1 Chronicles 18

David’s Further Conquests

18After this ^ait came to pass that David ¹attacked the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ²Then he ²defeated ^bMoab, and the Moabites became David’s ^cservants, and brought tribute.

³And ^dDavid ³defeated ⁴Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his power by the River Euphrates. ⁴David took from him one thousand chariots, ⁵seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David ⁶hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.

⁵When the ^eSyrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians. ⁶Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought tribute. So the Lord preserved David wherever he went. ⁷And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸Also from ⁷Tibhath and from ⁸Chun, cities of ⁹Hadadezer, David brought a large amount of ^fbronze, with which ^gSolomon made the bronze ¹Sea, the pillars, and the articles of bronze.

⁹Now when ²Tou king of Hamath heard that David had ³defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰he sent ⁴Hadoram his son to King David, to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and ⁵defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou); and Hadoram brought with him all kinds of ^harticles of gold, silver, and bronze. ¹¹King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had brought from all these nations—from Edom, from Moab, from the ⁱpeople of Ammon, from the ^jPhilistines, and from ^kAmalek.

¹²Moreover ^lAbishai the son of Zeruiah killed ^meighteen thousand ⁶Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ⁿHe also put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.

David’s Administration

¹⁴So David reigned over all Israel, and administered judgment and justice to all his people. ¹⁵Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶Zadok the son of Ahitub and ⁷Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; ⁸Shavsha was the scribe; ^17oBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ⁹chief ministers at the king’s side.