Through God We Shall Do Valiantly

For the choir director. According to ^[a]Shushan Eduth. A ^[b]Mikhtam of David. For teaching. ^[c]When he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

David Strikes Down Nations

8 ^(A)Now it happened afterwards, that David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ^[a]control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^2 (B)He also struck ^(C)Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And ^(D)the Moabites became servants to David, ^(E)bringing tribute.

³ Then David struck ^(F)Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^(G)he went to restore his ^[b]power at the ^[c]River. ⁴ And David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^(H)hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for 100 chariots. ⁵ Then ^(I)the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah. And David struck down 22,000 Arameans. ⁶ Then David placed garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus; and ^(J)the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^(K)Yahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the small shields of gold which were ^[d]carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ Also from ^[e]Betah and from ^(L)Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹ Then Toi king of ^(M)Hamath heard that David had struck down all the military force of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ so Toi sent ^[f]Joram his son to King David to ^[g]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him down; for Hadadezer ^[h]had been at war with Toi. And in ^[i]Joram’s hand were articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(N)set these apart as holy to Yahweh, with the silver and the gold that he had set apart as holy from all the nations which he had subdued: ¹² from ^[j]Aram, ^(O)Moab, ^(P)the sons of Ammon, ^(Q)the Philistines, ^(R)Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ So ^(S)David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 ^[k]Arameans in ^(T)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ Then he placed garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he placed garrisons, and ^(U)all the Edomites became servants to David. And ^(V)Yahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went.

The Ammonites Dishonor David’s Men

10 ^(A)Now it happened afterwards, that ^(B)the king of the sons of Ammon died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. ² So David said, “I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of ^(C)Nahash, just as his father showed lovingkindness to me.” So David sent to comfort him concerning his father by the hand of his servants. And David’s servants came to the land of the sons of Ammon. ³ But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “In your eyes, is David honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? ^(D)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 ^(E)shaved off half of their beards, and ^(F)cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ Then they told it to David. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly dishonored. And the king said, “^[a]Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶ Then the sons of Ammon saw that ^(G)they had become odious to David. So the sons of Ammon sent and ^(H)hired the Arameans of ^(I)Beth-rehob and the ^(J)Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^(K)Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men. ⁷ Then David heard of it and sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁸ And the sons of Ammon came out and arranged themselves for battle ^(L)at the entrance of the gate of the city. But the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^(M)Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram

⁹ Then Joab saw that ^[b]the battle was set against him from the front and from the rear. So he chose from all the choice men of Israel, and they arranged themselves to meet the Arameans. ¹⁰ But the remainder of the people he put in the hand of Abishai his brother; and he arranged them to meet the sons of Ammon. ¹¹ And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall save me, but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to save you. ^12 (N)Be strong, and let us show strength for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and ^(O)may Yahweh do what is good in His sight.” ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Arameans, and ^(P)they fled before him. ¹⁴ Now the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled. So they also fled before Abishai and came into the city. ^(Q)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Then the Arameans saw that they had been ^[c]defeated by Israel. So they gathered themselves together. ^16 (R)And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the ^[d]River, and they came to Helam; and ^(S)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[e]led them. ¹⁷ And it was told to David, so he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans arranged themselves to meet David and fought against him. ¹⁸ But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans ^(T)700 charioteers and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. ¹⁹ Then all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that they were ^[f]defeated by Israel. So ^(U)they made peace with Israel and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to save the sons of Ammon anymore.

The Ammonites Dishonor David’s Men

19 ^(A)Now it happened afterwards, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. ² So David said, “I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed lovingkindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to comfort him. ³ But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “In your eyes, is David honoring your father because 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 dishonored. And the king said, “^[a]Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶ Then the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David. So Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent ^[b]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 Then David heard of it, and he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁹ And the sons of Ammon came out and arranged themselves for battle at the entrance of the city. But the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram

¹⁰ Then Joab saw that the ^[c]battle was set against him in front and in the rear. So he chose from all the choice men of Israel and ^[d]they arranged themselves to meet the Arameans. ¹¹ But the remainder of the people he put in the hand of ^[e]Abshai his brother; and they arranged themselves to meet the sons of Ammon. ¹² And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall save me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will save you. ¹³ Be strong, and let us show strength for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may Yahweh do what is good in His sight.” ¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Arameans for the battle, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ Now the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled. So they themselves also fled before Abshai his brother and came into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ Then the Arameans saw that they had been ^[f]defeated by Israel. So they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the ^[g]River, and Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[h]led them. ¹⁷ And it was told to David, so he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and arranged for battle against them. So David arranged them in battle to meet the Arameans. And they fought against him. ¹⁸ But 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 Then the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were ^[i]defeated by Israel. So they made peace with David and served him. And the Arameans were not willing to save the sons of Ammon anymore.