Chronological
Ammon and Aram Defeated
10 (A)Now it happened afterward that (B)the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place. 2 Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of (C)Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent [a]some of his servants to console him about his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the commanders of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, “[b]Do you think that David is simply honoring your father since he has sent you servants [c]to console you? (D)Has David not sent his servants to you in order to explore the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun took David’s servants and (E)shaved off half of their beards, and (F)cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. 5 When messengers informed David, he sent servants to meet them, because the men were extremely humiliated. And the king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back, and then you shall return.”
6 Now when the sons of Ammon saw that (G)they had become repulsive to David, the sons of Ammon sent messengers and (H)hired the Arameans of (I)Beth-rehob and the (J)Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of (K)Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob with twelve thousand men. 7 When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the army, the warriors. 8 And the sons of Ammon came out and lined up for battle (L)at the entrance of the [d]city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of (M)Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the field.
9 Now when Joab saw that [e]the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel, and lined them up against the Arameans. 10 But the remainder of the people he placed [f]under the command of his brother Abishai, and he lined them up against the sons of Ammon. 11 And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you. 12 (N)Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and (O)may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” 13 So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to the battle against the Arameans, and (P)they fled from him. 14 When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. (Q)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.
15 When the Arameans saw that they had been [g]defeated by Israel, they assembled together. 16 (R)And Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam; and (S)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer [h]led them. 17 Now when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans lined up against David and fought him. 18 But the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed (T)seven hundred charioteers of the Arameans and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they had been [i]defeated by Israel, (U)they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.
David’s Messengers Abused
19 (A)Now it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. 2 Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him. 3 But the commanders among the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “[a]Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have his servants not come to you to search, to demolish, and to spy out the land?” 4 So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. 5 Then certain people went and told David about the men. And he sent messengers to meet them, because the men were very humiliated. And the king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow back, then return.”
6 When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent [b]a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and (B)Zobah. 7 So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped opposite (C)Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to the battle. 8 When David heard about it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. 9 The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of the city; and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.
Ammon and Aram Defeated
10 Now when Joab saw that the [c]battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel and lined them up against the Arameans. 11 But the remainder of the people he placed [d]under the command of [e]Abshai his brother; and they lined up against the sons of Ammon. 12 He said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. 13 Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the benefit of our people and the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” 14 So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to battle against the Arameans, and they fled from him. 15 When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from his brother Abshai and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
16 When the Arameans saw that they had been [f]defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer [g]leading them. 17 When it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and drew up in formation against them. And when David drew up in battle formation against the Arameans, they fought against him. 18 And the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed of the Arameans seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers; and he put Shophach the commander of the army to death. 19 So when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been [h]defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and served him. So the Arameans were not willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.
Prayer for Victory over Enemies.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
20 May the Lord answer you (A)on a day of trouble!
May the (B)name of the (C)God of Jacob [a]protect you!
2 May He send you help (D)from the sanctuary,
And (E)support you from Zion!
3 May He (F)remember all your meal offerings
And [b](G)accept your burnt offering! Selah
4 May He grant you your (H)heart’s desire
And (I)fulfill your whole plan!
5 [c]We will (J)sing for joy over your [d]victory,
And in the name of our God we will (K)set up our banners.
May the Lord (L)fulfill all your desires.
6 Now (M)I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will (N)answer him from His holy heaven
With the [e](O)saving strength of His right hand.
7 Some praise their chariots and some their (P)horses,
But (Q)we will praise the name of the Lord, our God.
8 They have (R)bowed down and fallen,
But we have (S)risen and stood upright.
9 [f](T)Save, Lord;
May the (U)King answer us on the day we call.
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