2 Samuel 10

¹Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

²But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you on one condition, that I may put out everyone’s right eye and bring reproach upon all Israel.”

¹²Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites, saying, “What do you have against me that you have come to fight against my land?”

¹³The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they seized my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and all the way to the Jordan. Now, therefore, restore it peaceably.”

⁷So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Ammonites,

⁸who that very year harassed and oppressed the Israelites, and they did so for eighteen years to all the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites.

¹Some time later, Nahash king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son.

²And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console Hanun concerning his father. But when David’s servants arrived in the land of the Ammonites to console him,

¹Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

³No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the tenth generation.

⁴For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.

¹At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,

²because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).

³Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

⁴Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.

³From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I learn what God will do for me.”

⁴So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold.

⁹Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

¹⁶Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.

⁴so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.

⁵eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their garments, and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the Lord.

³the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Have not his servants come to you to explore the land, spy it out, and overthrow it?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved their beards, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.

²Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.

⁴In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.

⁵They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

²⁷You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

⁵When someone came and told David about his men, he sent messengers to meet them, since the men had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”

²⁴Then the Israelites burned up the city and everything in it. However, they put the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house.

²⁵And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.

³⁴In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

³David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, who had marched out to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River.

⁵When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of their men.

³⁰Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

³So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.

²⁸There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there.

⁵and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

⁸These are the names of David’s mighty men: Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the Three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed at one time.

⁹Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he went with David to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men of Israel retreated,

⁸On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men.

⁹The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance to the city, while the kings who had come stayed by themselves in the open country.

⁶When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob.

²⁸It went on to Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.

²¹So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.

⁷So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, as well as the king of Maacah with his troops, who came and camped near Medeba while the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and marched out for battle.

³¹Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.

⁴²So they fled before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there.

⁴³They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.

²²Meanwhile, those in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces on both sides. So Israel struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained.

²Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

²⁷Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending together as one for the faith of the gospel,

²⁸without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God.

⁹The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance to the city, while the kings who had come stayed by themselves in the open country.

¹⁰When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans.

¹We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

²⁰Wherever you hear the sound of the horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us!”

³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

¹³Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.

⁶Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the Lord,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”

¹⁴After I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

⁶So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

¹⁵“We have sinned,” the Israelites said to the Lord. “Deal with us as You see fit; but please deliver us today!”

¹³Meanwhile a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this very day, and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

¹⁴“By whom?” Ahab asked. And the prophet replied, “This is what the Lord says: ‘By the young officers of the district governors.’” “Who will start the battle?” asked Ahab. “You will,” answered the prophet.

⁵Do you not know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

⁶Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master.

¹⁴So Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, who fled before him.

¹⁵When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Joab’s brother Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab went back to Jerusalem.

²⁸Then the man of God approached the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans have said that the Lord is a god of the hills and not of the valleys, I will deliver all this great army into your hand. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

²⁹For seven days the armies camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle ensued, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.

¹⁹Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies assembled to wage war against the One seated on the horse, and against His army.

²⁰But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

¹¹But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

¹²But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

¹Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

²For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.

³Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.

⁹Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!

¹⁰Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”

¹⁶When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.

³David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, who had marched out to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River.

⁴David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.

³As far as Hamath, David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah, who had marched out to establish his dominion along the Euphrates River.

⁵When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of their men.

¹⁷When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, advanced toward the Arameans, and arrayed for battle against them. When David lined up to engage them in battle, they fought against him.

¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven thousand of their charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also killed Shophach the commander of their army.

³⁸I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet.

⁴David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.

²⁶She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple.

²So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.

¹¹The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

⁶Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the Lord made David victorious wherever he went.

¹⁰In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

⁷Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.

³⁷You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁸I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet.

¹Now Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he marched up, besieged Samaria, and waged war against it.