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^(E)priests, and Seraiah was ^(F)secretary. ^18 (G)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ^[b]was over the ^(H)Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^[c](I)chief ministers.

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel; and he ^[a]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. ^15 (A)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶ and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.

^16 [a](A)The sons of Levi were ^[b]Gershom, Kohath and Merari. ¹⁷ These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁸ The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. ¹⁹ The sons of ^(B)Merari were Mahli and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households. ²⁰ Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, ²¹ Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son. ²² The sons of Kohath were Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, ²³ Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son and Assir his son, ²⁴ Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son and Shaul his son. ²⁵ The sons of Elkanah were Amasai and Ahimoth. ²⁶ As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai his son and Nahath his son, ²⁷ Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. ²⁸ The sons of Samuel were ^(C)Joel the firstborn, and Abijah the second. ²⁹ The sons of Merari were Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, ³⁰ Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.

^50 (A)These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, ⁵¹ Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, ⁵² Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, ⁵³ Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.

^31 (A)Now these are those whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord, ^(B)after the ark rested there. ³² They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and they ^[a]served in their office according to their order. ³³ These are those who ^[b]served with their sons: From the sons of the Kohathites were Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, ³⁴ the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah, ³⁵ the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, ³⁶ the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, ³⁷ the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, ³⁸ the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. ³⁹ Heman’s brother Asaph stood at his right hand, even Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea, ⁴⁰ the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah, ⁴¹ the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah, ⁴² the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei, ⁴³ the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. ⁴⁴ On the left hand were their ^[c]kinsmen the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch, ⁴⁵ the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, ⁴⁶ the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer, ⁴⁷ the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi. ⁴⁸ Their ^[d]kinsmen the Levites were ^[e]appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 Then David said, “Is there yet ^[a]anyone left of the house of Saul, ^(A)that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” ² Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you ^(B)Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³ The king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the ^(C)kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “^(D)There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.” ⁴ So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is ^(E)in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.” ⁵ Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. ^6 (F)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and ^(G)fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” ⁷ David said to him, “Do not fear, for ^(H)I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and ^(I)will restore to you all the ^[b]land of your ^[c]grandfather Saul; and ^(J)you shall ^[d]eat at my table regularly.” ⁸ Again he prostrated himself and said, “What is your servant, that you should regard ^(K)a dead dog like me?”

⁹ Then the king called Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “^(L)All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s ^[e]grandson. ¹⁰ You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master’s grandson may have food; nevertheless ^(M)Mephibosheth your master’s grandson ^(N)shall ^[f]eat at my table regularly.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According ^(O)to all that my lord the king commands his servant so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth ate at ^[g]David’s table as one of the king’s sons. ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^(P)he ate at the king’s table regularly. Now ^(Q)he was lame in both feet.

Ammon and Aram Defeated

10 ^(R)Now it happened afterwards that ^(S)the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of ^(T)Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent ^[h]some of his servants to console him concerning his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites, ³ the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “^[i]Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers to you? ^(U)Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and ^(V)shaved off half of their beards, and ^(W)cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ When they told it to David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, “^[j]Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶ Now when the sons of Ammon saw that ^(X)they had become odious to David, the sons of Ammon sent and ^(Y)hired the Arameans of ^(Z)Beth-rehob and the ^(AA)Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^(AB)Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men. ⁷ When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁸ The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array ^(AC)at the entrance of the ^[k]city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^(AD)Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

⁹ Now when Joab saw that ^[l]the battle was set against him in front and in the rear, he selected from all the choice men of Israel, and arrayed them against the Arameans. ¹⁰ But the remainder of the people he placed in the hand of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the sons of Ammon. ¹¹ He said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you. ^12 (AE)Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and ^(AF)may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Arameans, and ^(AG)they fled before him. ¹⁴ When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled, they also fled before Abishai and entered the city. ^(AH)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ When the Arameans saw that they had been ^[m]defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. ^16 (AI)And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the ^[n]River, and they came to Helam; and ^(AJ)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[o]led them. ¹⁷ Now when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans arrayed themselves to meet David and fought against him. ¹⁸ But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed ^(AK)700 charioteers of the Arameans and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. ¹⁹ When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they were ^[p]defeated by Israel, ^(AL)they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans feared to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

David’s Messengers Abused

19 ^(A)Now it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king 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 console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him. ³ But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “^[a]Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ Then certain persons went and told David about the men. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, “^[b]Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶ When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah and ^(B)from Zobah. ⁷ So they hired for themselves 32,000 chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped before ^(C)Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to battle. ⁸ When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁹ The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

Ammon and Aram Defeated

¹⁰ Now when Joab saw that the ^[c]battle was set against him in front and in the rear, he selected from all the choice men of Israel and they arrayed themselves against the Arameans. ¹¹ But the remainder of the people he placed in the hand of ^[d]Abshai his brother; and they arrayed themselves against the sons of Ammon. ¹² He said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. ¹³ Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of 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 to the battle against the Arameans, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled, they also fled before Abshai his brother and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ When the Arameans saw that they had been ^[e]defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the ^[f]River, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[g]leading them. ¹⁷ When it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and drew up in formation against them. And when David drew up in battle array against the Arameans, they fought against him. ¹⁸ The Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death Shophach the commander of the army. ¹⁹ So when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were ^[h]defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and served him. Thus the Arameans were not willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.