2 Samuel 8–10

David’s Military Victories

8Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again, defeated them, and ended their control over the land.^s

²Then he defeated the Moabites. He made the prisoners lie down on the ground and put two out of every three of them to death. So the Moabites became his subjects and paid taxes to him.

³Then he defeated the king of the Syrian state of Zobah, Hadadezer son of Rehob, as Hadadezer was on his way to restore his control over the territory by the upper Euphrates. ⁴David captured 1,700 of his horsemen and 20,000 of his foot soldiers. He kept enough horses for a hundred chariots and crippled all the rest.

⁵When the Syrians of Damascus sent an army to help King Hadadezer, David attacked it and killed 22,000 men. ⁶Then he set up military camps in^t their territory, and they became his subjects and paid taxes to him. The Lord made David victorious everywhere. ⁷David captured the gold shields carried by Hadadezer’s officials and took them to Jerusalem. ⁸He also took a great quantity of bronze from Betah and Berothai, cities ruled by Hadadezer.

⁹King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated all of Hadadezer’s army. ¹⁰So he sent his son Joram to greet King David and congratulate him on his victory over Hadadezer, against whom Toi had fought many times. Joram took David presents made of gold, silver, and bronze. ¹¹King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he had conquered- ¹²Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek—as well as part of the loot he had taken from Hadadezer.

^13*David became even more famous when he returned from killing 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴He set up military camps^u throughout Edom, and the people there became his subjects. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.

¹⁵David ruled over all Israel and made sure that his people were always treated fairly and justly. ¹⁶Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, was the commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records; ¹⁷Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the court secretary; ¹⁸Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of^v David’s bodyguard and David’s sons were priests.

David and Mephibosheth

9^*One day David asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family? If there is, I would like to show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake.”

²There was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba, and he was told to go to David. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked.

“At your service, sir,” he answered.

^3*The king asked him, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family to whom I can show loyalty and kindness, as I promised God I would?”

Ziba answered, “There is still one of Jonathan’s sons. He is crippled.”

⁴“Where is he?” the king asked.

“At the home of Machir son of Ammiel in Lodebar,” Ziba answered. ⁵So King David sent for him.

⁶When Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, arrived, he bowed down before David in respect. David said, “Mephibosheth,” and he answered, “At your service, sir.”

⁷“Don’t be afraid,” David replied. “I will be kind to you for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will give you back all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always be welcome at my table.”

⁸Mephibosheth bowed again and said, “I am no better than a dead dog, sir! Why should you be so good to me?” ⁹Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said, “I am giving Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, everything that belonged to Saul and his family. ¹⁰You, your sons, and your servants will farm the land for your master Saul’s family and bring in the harvest, to provide food for them. But Mephibosheth himself will always be a guest at my table.” (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

¹¹Ziba answered, “I will do everything Your Majesty commands.”

So Mephibosheth ate at the king’s^w table, just like one of the king’s sons. ¹²Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. All the members of Ziba’s family became servants of Mephibosheth. ¹³So Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem, eating all his meals at the king’s table.

David Defeats the Ammonites and the Syrians

10Some time later King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king. ²King David said, “I must show loyal friendship to Hanun, as his father Nahash did to me.” So David sent messengers to express his sympathy.

When they arrived in Ammon, ³the Ammonite leaders said to the king, “Do you think that it is in your father’s honour that David has sent these men to express sympathy to you? Of course not! He has sent them here as spies to explore the city, so that he can conquer us!”

⁴Hanun seized David’s messengers, shaved off one side of their beards, cut off their clothes at the hips, and sent them away. ⁵They were too ashamed to return home. When David heard about what had happened, he sent word that they should stay in Jericho and not return until their beards had grown again.

⁶The Ammonites realized that they had made David their enemy, so they hired 20,000 Syrian soldiers from Bethrehob and Zobah, 12,000 men from Tob, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men. ⁷David heard of it and sent Joab against them with the whole army. ⁸The Ammonites marched out and took up their position at the entrance to Rabbah, their capital city, while the others, both the Syrians and the men from Tob and Maacah, took up their position in the open countryside.

⁹Joab saw that the enemy troops would attack him in front and from the rear, so he chose the best of Israel’s soldiers and put them in position facing the Syrians. ¹⁰He placed the rest of his troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who put them in position facing the Ammonites. ¹¹Joab said to him, “If you see that the Syrians are defeating me, come and help me, and if the Ammonites are defeating you, I will go and help you. ¹²Be strong and courageous! Let’s fight hard for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord’s will be done!”

¹³Joab and his men advanced to attack, and the Syrians fled. ¹⁴When the Ammonites saw the Syrians running away, they fled from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab turned back from fighting the Ammonites and went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁵The Syrians realized that they had been defeated by the Israelites, so they called all their troops together. ¹⁶King Hadadezer sent for the Syrians who were on the east side of the River Euphrates, and they came to Helam under the command of Shobach, commander of the army of King Hadadezer of Zobah. ¹⁷When David heard of it, he gathered the Israelite troops, crossed the River Jordan, and marched to Helam, where the Syrians took up their position facing him. The fighting began, ¹⁸and the Israelites drove the Syrian army back. David and his men killed 700 Syrian chariot drivers and 40,000 horsemen, and they wounded Shobach, the enemy commander, who died on the battlefield. ¹⁹When the kings who were subject to Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by the Israelites, they made peace with them and became their subjects. And the Syrians were afraid to help the Ammonites any more.