Grieving over Defeat in Battle, and Prayer for Help.

For the music director; according to ^[a]Shushan Eduth. A ^[b]Mikhtam of David, to teach; ^[c]when he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

David’s Triumphs

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

^2 (B)And He ^[c]defeated ^(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 a full line to keep alive. And ^(D)the Moabites became servants to David, ^(E)bringing tribute.

³ Then David ^[d]defeated ^(F)Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^(G)he went to restore his ^[e]power at the Euphrates River. ⁴ And David captured from him ^[f]1,700 horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers; and David ^(H)hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots. ⁵ When ^(I)the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David ^[g]killed twenty-two thousand men among the Arameans. ⁶ Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and ^(J)the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^(K)the Lord helped David wherever he went. ⁷ David took the shields of gold which were ^[h]carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from ^[i]Betah and ^(L)Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹ Now when Toi king of ^(M)Hamath heard that David had ^[j]defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ Toi sent his son ^[k]Joram to King David to ^[l]greet him and bless him, because he had fought Hadadezer and ^[m]defeated him; for Hadadezer ^[n]had been at war with Toi. And ^[o]Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze. ¹¹ King David also ^(N)consecrated these gifts to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had consecrated from all the nations which he had subdued: ¹² from ^[p]Aram, ^(O)Moab, ^(P)the sons of Ammon, ^(Q)the Philistines, ^(R)Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ So ^(S)David made a name for himself when he returned from ^[q]killing eighteen thousand ^[r]Arameans in ^(T)the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ He also put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and ^(U)all the Edomites became servants to David. And ^(V)the Lord helped David wherever he went.

Ammon and Aram Defeated

10 ^(A)Now it happened afterward that ^(B)the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of ^(C)Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent ^[a]some of his servants to console him about his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites, ³ the commanders of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, “^[b]Do you think that David is simply honoring your father since he has sent you servants ^[c]to console you? ^(D)Has David not sent his servants to you in order to explore 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 robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ When messengers informed David, he sent servants to meet them, because the men were extremely humiliated. And the king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back, and then you shall return.”

⁶ Now when the sons of Ammon saw that ^(G)they had become repulsive to David, the sons of Ammon sent messengers and ^(H)hired the Arameans of ^(I)Beth-rehob and the ^(J)Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of ^(K)Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob with twelve thousand men. ⁷ When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the army, the warriors. ⁸ And the sons of Ammon came out and lined up for battle ^(L)at the entrance of the ^[d]city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^(M)Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the field.

⁹ Now when Joab saw that ^[e]the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel, and lined them up against the Arameans. ¹⁰ But the remainder of the people he placed ^[f]under the command of his brother Abishai, and he lined them up against the sons of Ammon. ¹¹ And 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 (N)Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and ^(O)may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to the battle against the Arameans, and ^(P)they fled from him. ¹⁴ When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. ^(Q)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ When the Arameans saw that they had been ^[g]defeated by Israel, they assembled together. ^16 (R)And Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam; and ^(S)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[h]led them. ¹⁷ Now when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans lined up against David and fought him. ¹⁸ But the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed ^(T)seven hundred charioteers of the Arameans and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. ¹⁹ When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they had been ^[i]defeated by Israel, ^(U)they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans were afraid 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 commanders among 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 his servants not come to you to search, to demolish, and to spy out the land?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ Then certain people went and told David about the men. And he sent messengers to meet them, because the men were very humiliated. And the king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow back, then return.”

⁶ When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent ^[b]a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and ^(B)Zobah. ⁷ So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped opposite ^(C)Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to the battle. ⁸ When David heard about it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁹ The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle formation 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 at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel and lined them up against the Arameans. ¹¹ But the remainder of the people he placed ^[d]under the command of ^[e]Abshai his brother; and they lined up 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’s show ourselves courageous for the benefit of our people and 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 advanced to battle against the Arameans, and they fled from him. ¹⁵ When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from his brother Abshai and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ When the Arameans saw that they had been ^[f]defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ^[g]leading them. ¹⁷ When it was reported to 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 formation against the Arameans, they fought against him. ¹⁸ And the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed of the Arameans seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers; and he put Shophach the commander of the army to death. ¹⁹ So when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been ^[h]defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and served him. So the Arameans were not willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.