David's Victories

8 ^(A)After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took ^(B)Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

^2 (C)And he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites ^(D)became servants to David and ^(E)brought tribute.

³ David also defeated ^(F)Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^(G)Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. ^4 (H)And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David ^(I)hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. ^5 (J)And when the ^(K)Syrians of Damascus came to help ^(L)Hadadezer king of ^(M)Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians ^(N)became servants to David and brought tribute. ^(O)And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took ^(P)the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

⁹ When Toi king of ^(Q)Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. ^11 (R)These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, ¹² from Edom, ^(S)Moab, ^(T)the Ammonites, ^(U)the Philistines, ^(V)Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of ^(W)Zobah.

¹³ And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in ^(X)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, ^(Y)and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Officials

¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. ^16 (Z)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^(AA)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, ¹⁷ and ^(AB)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and ^(AC)Seraiah was secretary, ¹⁸ and ^(AD)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over^[a] the ^(AE)Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.

David's Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may ^(AF)show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” ² Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^(AG)Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³ And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show ^(AH)the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of ^(AI)Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” ⁴ The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of ^(AJ)Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” ⁵ Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. ⁶ And ^(AK)Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” ⁷ And David said to him, “Do not fear, ^(AL)for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and ^(AM)you shall eat at my table always.” ⁸ And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for ^(AN)a dead dog such as I?”

⁹ Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. ¹⁰ And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson ^(AO)shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had ^(AP)fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ^(AQ)ate at David's^[b] table, like one of the king's sons. ¹² And Mephibosheth had a young son, ^(AR)whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. ¹³ So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^(AS)he ate always at the king's table. Now ^(AT)he was lame in both his feet.

The Ammonites Disgrace David's Men

19 ^(A)Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him. ³ But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? 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, at their hips, and sent them away; ⁵ and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”

⁶ When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents^[a] of silver to hire chariots and horsemen ^(B)from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from ^(C)Zobah. ⁷ They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and encamped before ^(D)Medeba. And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle. ⁸ When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. ⁹ And the Ammonites 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 open country.

Ammonites and Syrians Defeated

¹⁰ When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. ¹¹ The rest of his men he put in the charge of ^(E)Abishai his brother, and they were arrayed against the Ammonites. ¹² And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. ¹³ Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” ¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before ^(F)Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates,^[b] with ^(G)Shophach the commander of the army of ^(H)Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of ^(I)7,000 chariots and 40,000 ^(J)foot soldiers, and put to death also ^(K)Shophach the commander of their army. ¹⁹ And when the servants of ^(L)Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.