Book | Chapter | Verse | Text |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
1 |
Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
2 |
David said, "I am going to show complete loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always completely loyal to me." So David sent ambassadors to express sympathy to Hanun about his father's death. But when David's ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon, |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
3 |
Hanun's advisers said to him, "Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the land so that they can come in and conquer it!" |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
4 |
So Hanun seized David's ambassadors and shaved their beards, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
5 |
When David heard what had happened, he sent messengers to tell the men to stay at Jericho until their beards grew out, for they were very embarrassed by their appearance. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
6 |
Now the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, so Hanun and the Ammonites sent thirty-eight tons of silver to hire chariots and troops from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
7 |
They also hired thirty-two thousand chariots and secured the support of the king of Maacah and his army. These forces camped at Medeba, where they were joined by the Ammonite troops that Hanun had recruited from his own towns. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
8 |
When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all his warriors to fight them. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
9 |
The Ammonite troops drew up their battle lines at the gate of the city, while the other kings positioned themselves to fight in the open fields. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
10 |
When Joab saw that he would have to fight on two fronts, he chose the best troops in his army. He placed them under his personal command and led them out to fight the Arameans in the fields. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
11 |
He left the rest of the army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the Ammonites. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
12 |
"If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me," Joab told his brother. "And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will help you. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
13 |
Be courageous! Let us fight bravely to save our people and the cities of our God. May the LORD's will be done." |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
14 |
When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
15 |
And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they ran from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
16 |
The Arameans now realized that they were no match for Israel, so they summoned additional Aramean troops from the other side of the Euphrates River. These troops arrived under the command of Shobach, the commander of all Hadadezer's forces. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
17 |
When David heard what was happening, he mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and positioned his troops in battle formation. Then he engaged the enemy troops in battle, and they fought against him. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
18 |
But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David's forces killed seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers, including Shobach, the commander of their army. |
1 Chronicles |
19 |
19 |
When the servants of Hadadezer realized they had been defeated by Israel, they surrendered to David and became his subjects. After that, the Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites. |
1 Chronicles |
20 |
1 |
The following spring, the time of year when kings go to war, Joab led the Israelite army in successful attacks against the towns and villages of the Ammonites. In the process they laid siege to the city of Rabbah and destroyed it. But David had stayed behind in Jerusalem. |
1 Chronicles |
20 |
2 |
When David arrived at Rabbah, he removed the crown from the king's head, and it was placed on David's own head. The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and it weighed about seventy-five pounds. David took a vast amount of plunder from the city. |
1 Chronicles |
20 |
3 |
He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with saws, picks, and axes. That is how he dealt with the people of all the Ammonite cities. Then David and his army returned to Jerusalem. |
1 Chronicles |
20 |
4 |
After this, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, a descendant of the giants, and so the Philistines were subdued. |
1 Chronicles |
20 |
5 |
During another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of Lahmi's spear was as thick as a weaver's beam! |
1 Chronicles |
20 |
6 |
In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot--a descendant of the giants-- |
1 Chronicles |
20 |
7 |
defied and taunted Israel. But he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shimea. |
1 Chronicles |
20 |
8 |
These Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but they were killed by David and his warriors. |