2 Samuel 1-10

Living Bible

1 ^1-2 Saul was dead and David had returned to Ziklag after slaughtering the Amalekites. Three days later a man arrived from the Israeli army with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head as a sign of mourning. He fell to the ground before David in deep respect.

³ “Where do you come from?” David asked.

“From the Israeli army,” he replied.

⁴ “What happened?” David demanded. “Tell me how the battle went.”

And the man replied, “Our entire army fled. Thousands of men are dead and wounded on the field, and Saul and his son Jonathan have been killed.”

⁵ “How do you know they are dead?”

⁶ “Because I was on Mount Gilboa and saw Saul leaning against his spear with the enemy chariots closing in upon him. ⁷ When he saw me he cried out for me to come to him.

⁸ “‘Who are you?’ he asked.

“‘An Amalekite,’ I replied.

⁹ “‘Come and put me out of my misery,’ he begged, ‘for I am in terrible pain but life lingers on.’

¹⁰ “So I killed him,^[a] for I knew he couldn’t live. Then I took his crown and one of his bracelets to bring to you, my lord.”

¹¹ David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news. ¹² They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the Lord’s people, and for the men of Israel who had died that day.

¹³ Then David said to the young man who had brought the news, “Where are you from?”

And he replied, “I am an Amalekite.”

¹⁴ “Why did you kill God’s chosen king?” David demanded.

¹⁵ Then he said to one of his young men, “Kill him!” So he ran him through with his sword and he died.

¹⁶ “You die self-condemned,” David said, “for you yourself confessed that you killed God’s appointed king.”

^17-18 Then David composed a dirge for Saul and Jonathan and afterward commanded that it be sung throughout Israel. It is quoted here from the book Heroic Ballads.

2 David then asked the Lord, “Shall I move back to Judah?”

And the Lord replied, “Yes.”

“Which city shall I go to?”

And the Lord replied, “Hebron.”

² So David and his wives—Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal from Carmel— ³ and his men and their families all moved to Hebron. ⁴ Then the leaders of Judah came to David and crowned him king of the Judean confederacy.

When David heard that the men of Jabesh-gilead had buried Saul, ⁵ he sent them this message: “May the Lord bless you for being so loyal to your king and giving him a decent burial. ⁶ May the Lord be loyal to you in return and reward you with many demonstrations of his love! And I too will be kind to you because of what you have done. ⁷ And now I ask you to be my strong and loyal subjects, now that Saul is dead. Be like the tribe of Judah who have appointed me as their new king.”

⁸ But Abner, Saul’s commander-in-chief, had gone to Mahanaim to crown Saul’s son Ish-bosheth as king. ⁹ His territory included Gilead, Ashuri, Jezreel, Ephraim, the tribe of Benjamin, and all the rest of Israel. ^10-11 Ish-bosheth was forty years old at the time. He reigned in Mahanaim for two years; meanwhile, David was reigning in Hebron and was king of the Judean confederacy for seven and a half years.

¹² One day General Abner led some of Ish-bosheth’s troops to Gibeon from Mahanaim, ¹³ and General Joab (the son of Zeruiah) led David’s troops out to meet them. They met at the pool of Gibeon, where they sat facing each other on opposite sides of the pool. ¹⁴ Then Abner suggested to Joab, “Let’s watch some sword play between our young men!”

Joab agreed, ¹⁵ so twelve men were chosen from each side to fight in mortal combat. ¹⁶ Each one grabbed his opponent by the hair and thrust his sword into the other’s side, so that all of them died. The place has been known ever since as Sword Field.

¹⁷ The two armies then began to fight each other, and by the end of the day Abner and the men of Israel had been defeated by Joab^[c] and the forces of David. ¹⁸ Joab’s brothers, Abishai and Asahel, were also in the battle. Asahel could run like a deer, ¹⁹ and he began chasing Abner. He wouldn’t stop for anything, but kept on, single-minded, after Abner alone.

²⁰ When Abner looked behind and saw him coming, he called out to him, “Is that you, Asahel?”

“Yes,” he called back, “it is.”

²¹ “Go after someone else!” Abner warned. But Asahel refused and kept on coming.

²² Again Abner shouted to him, “Get away from here. I could never face your brother Joab if I have to kill you!”

²³ But he refused to turn away, so Abner pierced him through the belly with the butt end of his spear. It went right through his body and came out his back. He stumbled to the ground and died there, and everyone stopped when they came to the place where he lay.

²⁴ Now Joab and Abishai set out after Abner. The sun was just going down as they arrived at Ammah Hill near Giah, along the road into the Gibeon Desert. ²⁵ Abner’s troops from the tribe of Benjamin regrouped there at the top of the hill, ²⁶ and Abner shouted down to Joab, “Must our swords continue to kill each other forever? How long will it be before you call off your people from chasing their brothers?”

²⁷ Joab shouted back, “I swear by God that even if you hadn’t spoken, we would all have gone home tomorrow morning.” ²⁸ Then he blew his trumpet and his men stopped chasing the troops of Israel.

²⁹ That night Abner and his men retreated across the Jordan Valley, crossed the river, and traveled all the next morning until they arrived at Mahanaim. ³⁰ Joab and the men who were with him returned home, too, and when he counted his casualties, he learned that only nineteen men were missing, in addition to Asahel. ³¹ But three hundred and sixty of Abner’s men (all from the tribe of Benjamin) were dead. ³² Joab and his men took Asahel’s body to Bethlehem and buried him beside his father; then they traveled all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.

3 That was the beginning of a long war between the followers of Saul and of David. David’s position now became stronger and stronger, while Saul’s dynasty became weaker and weaker.

² Several sons were born to David while he was at Hebron. The oldest was Amnon, born to his wife Ahinoam. ³ His second son, Chileab, was born to Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. The third was Absalom, born to Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur. ⁴ The fourth was Adonijah, who was born to Haggith. Then Shephatiah was born to Abital, and ⁵ Ithream was born to Eglah.

⁶ As the war went on, Abner became a very powerful political leader among the followers of Saul. ⁷ He took advantage of his position by sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines, a girl named Rizpah. But when Ish-bosheth accused Abner of this, ⁸ Abner was furious.

“Am I a Judean dog to be kicked around like this?” he shouted. “After all I have done for you and for your father by not betraying you to David, is this my reward—to find fault with me about some woman? ^9-10 May God curse me if I don’t do everything I can to take away the entire kingdom from you, all the way from Dan to Beersheba, and give it to David, just as the Lord predicted.”

¹¹ Ish-bosheth made no reply, for he was afraid of Abner.

¹² Then Abner sent messengers to David to discuss a deal—to surrender the kingdom of Israel to him in exchange for becoming commander-in-chief of the combined armies of Israel and Judah.

¹³ “All right,” David replied, “but I will not negotiate with you unless you bring me my wife Michal, Saul’s daughter.” ¹⁴ David then sent this message to Ish-bosheth: “Give me back my wife Michal, for I bought her with the lives of one hundred Philistines.”

¹⁵ So Ish-bosheth took her away from her husband Palti.^{[d] 16} He followed along behind her as far as Behurim, weeping as he went. Then Abner told him, “Go on home now.” So he returned.

¹⁷ Meanwhile, Abner consulted with the leaders of Israel and reminded them that for a long time they had wanted David as their king.

¹⁸ “Now is the time!” he told them. “For the Lord has said, ‘It is David by whom I will save my people from the Philistines and from all their other enemies.’”

¹⁹ Abner also talked to the leaders of the tribe of Benjamin; then he went to Hebron and reported to David his progress with the people of Israel and Benjamin. ²⁰ Twenty men accompanied him, and David entertained them with a feast.

²¹ As Abner left, he promised David, “When I get back I will call a convention of all the people of Israel, and they will elect you as their king, as you’ve so long desired.” So David let Abner return in safety.

²² But just after Abner left, Joab and some of David’s troops returned from a raid, bringing much loot with them. ²³ When Joab was told that Abner had just been there visiting the king and had been sent away in peace, ^24-25 he rushed to the king, demanding, “What have you done? What do you mean by letting him get away? You know perfectly well that he came to spy on us and that he plans to return and attack us!”

²⁶ Then Joab sent messengers to catch up with Abner and tell him to come back. They found him at the well of Sirah and he returned with them; but David knew nothing about it. ²⁷ When Abner arrived at Hebron, Joab took him aside at the city gate as if to speak with him privately; but then he pulled out a dagger and killed him in revenge for the death of his brother Asahel.

²⁸ When David heard about it he declared, “I vow by the Lord that I and my people are innocent of this crime against Abner. ²⁹ Joab and his family are the guilty ones. May each of his children be victims of cancer, or be lepers, or be sterile, or die of starvation, or be killed by the sword!”

³⁰ So Joab and his brother, Abishai, killed Abner because of the death of their brother, Asahel, at the battle of Gibeon.

³¹ Then David said to Joab and to all those who were with him, “Go into deep mourning for Abner.” And King David accompanied the bier to the cemetery. ³² They buried Abner in Hebron. And the king and all the people wept at the graveside.

^33-34 “Should Abner have died like a fool?” the king lamented.

And all the people wept again for him. ^35-36 David had refused to eat anything the day of the funeral, and now everyone begged him to take a bite of supper. But David vowed that he would eat nothing until sundown. This pleased his people, just as everything else he did pleased them! ³⁷ Thus the whole nation, both Judah and Israel, understood from David’s actions that he was in no way responsible for Abner’s death.

³⁸ And David said to his people, “A great leader and a great man has fallen today in Israel; ³⁹ and even though I am God’s chosen king, I can do nothing with these two sons of Zeruiah. May the Lord repay wicked men for their wicked deeds.”

4 When King Ish-bosheth heard about Abner’s death at Hebron, he was paralyzed with fear, and his people too were badly frightened. ^2-3 The command of the Israeli troops then fell to two brothers, Baanah and Rechab, who were captains of King Ish-bosheth’s raiding bands. They were the sons of Rimmon, who was from Beeroth in Benjamin. (People from Beeroth are counted as Benjaminites even though they fled to Gittaim,^[e] where they now live.)

⁴ (There was a little lame grandson of King Saul’s named Mephibosheth, who was the son of Prince Jonathan. He was five years old at the time Saul and Jonathan were killed at the battle of Jezreel. When the news of the outcome of the battle reached the capital, the child’s nurse grabbed him and fled, but she fell and dropped him as she was running, and he became lame.)

⁵ Rechab and Baanah arrived at King Ish-bosheth’s home one noon as he was taking a nap. ^6-7 They walked into the kitchen as though to get a sack of wheat, but then sneaked into his bedroom and murdered him and cut off his head. Taking his head with them, they fled across the desert that night and escaped. ⁸ They presented the head to David at Hebron.

“Look!” they exclaimed. “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried to kill you. Today the Lord has given you revenge upon Saul and upon his entire family!”

⁹ But David replied, “I swear by the Lord who saved me from my enemies, ¹⁰ that when someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ thinking he was bringing me good news, I killed him; that is how I rewarded him for his ‘glad tidings.’ ¹¹ And how much more shall I do to wicked men who kill a good man in his own house and on his bed! Shall I not demand your lives?”

¹² So David ordered his young men to kill them, and they did. They cut off their hands and feet and hanged their bodies beside the pool in Hebron. And they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

5 Representatives of all the tribes of Israel now came to David at Hebron and gave him their pledge of loyalty.

“We are your blood brothers,” they said. ² “And even when Saul was our king you were our real leader. The Lord has said that you should be the shepherd and leader of his people.”

³ So David made a contract before the Lord with the leaders of Israel there at Hebron, and they crowned him king of Israel. ^4-5 (He had already been the king of Judah for seven years, since the age of thirty. He then ruled thirty-three years in Jerusalem as king of both Israel and Judah; so he reigned for forty years altogether.)

⁶ David now led his troops to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites who lived there.

“You’ll never come in here,” they told him. “Even the blind and lame could keep you out!” For they thought they were safe. ⁷ But David and his troops defeated them and captured the stronghold of Zion, now called the City of David.

⁸ When the insulting message from the defenders of the city reached David, he told his troops, “Go up through the water tunnel into the city and destroy those ‘lame’ and ‘blind’ Jebusites. How I hate them.” (That is the origin of the saying, “Even the blind and the lame could conquer you!”)

⁹ So David made the stronghold of Zion (also called the City of David) his headquarters. Then, beginning at the old Millo section of the city, he built northward toward the present city center. ¹⁰ So David became greater and greater, for the Lord God of heaven was with him.

¹¹ Then King Hiram of Tyre sent cedar lumber, carpenters, and masons to build a palace for David. ¹² David now realized why the Lord had made him the king and blessed his kingdom so greatly—it was because God wanted to pour out his kindness on Israel, his chosen people.

¹³ After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married additional wives and concubines, and had many sons and daughters. ^14-16 These are his children who were born at Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, Eliphelet.

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been crowned king of Israel, they tried to capture him; but David was told that they were coming and went into the stronghold. ¹⁸ The Philistines arrived and spread out across the valley of Rephaim.

¹⁹ Then David asked the Lord, “Shall I go out and fight against them? Will you defeat them for me?”

And the Lord replied, “Yes, go ahead, for I will give them to you.”

²⁰ So David went out and fought with them at Baal-perazim and defeated them. “The Lord did it!” he exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood.” So he named the place “Bursting.” ²¹ At that time David and his troops confiscated many idols that had been abandoned by the Philistines. ²² But the Philistines returned and again spread out across the valley of Rephaim.

²³ When David asked the Lord what to do, he replied, “Don’t make a frontal attack. Go behind them and come out by the balsam trees. ²⁴ When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the balsam trees, attack! For it will signify that the Lord has prepared the way for you and will destroy them.”

²⁵ So David did as the Lord had instructed him and destroyed the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.

6 ^1-2 Then David mobilized thirty thousand special troops and led them to Baal-judah to bring home the Ark of the Lord of heaven who is enthroned above the Guardian Angels. ³ The Ark was placed upon a new cart and taken from the hillside home of Abinadab. It was driven by Abinadab’s sons, Uzzah and Ahio. ⁴ Ahio was walking in front ⁵ and was followed by David and the other leaders of Israel, who were joyously waving branches of juniper trees and playing every sort of musical instrument before the Lord—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

⁶ But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark. ⁷ Then the anger of the Lord flared out against Uzzah and he killed him for doing this, so he died there beside the Ark. ⁸ David was angry at what the Lord had done, and named the spot “The Place of Wrath upon Uzzah” (which it is still called to this day).

⁹ David was now afraid of the Lord and asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark home?” ¹⁰ So he decided against taking it into the City of David, but carried it instead to the home of Obed-edom, who had come from Gath. ¹¹ It remained there for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹² When David heard this, he brought the Ark to the City of David with a great celebration. ¹³ After the men who were carrying it had gone six paces, they stopped and waited so that he could sacrifice an ox and a fat lamb. ¹⁴ And David danced before the Lord with all his might and was wearing priests’ clothing.^{[f] 15} So Israel brought home the Ark of the Lord with much shouting and blowing of trumpets.

¹⁶ (But as the procession came into the city, Michal, Saul’s daughter, watched from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she was filled with contempt for him.)

¹⁷ The Ark was placed inside the tent that David had prepared for it; and he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. ¹⁸ Then he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of heaven ¹⁹ and gave a present to everyone—men and women alike—of a loaf of bread, some wine, and a cake of raisins. When it was all over, and everyone had gone home, ²⁰ David returned to bless his family.

But Michal came out to meet him and exclaimed in disgust, “How glorious the king of Israel looked today! He exposed himself to the girls along the street like a common pervert!”

²¹ David retorted, “I was dancing before the Lord who chose me above your father and his family and who appointed me as leader of Israel, the people of the Lord! So I am willing to act like a fool in order to show my joy in the Lord. ²² Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, but I will be respected by the girls of whom you spoke!”

²³ So Michal was childless throughout her life.

7 When the Lord finally sent peace upon the land, and Israel was no longer at war with the surrounding nations, ² David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! Here I am living in this beautiful cedar palace while the Ark of God is out in a tent!”

³ “Go ahead with what you have in mind,” Nathan replied, “for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that night the Lord said to Nathan, ⁵ “Tell my servant David not to do it!^{[g] 6} For I have never lived in a temple. My home has been a tent ever since the time I brought Israel out of Egypt. ⁷ And I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, the shepherds of my people. Have I ever asked them, ‘Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar temple?’

⁸ “Now go and give this message to David from the Lord of heaven: ‘I chose you to be the leader of my people Israel when you were a mere shepherd, tending your sheep in the pastureland. ⁹ I have been with you wherever you have gone and have destroyed your enemies. And I will make your name greater yet, so that you will be one of the most famous men in the world! ^10-11 I have selected a homeland for my people from which they will never have to move. It will be their own land where the heathen nations won’t bother them as they did when the judges ruled my people. There will be no more wars against you; and your descendants shall rule this land for generations to come! ¹² For when you die, I will put one of your sons upon your throne, and I will make his kingdom strong. ¹³ He is the one who shall build me a temple. And I will continue his kingdom into eternity. ¹⁴ I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he sins, I will use other nations to punish him, ¹⁵ but my love and kindness shall not leave him as I took it from Saul, your predecessor. ¹⁶ Your family shall rule my kingdom forever.’”

¹⁷ So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said.

¹⁸ Then David went into the Tabernacle and sat before the Lord and prayed, “O Lord God, why have you showered your blessings on such an insignificant person as I am? ¹⁹ And now, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving me an eternal dynasty! Such generosity is far beyond any human standard! O Lord God! ²⁰ What can I say? For you know what I am like! ²¹ You are doing all these things just because you promised to and because you want to! ²² How great you are, Lord God! We have never heard of any other God like you. And there is no other God. ²³ What other nation in all the earth has received such blessings as Israel, your people? For you have rescued your chosen nation in order to bring glory to your name. You have done great miracles to destroy Egypt and its gods. ²⁴ You chose Israel to be your people forever, and you became our God.

²⁵ “And now, Lord God, do as you have promised concerning me and my family. ²⁶ And may you be eternally honored when you have established Israel as your people and have established my dynasty before you. ²⁷ For you have revealed to me, O Lord of heaven, God of Israel, that I am the first of a dynasty which will rule your people forever; that is why I have been bold enough to pray this prayer of acceptance. ²⁸ For you are indeed God, and your words are truth; and you have promised me these good things— ²⁹ so do as you have promised! Bless me and my family forever! May our dynasty continue on and on before you; for you, Lord God, have promised it.”

8 After this David subdued and humbled the Philistines by conquering Gath, their largest city. ² He also devastated the land of Moab. He divided his victims by making them lie down side by side in rows. Two-thirds of each row, as measured with a tape, were butchered, and one-third were spared to become David’s servants—they paid him tribute each year.

³ He also destroyed the forces of King Hadadezer (son of Rehob) of Zobah in a battle at the Euphrates River, for Hadadezer had attempted to regain his power. ⁴ David captured seventeen hundred cavalry and twenty thousand infantry; then he lamed all of the chariot horses except for one hundred teams. ⁵ He also slaughtered twenty-two thousand Syrians from Damascus when they came to help Hadadezer. ⁶ David placed several army garrisons in Damascus, and the Syrians became David’s subjects and brought him annual tribute money. So the Lord gave him victories wherever he turned. ⁷ David brought the gold shields to Jerusalem which King Hadadezer’s officers had used. ⁸ He also carried back to Jerusalem a very large amount of bronze from Hadadezer’s cities of Betah and Berothai.

⁹ When King Toi of Hamath heard about David’s victory over the army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰ he sent his son Joram to congratulate him, for Hadadezer and Toi were enemies. He gave David presents made from silver, gold, and bronze. ^11-12 David dedicated all of these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had taken from Syria, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, Amalek, and King Hadadezer.

¹³ So David became very famous. After his return he destroyed eighteen thousand Edomites^[h] in Salt Valley, ¹⁴ and then placed garrisons throughout Edom, so that the entire nation was forced to pay tribute to Israel—another example of the way the Lord made him victorious wherever he went.

¹⁵ David reigned with justice over Israel and was fair to everyone. ¹⁶ The general of his army was Joab (son of Zeruiah), and his secretary of state was Jehoshaphat (son of Ahilud). ¹⁷ Zadok (son of Ahitub) and Ahimelech (son of Abiathar) were the High Priests, and Seraiah was the king’s private secretary. ¹⁸ Benaiah (son of Jehoiada) was captain of his bodyguard,^[i] and David’s sons were his assistants.

9 One day David began wondering if any of Saul’s family was still living, for he wanted to be kind to them, as he had promised Prince Jonathan. ² He heard about a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul’s servants, and summoned him.

“Are you Ziba?” the king asked.

“Yes, sir, I am,” he replied.

³ The king then asked him, “Is anyone left from Saul’s family? If so, I want to fulfill a sacred vow by being kind to him.”

“Yes,” Ziba replied, “Jonathan’s lame son is still alive.”

⁴ “Where is he?” the king asked.

“In Lo-debar,” Ziba told him. “At the home of Machir.”

^5-6 So King David sent for Mephibosheth—Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson. Mephibosheth arrived in great fear and greeted the king in deep humility, bowing low before him.

⁷ But David said, “Don’t be afraid! I’ve asked you to come so that I can be kind to you because of my vow to your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you shall live here at the palace!”

⁸ Mephibosheth fell to the ground before the king. “Should the king show kindness to a dead dog like me?” he exclaimed.

⁹ Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba. “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family,” he said. ^10-11 “You and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him, to produce food for his family; but he will live here with me.”

Ziba, who had fifteen sons and twenty servants, replied, “Sir, I will do all you have commanded.”

And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly with King David, as though he were one of his own sons. ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son, Mica. All the household of Ziba became Mephibosheth’s servants, ¹³ but Mephibosheth (who was lame in both feet) moved to Jerusalem to live at the palace.

10 Some time after this the Ammonite king died and his son Hanun replaced him.

² “I am going to show special respect for him,” David said, “because his father, Nahash, was always so loyal and kind to me.” So David sent ambassadors to express regrets to Hanun about his father’s death.

³ But Hanun’s officers told him, “These men aren’t here to honor your father! David has sent them to spy out the city before attacking it!”

⁴ So Hanun took David’s men and shaved off half their beards and cut their robes off at the buttocks and sent them home half naked. ⁵ When David heard what had happened he told them to stay at Jericho until their beards grew out; for the men were very embarrassed over their appearance.

⁶ Now the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, so they hired twenty thousand Syrian mercenaries from the lands of Rehob and Zobah, one thousand from the king of Maacah, and ten thousand from the land of Tob. ^7-8 When David heard about this, he sent Joab and the entire Israeli army to attack them. The Ammonites defended the gates of their city while the Syrians from Zobah, Rehob, Tob, and Maacah fought in the fields. ⁹ When Joab realized that he would have to fight on two fronts, he selected the best fighters in his army, placed them under his personal command, and took them out to fight the Syrians in the fields. ¹⁰ He left the rest of the army to his brother Abishai, who was to attack the city.

¹¹ “If I need assistance against the Syrians, come out and help me,” Joab instructed him. “And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you. ¹² Courage! We must really act like men today if we are going to save our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”

¹³ And when Joab and his troops attacked, the Syrians began to run away. ¹⁴ Then, when the Ammonites saw the Syrians running, they ran too, and retreated into the city. Afterwards Joab returned to Jerusalem. ^15-16 The Syrians now realized that they were no match for Israel. So when they regrouped, they were joined by additional Syrian troops summoned by Hadadezer from the other side of the Euphrates River. These troops arrived at Helam under the command of Shobach, the commander-in-chief of all of Hadadezer’s forces.

¹⁷ When David heard what was happening, he personally led the Israeli army to Helam, where the Syrians attacked him. ¹⁸ But again the Syrians fled from the Israelis, this time leaving seven hundred charioteers dead on the field, also forty thousand cavalrymen, including General Shobach. ¹⁹ When Hadadezer’s allies saw that the Syrians had been defeated, they surrendered to David and became his servants. And the Syrians were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore after that.