2 Samuel 8–10

Chapter 8

David’s Triumphs

^1aNow after this it came about that David ¹defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ²control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

^2aHe ¹defeated ^bMoab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And ^cthe Moabites became servants to David, ^dbringing tribute.

³Then David ¹defeated ^aHadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^bhe went to restore his ²rule at the ³River.

⁴David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^ahamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots.

⁵When ^athe Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David ¹killed 22,000 Arameans.

⁶Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and ^athe Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^bthe Lord helped David wherever he went.

⁷David took the shields of gold which were ¹carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.

⁸From ¹Betah and from ^aBerothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹Now when Toi king of ^aHamath heard that David had ¹defeated all the army of Hadadezer,

¹⁰Toi sent ¹Joram his son to King David to ²greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and ³defeated him; for Hadadezer ⁴had been at war with Toi. And ⁵Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.

¹¹King David also ^adedicated these to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued:

¹²from ¹Aram and ^aMoab and ^bthe sons of Ammon and ^cthe Philistines and ^dAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³So ^aDavid made a name for himself when he returned from ¹killing 18,000 ²Arameans in ^bthe Valley of Salt.

¹⁴He put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and ^aall the Edomites became servants to David. And ^bthe Lord helped David wherever he went.

¹⁵So David reigned over all Israel; and David ¹administered justice and righteousness for all his people.

^16aJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^bJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^crecorder.

^17aZadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^bpriests, and Seraiah was ^csecretary.

^18aBenaiah the son of Jehoiada ¹was over the ^bCherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^2cchief ministers.

Chapter 9

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

¹Then David said, “Is there yet ¹anyone left of the house of Saul, ^athat I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

²Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you ^aZiba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”

³The king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the ^akindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “^bThere is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.”

⁴So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is ^ain the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.”

⁵Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar.

^6aMephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and ^bfell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!”

⁷David said to him, “Do not fear, for ^aI will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and ^bwill restore to you all the ¹land of your ²grandfather Saul; and ^cyou shall ³eat at my table regularly.”

⁸Again he prostrated himself and said, “What is your servant, that you should regard ^aa dead dog like me?”

⁹Then the king called Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “^aAll that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s ¹grandson.

¹⁰“You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master’s grandson may have food; nevertheless ^aMephibosheth your master’s grandson ^bshall ¹eat at my table regularly.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹Then Ziba said to the king, “According ^ato all that my lord the king commands his servant so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth ate at ¹David’s table as one of the king’s sons.

¹²Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.

¹³So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^ahe ate at the king’s table regularly. Now ^bhe was lame in both feet.

Chapter 10

Ammon and Aram Defeated

^1aNow it happened afterwards that ^bthe king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son became king in his place.

²Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of ^aNahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent ¹some of his servants to console him concerning his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites,

³the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “¹Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers to you? ^aHas David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s servants and ^ashaved off half of their beards, and ^bcut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away.

⁵When they told it to David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, “¹Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶Now when the sons of Ammon saw that ^athey had become odious to David, the sons of Ammon sent and ^bhired the Arameans of ^cBeth-rehob and the ^dArameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^eMaacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men.

⁷When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men.

⁸The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array ^aat the entrance of the ¹city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^bTob and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

⁹Now when Joab saw that ¹the battle was set against him in front and in the rear, he selected from all the choice men of Israel, and arrayed them against the Arameans.

¹⁰But the remainder of the people he placed in the hand of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the sons of Ammon.

¹¹He 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“^aBe strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and ^bmay the Lord do what is good in His sight.”

¹³So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Arameans, and ^athey fled before him.

¹⁴When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled, they also fled before Abishai and entered the city. ^aThen Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵When the Arameans saw that they had been ¹defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together.

^16aAnd Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the ¹River, and they came to Helam; and ^bShobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ²led them.

¹⁷Now when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans arrayed themselves to meet David and fought against him.

¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed ^a700 charioteers of the Arameans and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.

¹⁹When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they were ¹defeated by Israel, ^athey made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans feared to help the sons of Ammon anymore.