Beginning

David Defeats Nations

18 Later, David attacked the Philistine people and defeated them. He took Gath and the small towns around it from the Philistines.

² Then David defeated the country of Moab. So the Moabites became David’s servants. And they brought the payments he demanded from them.

³ David also fought against Hadadezer king of Zobah. David fought Hadadezer’s army all the way to the town of Hamath. He did this because Hadadezer tried to spread his kingdom all the way to the Euphrates River. ⁴ David took from Hadadezer 1,000 chariots and 7,000 chariot drivers. And he took 20,000 soldiers on foot. David also crippled most of Hadadezer’s horses used for pulling chariots. He saved only 100 of the chariot horses.

⁵ The Aramean people from Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah. But David killed 22,000 of them. ⁶ Then David put camps of troops in Damascus in Aram. The Arameans became David’s servants and brought him the payments he demanded. So the Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

⁷ David took the gold shields from Hadadezer’s army leaders. And he brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ David also took much bronze from the towns of Tebah and Cun. These towns belonged to Hadadezer. Later, Solomon used this bronze to make things for the Temple: the large bronze bowl, which was called the Sea, the pillars and other bronze things.

⁹ Toi was king of the city of Hamath. He heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer king of Zobah. ¹⁰ So Toi sent his son Hadoram to greet King David. Hadoram also congratulated David for fighting and defeating Hadadezer. Hadadezer had been at war with Toi before. Hadoram gave David all kinds of things made of gold, silver and bronze. ¹¹ King David gave these things to the Lord. David had done the same thing with the silver and gold he had taken from these nations: Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines and Amalek.

¹² Abishai son of Zeruiah killed 18,000 Edomite people in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Abishai also put camps of troops in Edom. And all the Edomites became David’s servants. The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went.

David’s Important Officers

¹⁴ David was king over all of Israel. He did what was right and fair for everyone. ¹⁵ Joab son of Zeruiah was commander of David’s army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder. ¹⁶ Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests. Shavsha was the royal assistant. ¹⁷ Benaiah was responsible for leading the Kerethites and Pelethites, the king’s bodyguards. Benaiah was Jehoiada’s son. And David’s sons were important officers. They served at King David’s side.

David Fights the Ammonites

19 Nahash was king of the Ammonite people. When Nahash died, his son became the king. ² David said, “Nahash was kind to me. So I will be kind to Hanun son of Nahash.” Then David sent a group to comfort Hanun about the death of his father.

David’s men went to comfort Hanun in the country of Ammon. ³ But the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, “Don’t be fooled. David didn’t send these men to comfort you. They are not here to honor your dead father. David sent his men to spy on you and your land. He wants to destroy your country.” ⁴ So Hanun arrested David’s men. To shame them he cut off their beards and cut off their clothes at the hips. Then he sent them away.

⁵ David’s men were too ashamed to go home. Some people came to David and told him what had happened to his men. So he sent messengers to meet them. He said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back. Then come home.”

⁶ The Ammonite people saw they had caused David to hate them. So Hanun and the Ammonites sent about 74,000 pounds of silver to hire chariots and chariot drivers. They hired Arameans from Northwest Mesopotamia, Aram Maacah and Zobah. ⁷ The Ammonites hired 32,000 chariots and chariot drivers. They also hired the king of Maacah and his army. So he and his army came and set up camp near the town of Medeba. The Ammonites themselves came out of their towns and got ready for battle.

⁸ David heard about this. So he sent out Joab and the whole army of Israel. ⁹ The Ammonites came out and got ready for battle. They were near the city gate. The kings who had come to help stayed out in the fields by themselves.

¹⁰ Joab saw that there were enemy troops in front of him and behind him. So Joab chose some of the best soldiers of Israel. And he sent them out to fight the Arameans. ¹¹ Joab put the rest of the army of Israel under the command of Abishai, his brother. Then they went out to fight the Ammonites. ¹² Joab said to Abishai, “The Arameans may be too strong for me. If they are, then you must help me. Or, the Ammonites may be too strong for you. If they are, then I will help you. ¹³ Let’s be strong. We must fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is right.”

¹⁴ Then Joab and the army with him went to attack the Arameans. And the Arameans ran away from them. ¹⁵ The Ammonite army saw that the Arameans were running away. So they also ran away from Abishai and his army. The Ammonites went back inside their city. And Joab went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ The Arameans saw that Israel had defeated them. So they sent messengers to bring other Arameans from east of the Euphrates River. Shophach the commander of Hadadezer’s army led them.

¹⁷ When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites. And he led them across the Jordan River. He lined them up for battle, facing the Arameans. And they attacked the Arameans. ¹⁸ But the Arameans ran away from the Israelites. David and his army killed 7,000 Aramean chariot drivers. And they killed 40,000 Aramean foot soldiers. They also killed Shophach, the commander of the Aramean army.

¹⁹ Hadadezer’s officers saw that Israel had defeated them. So they made peace with David. They became his servants. So the Arameans refused to help the Ammonites again.

Joab Destroys the Ammonites

20 In the spring Joab led the army of Israel out to battle. This was the time of year when kings went out to battle. But David stayed in Jerusalem. The army of Israel destroyed the land of Ammon. Then they went to the city of Rabbah. They surrounded it and attacked it until they destroyed it. ² David took the crown from the head of their king.^[a] That gold crown weighed about 75 pounds. And it had valuable gems in it. The crown was put on David’s head. Then David took many valuable things from the city. ³ David brought out the people from Rabbah. And he forced them to work with saws, iron picks and axes. David did the same thing to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

Philistine Giants Are Killed

⁴ Later, war broke out between Israel and the Philistines at Gezer. At this time Sibbecai from Hushah killed Sippai. Sippai was one of the descendants of the Rephaites. So those Philistines were defeated.

⁵ Another time, the Israelites again fought the Philistines. Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. Goliath was from the town of Gath. Lahmi’s spear was as large as a weaver’s rod.

⁶ Later, the Israelites fought another war with the Philistines at Gath. In this town there was a very large man. He had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot. So he had 24 fingers and toes in all. He also was a descendant of Rapha. ⁷ When he made fun of Israel, Jonathan killed him. Jonathan was the son of Shimea, David’s brother.

⁸ These Philistines were descendants of Rapha from Gath. David and his men killed them.

David Counts Israel

21 Satan was against Israel. He encouraged David to count the people of Israel. ² So David gave an order to Joab and the commanders of the troops. He said, “Go and count all the Israelites. Count everyone from Beersheba to Dan.^[b] Then tell me so I will know how many people there are.”

³ But Joab answered, “May the Lord make the nation 100 times as large. My master the king, all the Israelites are your servants. Why do you want to do this, my master? You will make Israel guilty of sin.”

⁴ But King David made Joab follow his order. So Joab left and went through all Israel, counting the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem. ⁵ He told David how many people there were. In Israel there were 1,100,000 men who could use a sword. And there were 470,000 men in Judah who could use a sword. ⁶ But Joab did not count the tribes of Levi and Benjamin. He didn’t count them because he didn’t like King David’s order. ⁷ David had done something God had said was wrong. So God punished Israel.

⁸ Then David said to God, “I have done something very foolish. It was a terrible sin. Now, I beg you to forgive me, your servant.”

⁹ Gad was David’s seer. The Lord said to Gad, ¹⁰ “Go and tell David: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to give you three choices. Choose one, and I will punish you in that way.’”

¹¹ So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Choose which punishment you want. ¹² You may choose three years without enough food for the nation. Or choose three months of running from your enemies as they chase you with their swords. Or choose three days of punishment from the Lord. A terrible disease will spread through the country. The angel of the Lord will go through Israel destroying the people.’ Now, David, decide which answer I will give to the Lord, who sent me.”

¹³ David said to Gad, “I am in trouble. I don’t want some man to punish me. The Lord is very merciful. So let the Lord punish me.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a terrible disease on Israel, and 70,000 people died. ¹⁵ God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But when the angel started to destroy it, the Lord saw it and felt sorry. So he said to the angel who was destroying, “That is enough! Stop!” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁶ David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord in the sky. The angel was holding his sword over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders bowed facedown on the ground. They were wearing rough cloth to show their sadness. ¹⁷ David said to God, “I am the one who sinned. I gave the order for the people to be counted. I have done wrong. These people are only sheep. What wrong have they done? Lord my God, punish me and my family. But stop the terrible disease that is killing your people.”

¹⁸ Then the angel of the Lord gave an order to Gad. He told Gad to tell David to build an altar to worship the Lord. It was to be at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. ¹⁹ Gad told David these things from the Lord. So David went to Araunah’s threshing floor.

²⁰ Araunah was separating the straw from the wheat. When he turned around, he saw the angel. Araunah’s four sons who were with him hid. ²¹ David went to Araunah. When Araunah saw David, he left the threshing floor. He bowed facedown on the ground before David.

²² David said to him, “Sell me your threshing floor. Then I can build an altar to worship the Lord here. Then the terrible disease will be stopped. Sell it to me for the full price.”

²³ Araunah said to David, “Take this threshing floor. You are my master the king. Do anything you want. Look, I will also give you oxen for the burnt offering. I will give you boards as wood for the fire. And I will give the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this to you.”

²⁴ But King David answered Araunah, “No, I must pay the full price. I won’t take anything that is yours and give it to the Lord. I won’t give an offering that costs me nothing.”

²⁵ So David paid Araunah about 15 pounds of gold for the place. ²⁶ David built an altar to worship the Lord there. He offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. David prayed to the Lord. And the Lord answered him by sending down fire from heaven. It came down on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ Then the Lord commanded the angel to put his sword back into its holder.

²⁸ David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah. So he offered sacrifices to the Lord there. ²⁹ The Holy Tent and the altar of burnt offerings were in Gibeon. They were at the place of worship there. Moses had made the Holy Tent while the Israelites were in the desert. ³⁰ But David could not go to the Holy Tent to speak with God. He was afraid of the angel of the Lord and his sword.