1 Chronicles 18:1–17

David Defeats His Enemies

18^aAfter this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

²And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³David also defeated ^bHadadezer king of ^cZobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument¹ at the river Euphrates. ⁴And David took from him 1,000 chariots, ^d7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots. ⁵And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^eof Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. ⁶Then David put garrisons² in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David³ wherever he went. ⁷And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸And from ^fTibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. ^gWith it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

⁹When ^hTou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king ^eof Zobah, ¹⁰he sent his son ⁱHadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against ^bHadadezer and defeated him; for ^bHadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze. ¹¹These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from ^jEdom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹²And ^kAbishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Administration

¹⁴So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵And ^lJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ^16mand Zadok the son of Ahitub and ⁿAhimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; and ^oShavsha was secretary; ¹⁷and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were the ^pchief officials in the service of the king.