Beginning
David Wins Many Battles
18 While David was king of Israel, he won many battles over the Philistines. He brought them under his control. He took Gath away from the Philistines. He also captured the villages around Gath.
2 David also won the battle over the people of Moab. They were brought under his rule. They gave him the gifts he required them to bring him.
3 David fought against Hadadezer in the area of Hamath. Hadadezer was king of Zobah. He had gone to set up 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 David 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 wherever he went.
7 David took the gold shields carried by the officers of Hadadezer. He brought the shields to Jerusalem. 8 He took a huge amount of bronze from Tebah and Kun. Those towns belonged to Hadadezer. Later, Solomon used the bronze to make the huge bronze bowl for washing. He also used it to make the pillars and many other bronze objects for the temple.
9 Tou was king of Hamath. He heard that David had won the battle over the entire army of Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. 10 So Tou sent his son Hadoram to King David. Hadoram greeted David. He praised him because David had won the battle over Hadadezer. Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. So Hadoram brought David all kinds of things made out of gold, of silver and of bronze.
11 King David set those things apart for the Lord. He had done the same thing with the silver and gold he had taken from other nations. The nations were Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia and Amalek.
12 Abishai struck down 18,000 men of Edom in the Valley of Salt. Abishai was the son of Zeruiah. 13 Abishai stationed some soldiers in Edom. The whole nation of Edom was brought under his rule. The Lord helped David win his battles wherever he went.
David’s Officials
14 David ruled over the whole nation of Israel. He did what was fair and right for all his people.
15 Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was commander over the army.
Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, kept the records.
16 Zadok, the son of Ahitub, was a priest. Ahimelek, the son of Abiathar, was also a priest.
Shavsha was the secretary.
17 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was commander over the Kerethites and Pelethites.
And King David’s sons were the chief officials who served at his side.
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.
Joab Captures the City of Rabbah
20 In the spring, Joab led Israel’s army out. It was the time when kings march out to war. Joab destroyed the land of Ammon. He went to the city of Rabbah. He surrounded it and got ready to attack it. But David remained in Jerusalem. Later, Joab attacked Rabbah and completely destroyed it. 2 David took the gold crown off the head of the king of Ammon. The crown weighed 75 pounds. It had jewels in it. It was placed on David’s head. He took a huge amount of goods from the city. 3 He brought out the people who were there. He made them work with saws and iron picks and axes. David did that to all the towns in Ammon. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
Israel Goes to War Against the Philistines
4 War broke out at Gezer against the Philistines. At that time Sibbekai killed Sippai. So the Philistines were brought under Israel’s control. Sibbekai was a Hushathite. Sippai was from the family line of Rapha.
5 In another battle against the Philistines, Elhanan killed Lahmi. Elhanan was the son of Jair. Lahmi was the brother of Goliath. Goliath was from the city of Gath. Lahmi’s spear was as big as a weaver’s rod.
6 There was still another battle. It took place at Gath. A huge man lived there. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. So the total number of his toes and fingers was 24. He was also from the family line of Rapha. 7 He made fun of Israel. So Jonathan killed him. Jonathan was the son of David’s brother Shimea.
8 Those Philistine men lived in Gath. They were from the family line of Rapha. David and his men killed them.
David Counts His Fighting Men
21 Satan rose up against Israel. He stirred up David to count the men of Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go! Count the men of Israel from Beersheba all the way to Dan. Report back to me. Then I’ll know how many there are.”
3 Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply his troops 100 times. King David, you are my master. Aren’t all the men under your control? Why would you want me to count them? Do you want to make Israel guilty?”
4 In spite of what Joab said, the king’s order had more authority than Joab’s reply did. So Joab left and went all through Israel. Then he came back to Jerusalem. 5 Joab reported to David how many fighting men he had counted. In the whole land of Israel there were 1,100,000 men who could use their swords well. That included 470,000 men in Judah.
6 But Joab didn’t include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the total number. The king’s command was sickening to Joab. 7 It was also evil in the sight of God. So he punished Israel.
8 Then David said to God, “I committed a great sin when I counted Israel’s men. I beg you to take away my guilt. I’ve done a very foolish thing.”
9 The Lord spoke to Gad, David’s prophet. The Lord said, 10 “Go and tell David, ‘The Lord says, “I could punish you in three different ways. Choose one of them for me to punish you with.” ’ ”
11 So Gad went to David. Gad said to him, “The Lord says, ‘Take your choice. 12 You can have three years when there will not be enough food in the land. You can have three months when your enemies will sweep you away. They will catch up with you. They will destroy you with their swords. Or you can have three days when the sword of the Lord will punish you. That means there would be three days of plague in the land. My angel would strike down people in every part of Israel.’ So take your pick. Tell me how to answer the one who sent me.”
13 David said to Gad, “I’m suffering terribly. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord. His mercy is very great. But don’t let me fall into human hands.”
14 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel. And 70,000 Israelites died. 15 God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing it, the Lord saw it. The Lord decided to end the plague he had sent. So he spoke to the angel who was destroying the people. He said, “That is enough! Do not kill any more people!” The angel of the Lord was standing at Araunah’s threshing floor. Araunah was from the city of Jebus.
16 David looked up. He saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth. The angel was holding out a sword over Jerusalem. David and the elders fell with their faces to the ground. They were wearing the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad.
17 David said to God, “I ordered the fighting men to be counted. I’m the one who has sinned. I am the shepherd of these people. I’m the one who has done what is wrong. These people are like sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, punish me and my family. But don’t let this plague continue to strike your people.”
David Builds an Altar
18 Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up to the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. He wanted David to build an altar there to honor the Lord. 19 So David went up and did it. He obeyed the message that Gad had spoken in the Lord’s name.
20 Araunah was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel. Araunah’s four children were with him. They hid themselves. 21 David approached the threshing floor. Araunah looked up and saw him. So Araunah left the threshing floor. He bowed down to David with his face toward the ground.
22 David said to him, “Let me have the property your threshing floor is on. I want to build an altar there to honor the Lord. When I do, the plague on the people will be stopped. Sell the threshing floor to me for the full price.”
23 Araunah said to David, “Take it! King David, you are my master. Do what you please. I’ll even provide the oxen for the burnt offerings. Use boards from the threshing sleds for the wood. Use the wheat for the grain offering. I’ll give it all to you.”
24 But King David replied to Araunah, “No! I want to pay the full price. I won’t take what belongs to you and give it to the Lord. I won’t sacrifice a burnt offering that hasn’t cost me anything.”
25 So David paid Araunah 15 pounds of gold for the property. 26 David built an altar there to honor the Lord. He sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings. He called out to the Lord. The Lord answered him by sending fire from heaven on the altar for burnt offerings.
27 Then the Lord spoke to the angel. And the angel put his sword away. 28 When the angel did that, David was still at the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. David saw that the Lord had answered him. So he offered sacrifices there. 29 At that time, the Lord’s holy tent was at the high place in Gibeon. The altar for burnt offerings was there too. Moses had made the holy tent in the desert. 30 David couldn’t go to the tent to pray to God. That’s because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.