The Ammonites are Defeated

²⁶ Meanwhile, Joab attacked the Ammonite city of^[a] Rabbah and captured its stronghold. ²⁷ Then Joab sent messengers to David to tell him, “I just attacked Rabbah and captured its municipal water supply, ²⁸ so call out the rest of the army, attack the city, and capture it. Otherwise, I’ll take the city myself and name it after me.” ²⁹ So David mustered his entire army and marched on Rabbah, attacked it, and captured it. ³⁰ He confiscated the crown of their king^[b] from his head—it weighed one talent^[c] in gold and was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He confiscated a great amount of war booty that had been plundered from the city, ³¹ brought back the people who had lived in it, placing them under conscripted labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. He did this to every Ammonite city, and then David and his entire army^[d] returned to Jerusalem.