For the director of music. For teaching. A miktam of David when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah. That was when Joab returned and struck down 12,000 people from Edom in the Valley of Salt. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.”

David Wins Many Battles

8 While David was king of Israel, he won many battles over the Philistines. He brought them under his control. He took Metheg Ammah away from them.

² David also won the battle over the people of Moab. He made them lie down on the ground. Then he measured them off with a piece of rope. He put two-thirds of them to death. He let the other third remain alive. So the Moabites were brought under David’s rule. They gave him the gifts he required them to bring him.

³ David fought against Hadadezer, the son of Rehob. Hadadezer was king of Zobah. He had gone to repair his monument at the Euphrates River. ⁴ David captured 1,000 of Hadadezer’s chariots, 7,000 chariot riders and 20,000 soldiers on foot. He cut the legs of all but 100 of the chariot horses.

⁵ The Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. But David struck down 22,000 of them. ⁶ He stationed some soldiers in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus. The people of Aram were brought under his rule. They gave him the gifts he required them to bring him. The Lord helped David win his battles everywhere he went.

⁷ David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer. He brought the shields to Jerusalem. ⁸ He took a huge amount of bronze from Tebah and Berothai. Those towns belonged to Hadadezer.

⁹ Tou was king of Hamath. He heard that David had won the battle over the entire army of Hadadezer. ¹⁰ So Tou sent his son Joram to King David. Joram greeted David. He praised David because he had won the battle over Hadadezer. Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. So Joram brought with him gifts made out of silver, of gold and of bronze.

¹¹ King David set those gifts apart for the Lord. He had done the same thing with the silver and gold he had taken from the other nations. Those were nations he had brought under his control. ¹² Those nations were Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia and Amalek. He also set apart for the Lord what he had taken from Hadadezer, the son of Rehob. Hadadezer was king of Zobah.

¹³ David returned after he had struck down 18,000 men of Edom in the Valley of Salt. He became famous for doing it.

¹⁴ He stationed some soldiers all through Edom. The whole nation of Edom was brought under David’s rule. The Lord helped him win his battles everywhere he went.

David Wins the Victory Over the Ammonites

10 The king of Ammon died. His son Hanun became the next king after him. ² David thought, “I’m going to be kind to Hanun. His father Nahash was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to Hanun. He wanted them to tell Hanun how sad he was that Hanun’s father had died.

David’s messengers went to the land of Ammon. ³ The Ammonite commanders spoke to their master Hanun. They said, “David has sent messengers to tell you he is sad. They say he wants to honor your father. But the real reason they’ve come is to look the city over. They want to destroy it.” ⁴ So Hanun grabbed David’s messengers. He shaved off half of each man’s beard. He cut their clothes off just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away.

⁵ David was told about it. So he sent messengers to his men because they were filled with shame. King David said to them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out again. Then come back here.”

⁶ The Ammonites realized that what they had done had made David very angry with them. So they hired 20,000 Aramean soldiers who were on foot. The soldiers came from Beth Rehob and Zobah. The Ammonites also hired the king of Maakah and 1,000 men. And they hired 12,000 men from Tob.

⁷ David heard about it. So he sent Joab out with the entire army of Israel’s fighting men. ⁸ The Ammonites marched out. They took up their battle positions at the entrance of their city gate. The Arameans of Zobah and Rehob gathered their troops together in the open country. So did the men of Tob and Maakah.

⁹ Joab saw that there were lines of soldiers in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best troops in Israel. He sent them to march out against the Arameans. ¹⁰ He put the rest of the men under the command of his brother Abishai. Joab sent them to march out against the Ammonites. ¹¹ He said, “Suppose the Arameans are too strong for me. Then you must come and help me. But suppose the Ammonites are too strong for you. Then I’ll come and help you. ¹² Be strong. Let’s be brave as we fight for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is best.”

¹³ Then Joab and the troops with him marched out to attack the Arameans. They ran away from him. ¹⁴ The Ammonites realized that the Arameans were running away. So they ran away from Abishai. They went inside the city. After Joab had fought against the Ammonites, he went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The Arameans saw that they had been driven away by Israel. So they brought their troops together. ¹⁶ Hadadezer had some Arameans brought from east of the Euphrates River. They went to Helam under the command of Shobak. He was the commander of Hadadezer’s army.

¹⁷ David was told about it. So he gathered the whole army of Israel together. They went across the Jordan River to Helam. The Arameans lined up their soldiers to go to war against David. They began to fight against him. ¹⁸ But then they ran away from Israel. David killed 700 of their chariot riders. He killed 40,000 of their soldiers who were on foot. He also struck down Shobak, the commander of their army. Shobak died there. ¹⁹ All the kings who were under the rule of Hadadezer saw that Israel had won the battle over them. So they made a peace treaty with the Israelites. They were brought under Israel’s rule.

After that, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

David Wins the Battle Over the Ammonites

19 Nahash was king of Ammon. After he died, his son became the next king after him. ² David thought, “I’m going to be kind to Hanun. His father Nahash was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to Hanun. He wanted them to tell Hanun how sad he was that Hanun’s father had died. David’s messengers went to the land of Ammon. They told Hanun how sad David was.

³ The Ammonite commanders spoke to Hanun. They said, “David has sent messengers to tell you he is sad. They say he wants to honor your father. But the real reason they’ve come is to look the land over. They want to destroy it.” ⁴ So Hanun grabbed David’s messengers. He shaved them. He cut off their clothes just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away.

⁵ Someone came and told David what had happened to his men. So David sent messengers to them because they were filled with shame. King David said to them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out again. Then come back here.”

⁶ The Ammonites realized that what they had done had made David very angry with them. So Hanun and the Ammonites got 38 tons of silver. They used it to hire chariots and chariot riders from Aram Naharaim, Aram Maakah and Zobah. ⁷ They hired 32,000 chariots and riders. They also hired the king of Maakah and his troops. All of them came out and camped near Medeba. At the same time the Ammonites brought their troops together from their towns. Then they marched out to fight.

⁸ David heard about it. So he sent Joab out with the entire army of Israel’s fighting men. ⁹ The Ammonites marched out. They took up their battle positions at the entrance to their city. The kings who came to help them gathered their troops together in the open country.

¹⁰ Joab saw that there were lines of soldiers in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best troops in Israel. He sent them to march out against the Arameans. ¹¹ He put the rest of the men under the command of his brother Abishai. They were sent to march out against the Ammonites. ¹² Joab said, “Suppose the Arameans are too strong for me. Then you must come and help me. But suppose the Ammonites are too strong for you. Then I’ll come and help you. ¹³ Be strong. Let’s be brave as we fight for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is best.”

¹⁴ Then Joab and the troops with him marched out to attack the Arameans. They ran away from him. ¹⁵ The Ammonites realized that the Arameans were running away. So they also ran away from Joab’s brother Abishai. They went inside the city. Then Joab went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ The Arameans saw that they had been driven away by Israel. So they sent messengers to get some Arameans from east of the Euphrates River. The Arameans were under the command of Shophak. He was the commander of Hadadezer’s army.

¹⁷ David was told about it. So he gathered together the whole army of Israel. They went across the Jordan River. David marched out against the Arameans. He lined up his soldiers opposite them. He lined them up to meet the Arameans in battle. The Arameans began to fight against him. ¹⁸ But then they ran away from Israel. David killed 7,000 of their chariot riders. He killed 40,000 of their soldiers who were on foot. He also killed Shophak, the commander of their army.

¹⁹ The people who were under the rule of Hadadezer saw that Israel had won the battle over them. So they made a peace treaty with David. They were brought under his rule.

After that, the Arameans wouldn’t help the Ammonites anymore.