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1 Chronicles 19:2–4

And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David came to the land of the Ammonites,b to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the Ammonitesc said to Hanun, “Do you thinkd because David sent comforters to you that David honors your father? Is it not for the purpose of exploring so as to overthrow and spy out the land that his servants have come to you?” So Hanun took the servants of David and shaved them and cut off their garments at the middle, up to the buttocks, and sent them away.

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1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — The New International Version (NIV)

David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father.

When David’s envoys came to Hanun in the land of the Ammonites to express sympathy to him, the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Haven’t his envoys come to you only to explore and spy out the country and overthrow it?” So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved them, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — English Standard Version (ESV)

And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him. But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away;

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — New Living Translation (NLT)

David said, “I am going to show loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me.” So David sent messengers to express sympathy to Hanun about his father’s death.

But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon, the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, “Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the land so they can come in and conquer it!” So Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved them, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

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 comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to Hanun in the land of the people of Ammon to comfort him.

And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Did his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — New Century Version (NCV)

David said, “Nahash was loyal to me, so I will be loyal to his son Hanun.” So David sent messengers to comfort Hanun about his father’s death.

David’s officers went to the land of the Ammonites to comfort Hanun. But the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, “Do you think David wants to honor your father by sending men to comfort you? No! David sent them to study the land and capture it and spy it out.” So Hanun arrested David’s officers. To shame them he shaved their beards and cut off their clothes at the hips. Then he sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me. So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, in that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? So Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And David said, I will shew kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Is it, in thine eyes, to honour thy father that David has sent comforters to thee? Is it not to search and overthrow, and to spy out the land that his servants are come to thee? And Hanun took David’s servants, and had them shaved, and their raiment cut off in the midst, as far as the hip, and sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun because his father Nahash showed me kindness.” So David sent messengers to comfort Hanun after his father’s ⸤death⸥. But when David’s servants entered Ammonite territory to comfort Hanun, the Ammonite princes asked Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your father because he sent men to comfort you? Haven’t his servants come to explore, destroy, and spy on the country?” So Hanun took David’s men, shaved them, cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away. 

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Then David said, “I’ll show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.”

So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. However, when David’s emissaries arrived in the land of the Ammonites to console him, the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, “Just because David has sent men with condolences for you, do you really believe he’s showing respect for your father? Instead, hasn’t David sent his emissaries in order to scout out, overthrow, and spy on the land?” So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved them, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun son of Nahash, for his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. When David’s servants came to Hanun in the land of the Ammonites, to console him, the officials of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent consolers to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” So Hanun seized David’s servants, shaved them, cut off their garments in the middle at their hips, and sent them away;

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

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.

The Ammonite nobles 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.”

So Hanun grabbed hold of David’s men. He shaved them. He cut their clothes off just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:2–4 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

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.

But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away.


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