1 Chronicles Chapter 19

19 And it came about afterward that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came to die, and his son began to reign in place of him. 2 At that David said: "I shall exercise loving-kindness toward Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father exercised loving-kindness toward me." Accordingly David sent messenger to comfort him over his father, and the servants of David proceeded to come into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to comfort him. 3 However, the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun: "Is David David honoring your father in your eyes in that he has sent comforters to you? Is it not for the sake of making a thorough search and causing an overthrow and for spying out the land that his servants have come in to you?" 4 So Hanun took the servants of id and shaved them and cut their garments in half to their buttocks and sent them away. 5 Later people went and told David about the men; and he at once sent to meet them, because they had become men very much humiliated; and the king went on to say: "Dwell in Jericho until your beards grow abundantly. Then you must return." 6 In time the sons of Ammon saw that they had become foul-smelling to David, and Hanun and the sons of Ammon proceeded to send a thousand silver talents to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia and from Arammaacah and from Zobah. 7 Thus they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots and the king of Maacah and his people. Then they came in and camped before Medeba; and as for the sons of Ammon, they gathered together from their cities and now came in for the war. 8 When David heard of it, he immediately sent Joab and all the arm [and] the mighty men. 9 And the sons of Ammon began to go out and draw up in battle formation at the entrance of the city, and the kings that had come were by themselves in the open field. 10 When Joab saw that the battle charges had come to be against him from the front and from the rear, he at once chose some of all the choice men in Israel and drew them up in formation to meet the Syrians. 11 And the rest of the people he gave into the hand of Abishai his brother, that they might draw up in formation to meet the sons of Ammon. 12 And he went on to say: "If the Syrians become too strong for me, you must also serve as a salvation for me, but if the sons of Ammon themselves become too strong for you, I must also save you. 13 Be strong, that we may show ourselves courageous in behalf of our people and in behalf of the cities of our God; and as for Jehovah, what is good in his own eyes he will do." 14 Then Joab and the people that were with him advanced before the Syrians to the battle, and they took to flight from before him. 15 As for the sons of Ammon, they saw that the Syrians had fled, and they themselves also took to flight from before Abishai his brother and then came into the city. Later Joab came into Jerusalem. 16 When the Syrians saw that they had been defeated before Israel, they proceeded to send messengers and bring out the Syrians that were in the region of the River, with Shophach the chief of the army of Hadadezer before them. 17 When the report was made to David, he immediately gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up in formation against them. When David drew up in battle formation to meet the Syrians, they began to fight against him. 18 But the Syrians took to flight because Israel; and David went killing of the Syrians seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand men on foot, and Shophach the chief of the army hiself he put to death. 19 When the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated before Israel, they promptly made peace with David and began to serve him; and Syria did not want to ty saving the sons of Ammon anymore.