2 Samuel 8–10

8And ^aafter this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took ^||Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines. ²And ^bhe smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites ^cbecame David’s servants, and ^dbrought gifts. ³David smote also ^||Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of ^eZobah, as he went ^fto recover his border at the river Euphrates. ⁴And David took ^||from him a thousand ^||chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David ^ghoughed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots. ^5hAnd when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. ⁶Then David put ⁱgarrisons in Syria of ^jDamascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. ^kAnd the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. ⁷And David took ^lthe shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸And from ^||Betah, and from ^||Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass. ⁹When ^||Toi king ^mof Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer, ¹⁰Then Toi sent ^||Joram his son unto king David, to ^†salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer ^†had wars with Toi. And Joram ^†brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass: ¹¹Which also king David ⁿdid dedicate unto the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued; ¹²Of Syria, and of Moab, and ^oof the children of Ammon, and ^pof the Philistines, and ^qof Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. ¹³And David gat him a name when he returned from ^†smiting of the Syrians in ^rthe valley of salt, ^s||being eighteen thousand men. ¹⁴And he put ⁱgarrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he ⁱgarrisons, and ^tall they of Edom became David’s servants. ^uAnd the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

¹⁵And David reigned over all Israel; and David ^wexecuted judgment and justice unto all his people. ^16xAnd ^yJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and ^zJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^||recorder; ¹⁷And ^aZadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the ^||scribe; ¹⁸And ^bBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was ^cover both the ^dCherethites and the ^ePelethites; and David’s sons were ^||chief rulers.

9And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may ^ashew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? ²And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was ^bZiba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. ³And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew ^cthe kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is ^dlame on his feet. ⁴And the king said unto him, Where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in ^eLo-debar. ⁵Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from ^eLo-debar. ⁶Now when ^||Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! ⁷And David said unto him, Fear not: ^ffor I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. ⁸And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such ^ga dead dog as I am? ⁹Then the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master’s son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. ¹⁰Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master’s son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master’s son ^hshall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had ⁱfifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, ^ksaid the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons. ¹²And Mephibosheth had a young son, ^lwhose name was Micha. And all that dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants unto Mephibosheth. ¹³So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet.

10^aAnd it came to pass after this, that the king of the ^bchildren of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. ²Then said David, ^cI will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. ³And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, ^†Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? ⁴Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, ^deven to their buttocks, and sent them away. ⁵When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. ⁶And when the children of Ammon saw that they ^estank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired ^fthe Syrians of ^fBeth-rehob, and ^gthe Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king ^hMaacah a thousand men, and of ^||Ish-tob twelve thousand men. ⁷And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of ⁱthe mighty men. ⁸And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and Ish-tob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. ⁹When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: ¹⁰And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon. ¹¹And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. ^12jBe of good courage, and let us ^kplay the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and ^lthe Lord do that which seemeth him good. ¹³And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him. ¹⁴And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before ^mAbishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.

^15*And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶And ⁿHadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that were beyond ^||the river: and they came to Helam; and ^||Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them. ¹⁷And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him. ¹⁸And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew ^othe men of seven ^phundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand ^||horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. ¹⁹And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, they ^qmade peace with Israel, and ^rserved them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.