2 Samuel 8–10

¹And it cometh to pass afterwards that David smiteth the Philistines, and humbleth them, and David taketh the bridle of the metropolis out of the hand of the Philistines. ²And he smiteth Moab, and measureth them with a line, causing them to lie down on the earth, and he measureth two lines to put to death, and the fulness of the line to keep alive, and the Moabites are to David for servants, bearers of a present. ³And David smiteth Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, in his going to bring back his power by the River Euphrates; ⁴and David captureth from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and David destroyeth utterly the whole of the charioteers, only he leaveth of them a hundred charioteers. ⁵And Aram of Damascus cometh to give help to Hadadezer king of Zobah, and David smiteth of Aram twenty and two thousand men; ⁶and David putteth garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and Aram is to David for a servant, bearing a present; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone; ⁷and David taketh the shields of gold which were on the servants of Hadadezer, and bringeth them to Jerusalem; ⁸and from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, hath king David taken very much brass.

⁹And Toi king of Hamath heareth that David hath smitten all the force of Hadadezer, ¹⁰and Toi sendeth Joram his son unto king David to ask of him of welfare, and to bless him, (because that he hath fought against Hadadezer, and smiteth him, for a man of wars with Toi had Hadadezer been), and in his hand have been vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass, ¹¹also them did king David sanctify to Jehovah, with the silver and the gold which he sanctified of all the nations which he subdued: ¹²of Aram, and of Moab, and of the Bene-Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob king of Zobah. ¹³And David maketh a name in his turning back from his smiting Aram in the valley of Salt—eighteen thousand; ¹⁴and he putteth in Edom garrisons—in all Edom he hath put garrisons, and all Edom are servants to David; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone.

¹⁵And David reigneth over all Israel, and David is doing judgment and righteousness to all his people, ¹⁶and Joab son of Zeruiah is over the host, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud is remembrancer, ¹⁷and Zadok son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, are priests, and Seraiah is scribe, ¹⁸and Benaiah son of Jehoiada is over both the Cherethite and the Pelethite, and the sons of David have been ministers.

Chapter 9

¹And David saith, ‘Is there yet any left to the house of Saul, and I do with him kindness because of Jonathan?’ ²And the house of Saul hath a servant, and his name is Ziba, and they call for him unto David; and the king saith unto him, ‘Art thou Ziba?’ and he saith, ‘Thy servant.’ ³And the king saith, ‘Is there not yet a man to the house of Saul, and I do with him the kindness of God?’ And Ziba saith unto the king, ‘Jonathan hath yet a son—lame.’ ⁴And the king saith to him, ‘Where is he?’ and Ziba saith unto the king, ‘Lo, he is in the house of Machir, son of Ammiel, in Lo-Debar.’ ⁵And king David sendeth, and taketh him out of the house of Machir son of Ammiel, of Lo-Debar, ⁶and Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, son of Saul, cometh unto David, and falleth on his face, and doth obeisance, and David saith, ‘Mephibosheth;’ and he saith, ‘Lo, thy servant.’ ⁷And David saith to him, ‘Be not afraid; for I certainly do with thee kindness because of Jonathan thy father, and have given back to thee all the field of Saul thy father, and thou dost eat bread at my table continually.’ ⁸And he boweth himself, and saith, ‘What is thy servant, that thou hast turned unto the dead dog—such as I?’

⁹And the king calleth unto Ziba servant of Saul, and saith unto him, ‘All that was to Saul and to all his house, I have given to the son of thy lord, ¹⁰and thou hast served for him the land, thou and thy sons, and thy servants, and hast brought in, and there hath been to the son of thy lord bread, and he hath eaten it; and Mephibosheth son of thy lord doth eat continually bread at my table;’ and Ziba hath fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹And Ziba saith unto the king, ‘According to all that my lord the king commandeth his servant, so doth thy servant;’ as to Mephibosheth, ‘he is eating at my table (saith the king) as one of the sons of the king.’ ¹²And Mephibosheth hath a young son, and his name is Micha, and every one dwelling in the house of Ziba are servants to Mephibosheth. ¹³And Mephibosheth is dwelling in Jerusalem, for at the table of the king he is eating continually, and he is lame of his two feet.

Chapter 10

¹And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the king of the Bene-Ammon dieth, and Hanun his son reigneth in his stead, ²and David saith, ‘I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did with me kindness;’ and David sendeth to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David come in to the land of the Bene-Ammon. ³And the heads of the Bene-Ammon say unto Hanun their lord, ‘Is David honouring thy father in thine eyes because he hath sent to thee comforters? for to search the city, and to spy it, and to overthrow it, hath not David sent his servants unto thee?’ ⁴And Hanun taketh the servants of David, and shaveth off the half of their beard, and cutteth off their long robes in the midst—unto their buttocks, and sendeth them away; ⁵and they declare it to David, and he sendeth to meet them, for the men have been greatly ashamed, and the king saith, ‘Abide in Jericho till your beard doth spring up—then ye have returned.’

⁶And the Bene-Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the Bene-Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and Ish-Tob with twelve thousand men; ⁷and David heareth, and sendeth Joab, and all the host—the mighty men. ⁸And the Bene-Ammon come out, and set battle in array, at the opening of the gate, and Aram of Zoba, and Rehob, and Ish-Tob, and Maacah, are by themselves in the field; ⁹and Joab seeth that the front of the battle hath been unto him before and behind, and he chooseth of all the chosen in Israel, and setteth in array to meet Aram, ¹⁰and the rest of the people he hath given into the hand of Abishai his brother, and setteth in array to meet the Bene-Ammon. ¹¹And he saith, ‘If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation, and if the Bene-Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have come to give salvation to thee; ¹²be strong and strengthen thyself for our people, and for the cities of our God, and Jehovah doth that which is good in His eyes.’ ¹³And Joab draweth nigh, and the people who are with him, to battle against Aram, and they flee from his presence; ¹⁴and the Bene-Ammon have seen that Aram hath fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go in to the city; and Joab turneth back from the Bene-Ammon, and cometh in to Jerusalem.

¹⁵And Aram seeth that it is smitten before Israel, and they are gathered together; ¹⁶and Hadadezer sendeth, and bringeth out Aram which is beyond the River, and they come in to Helam, and Shobach head of the host of Hadadezer is before them. ¹⁷And it is declared to David, and he gathereth all Israel, and passeth over the Jordan, and cometh in to Helam, and Aram setteth itself in array to meet David, and they fight with him; ¹⁸and Aram fleeth from the presence of Israel, and David slayeth of Aram seven hundred charioteers, and forty thousand horsemen, and Shobach head of its host he hath smitten, and he dieth there. ¹⁹And all the kings—servants of Hadadezer—see that they have been smitten before Israel, and make peace with Israel, and serve them; and Aram is afraid to help any more the Bene-Ammon.

Chapter 11