Lament over defeat in battle, and prayer for help.

For the Chief Musician; set to ^[a]Shushan Eduth. Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand.

8 And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took ^[a]the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he smote Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute.

³ David smote also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his dominion at ^[b]the River. ⁴ And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David hocked all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for a hundred chariots. ⁵ And when ^[c]the Syrians of Damascus came to succor Hadadezer king of Zobah, David smote of ^[d]the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. ⁶ Then David put garrisons in ^[e]Syria of Damascus; and ^[f]the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. And Jehovah ^[g]gave victory to David whithersoever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from ^[h]Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.

⁹ And when Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ then Toi sent ^[i]Joram his son unto king David, to ^[j]salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and smitten him: for Hadadezer ^[k]had wars with Toi. And ^[l]Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass: ¹¹ these also did king David dedicate unto Jehovah, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued; ¹² of ^[m]Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³ And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting ^[n]the Syrians in the Valley of Salt, even eighteen thousand men. ¹⁴ And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And Jehovah ^[o]gave victory to David whithersoever he went.

10 And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. ² And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness unto me. So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. ³ But the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, in that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David sent his servants unto thee to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

⁶ And when the children of Ammon saw that they were become odious to David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men. ⁷ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men. ⁸ And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entrance of the gate: and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.

⁹ Now when Joab saw that ^[a]the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: ¹⁰ and the rest of the people he committed into the hand of ^[b]Abishai his brother; and he put them in array against the children of Ammon. ¹¹ And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. ¹² Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good. ¹³ So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him. ¹⁴ And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶ And ^[c]Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the River: and they came to Helam, with Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer at their head. ¹⁷ And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, so that he died there. ¹⁹ And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.

19 And it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. ² And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me. So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. ³ But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, in that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee 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, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵ Then there went certain persons, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

⁶ And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Aram-maacah, and out of Zobah. ⁷ So they hired them thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle. ⁸ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men. ⁹ And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰ Now when Joab saw that ^[a]the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians. ¹¹ And the rest of the people he committed into the hand of ^[b]Abishai his brother; and they put themselves in array against the children of Ammon. ¹² And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee. ¹³ Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good. ¹⁴ So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him. ¹⁵ And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the River, with Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer at their head. ¹⁷ And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host. ¹⁹ And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and served him: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.