Psalm 60, 2 Samuel 8:1-14, 2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 19

Through God We Shall Do Valiantly

60

For the choir director. According to ¹Shushan Eduth. A ²Mikhtam of David. For teaching. ³When he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

O God, ^aYou have rejected us. You have ⁴^,^bbroken us;You have been ^cangry; Oh, ^drestore us.²You have made the ¹^,^aland quake, You have split it open;^bHeal its breaches, for it shakes.³You have ^acaused Your people to see hardship;You have given us ¹wine to ^bdrink that causes reeling.⁴You have given a ^abanner to those who fear You,¹In order to flee to it from the bow. ² Selah.⁵^aThat Your ^bbeloved may be rescued,^cSave with Your right hand, and answer ¹us!⁶God has spoken in His ¹^,^aholiness:“I will exult, I will portion out ^bShechem and measure out the valley of ^cSuccoth.⁷“^aGilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;^bEphraim also is the ¹helmet of My head;Judah is My ²^,^cscepter.⁸“^aMoab is My washbowl;Over ^bEdom I shall throw My shoe;Make a loud shout, O ^cPhilistia, because of Me!”⁹Who will bring me into the fortified city?Who ¹will lead me to Edom?¹⁰Have You Yourself, O God, not ^arejected us?And ^bwill You, O God, not go forth with our armies?¹¹Oh give us help against the adversary,For ^asalvation ¹by man is worthless.¹²¹Through God we shall ^ado valiantly,And it is He who will ^btread down our adversaries.

David Strikes Down Nations

8^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.

³Then David struck ^aHadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^bhe went to restore his ¹power at the ²River. ⁴And 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. ⁵Then ^athe Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah. And David struck down 22,000 Arameans. ⁶Then 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. ⁷And David took the small shields of gold which were ¹carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸Also from ¹Betah and from ^aBerothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹Then Toi king of ^aHamath heard that David had struck down all the military force of Hadadezer, ¹⁰so 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. ¹¹King 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: ¹²from ¹Aram, ^aMoab, ^bthe sons of Ammon, ^cthe Philistines, ^dAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³So ^aDavid made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 ¹Arameans in ^bthe Valley of Salt. ¹⁴Then 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.

The Ammonites Dishonor David’s Men

10^aNow it happened afterwards, that ^bthe king of the sons of Ammon died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. ²So 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. ³But 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?” ⁴So 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. ⁵Then 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.”

⁶Then 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. ⁷Then David heard of it and sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁸And 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

⁹Then 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. ¹⁰But the remainder of the people he put in the hand of Abishai his brother; and he arranged them to meet the sons of Ammon. ¹¹And 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.” ¹³So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Arameans, and ^athey fled before him. ¹⁴Now 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.

¹⁵Then 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. ¹⁷And 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. ¹⁸But 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. ¹⁹Then 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.

The Ammonites Dishonor David’s Men

19^aNow it happened afterwards, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. ²So David said, “I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed lovingkindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to comfort him. ³But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “In your eyes, is David honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” ⁴So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. ⁵Then certain persons went and told David about the men. 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.”

⁶Then the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David. So Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent ¹1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and ^afrom Zobah. ⁷So they hired for themselves 32,000 chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped before ^aMedeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to battle. ⁸Then David heard of it, and he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. ⁹And the sons of Ammon came out and arranged themselves for battle at the entrance of the city. But the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram

¹⁰Then Joab saw that the ¹battle was set against him in front and in the rear. So he chose from all the choice men of Israel and ²they arranged themselves to meet the Arameans. ¹¹But the remainder of the people he put in the hand of ¹Abshai his brother; and they arranged themselves to meet the sons of Ammon. ¹²And 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 save you. ¹³“Be strong, and let us show strength for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may Yahweh do what is good in His sight.” ¹⁴So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Arameans for the battle, and they fled before him. ¹⁵Now the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled. So they themselves also fled before Abshai his brother and came into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Then the Arameans saw that they had been ¹defeated by Israel. So they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the ²River, and Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer ³led them. ¹⁷And it was told to David, so he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and arranged for battle against them. So David arranged them in battle to meet the Arameans. And they fought against him. ¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death Shophach the commander of the army. ¹⁹Then the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were ¹defeated by Israel. So they made peace with David and served him. And the Arameans were not willing to save the sons of Ammon anymore.