2 Samuel 8:1-10:19 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

2 Samuel 8:1-10:19

David Strikes Down Nations

^aNow it happened afterwards, that David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ¹control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.
2 ^aHe also struck ^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.
3 Then David struck ^aHadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^bhe went to restore his ¹power at the ²River. 4 And David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^ahamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for 100 chariots. 5 Then ^athe Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah. And David struck down 22,000 Arameans. 6 Then David placed garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus; and ^athe Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^bYahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went. 7 And David took the small shields of gold which were ¹carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 Also from ¹Betah and from ^aBerothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.
9 Then Toi king of ^aHamath heard that David had struck down all the military force of Hadadezer, 10 so Toi sent ¹Joram his son to King David to ²greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him down; for Hadadezer ³had been at war with Toi. And in ⁴Joram’s hand were articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11 King David also ^aset these apart as holy to Yahweh, with the silver and the gold that he had set apart as holy from all the nations which he had subdued: 12 from ¹Aram, ^aMoab, ^bthe sons of Ammon, ^cthe Philistines, ^dAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
13 So ^aDavid made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 ¹Arameans in ^bthe Valley of Salt. 14 Then he placed garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he placed garrisons, and ^aall the Edomites became servants to David. And ^bYahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went.
15 So David reigned over all Israel; and David was doing justice and righteousness for all his people. 16 ^aNow Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^bJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^crecorder; 17 ^aand Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^bpriests, and Seraiah was ^cscribe; 18 ^aand Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ¹was over the ^bCherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were ²^cpriests.

David’s Lovingkindness to Mephibosheth

Then David said, “Is there yet ¹anyone left of the house of Saul, ^athat I may show him lovingkindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now 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.” 3 And the king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the ^alovingkindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “^bThere is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.” 4 So 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.” 5 Then King David sent and took him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. 6 ^aSo Mephibosheth, 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!” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for ^aI will surely show lovingkindness 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 continually.” 8 So he prostrated himself and said, “What is your servant, that you should regard ^aa dead dog like me?”
9 Then the king called Saul’s young man Ziba and said to him, “^aAll that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s ¹grandson. 10 And 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 and eat of it; nevertheless ^aMephibosheth your master’s grandson ^bshall ¹eat at my table continually.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then 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. 12 Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^ahe ate at the king’s table continually. Now ^bhe was lame in both feet.

The Ammonites Dishonor David’s Men

^aNow it happened afterwards, that ^bthe king of the sons of Ammon died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. 2 So David said, “I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of ^aNahash, just as his father showed lovingkindness to me.” So David sent to comfort him concerning his father by the hand of his servants. And David’s servants came to the land of the sons of Ammon. 3 But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “In your eyes, is David honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? ^aHas David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” 4 So 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. 5 Then they told it to David. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly dishonored. And the king said, “¹Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”
6 Then the sons of Ammon saw that ^athey had become odious to David. So 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. 7 Then David heard of it and sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. 8 And the sons of Ammon came out and arranged themselves for battle ^aat the entrance of the gate of the city. But the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of ^bTob and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram

9 Then Joab saw that ¹the battle was set against him from the front and from the rear. So he chose from all the choice men of Israel, and they arranged themselves to meet the Arameans. 10 But the remainder of the people he put in the hand of Abishai his brother; and he arranged them to meet the sons of Ammon. 11 And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall save me, but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to save you. 12 ^aBe strong, and let us show strength for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and ^bmay Yahweh do what is good in His sight.” 13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Arameans, and ^athey fled before him. 14 Now the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled. So they also fled before Abishai and came into the city. ^aThen Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.
15 Then the Arameans saw that they had been ¹defeated by Israel. So they gathered themselves together. 16 ^aAnd 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. 17 And it was told to David, so he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans arranged themselves to meet David and fought against him. 18 But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans ^a700 charioteers and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 Then all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that they were ¹defeated by Israel. So ^athey made peace with Israel and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to save the sons of Ammon anymore.