2 Samuel 9-10

Easy-to-Read Version

David Is Kind to Saul’s Family

9 David asked, “Is there anyone still left in Saul’s family? I want to show kindness to this person. I want to do it for Jonathan.”

² There was a servant named Ziba from Saul’s family. David’s servants called Ziba to David. King David said to Ziba, “Are you Ziba?”

Ziba said, “Yes, I am your servant Ziba.”

³ The king said, “Is there anyone left in Saul’s family? I want to show God’s kindness to this person.”

Ziba said to King David, “Jonathan has a son still living. He is crippled in both feet.”

⁴ The king said to Ziba, “Where is this son?”

Ziba said to the king, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”

⁵ Then King David sent some of his officers to Lo Debar to bring Jonathan’s son from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. ⁶ Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth came to David and bowed with his face low to the floor.

David said, “Mephibosheth?”

Mephibosheth said, “Yes sir, it is I, your servant Mephibosheth.”

⁷ David said to Mephibosheth, “Don’t be afraid. I will be kind to you because of your father Jonathan. I will give back to you all the land of your grandfather Saul. And you will always be able to eat at my table.”

⁸ Mephibosheth bowed to David again and he said, “I am no better than a dead dog, but you are being very kind to me.”

⁹ Then King David called Saul’s servant Ziba and said, “I have given Saul’s family and everything he owns to your master’s grandson, Mephibosheth. ¹⁰ You will farm the land for Mephibosheth. Your sons and servants will do this for him. You will harvest the crops. Then your master’s grandson will have plenty of food to eat, but Mephibosheth will always be allowed to eat at my table.”

Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. ¹¹ He said to King David, “I am your servant. I will do everything that my lord the king commands.”

So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. All the people in Ziba’s family became Mephibosheth’s servants. ¹³ Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem. He was crippled in both feet, and every day he ate at the king’s table.

Hanun Shames David’s Men

10 Later King Nahash of the Ammonites died. His son Hanun became the new king after him. ² David said, “Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son Hanun.” So David sent his officers to comfort Hanun about his father’s death.

David’s officers went to the land of the Ammonites. ³ But the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, their lord, “Do you think that David is trying to honor your father by sending some men to comfort you? No, David sent these men to spy on your city. They plan to make war against you.”

⁴ So Hanun took David’s officers and shaved off one half of their beards. He cut off their clothes at the hips. Then he sent them away.

⁵ When the people told David, he sent messengers to meet his officers. He did this because these men were very ashamed. King David said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards grow again. Then come back home.”

War Against the Ammonites

⁶ The Ammonites saw that they had become David’s enemies, so they hired Arameans from Beth Rehob and Zobah. There were 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers. The Ammonites also hired the king of Maacah with 1000 men and 12,000 men from Tob.

⁷ David heard about this, so he sent Joab and the whole army of powerful men. ⁸ The Ammonites came out and got ready for the battle. They stood at the city gate. The Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah did not stand together with the Ammonites in the field.

⁹ Joab saw that there were enemies in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best Israelite soldiers and lined them up for battle against the Arameans. ¹⁰ Then Joab gave the other men to his brother Abishai to lead against the Ammonites. ¹¹ Joab said to Abishai, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, you will help me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you. ¹² Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he decides is right.”

¹³ Then Joab and his men attacked the Arameans. The Arameans ran away from Joab and his men. ¹⁴ The Ammonites saw that the Arameans were running away, so they ran away from Abishai and went back to their city.

So Joab came back from the battle with the Ammonites and went back to Jerusalem.

The Arameans Decide to Fight Again

¹⁵ When the Arameans saw that the Israelites had defeated them, they came together into one big army. ¹⁶ Hadadezer^[a] sent messengers to bring the Arameans who lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. These Arameans came to Helam. Their leader was Shobach, the captain of Hadadezer’s army.

¹⁷ When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites together. They crossed over the Jordan River and went to Helam.

There the Arameans prepared for battle and attacked, ¹⁸ but David defeated them, and they ran from the Israelites. David killed 700 chariot drivers and 40,000 horse soldiers as well as Shobach, the captain of the Aramean army.

¹⁹ The kings who served Hadadezer saw that the Israelites had defeated them, so they made peace with the Israelites and became their servants. The Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.