¹It happened after that, Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his place.

²David said, I will do loyal love with Hanun son of Nahash, for his father did loyal love with me. So David sent messengers to comfort him over his father; and the slaves of David came to the land of the children of Ammon, to Hanun, to comfort him.

³The officials of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, “Is David honoring your father in your eyes, that he has sent comforters to you? Is it not in order to explore, to overthrow, and to spy out the land, that his slaves have come to you?”

⁴So Hanun took the slaves of David, shaved them, cut off their garments in half up to the hips, and sent them away.

⁵The men went, and they told David about the men; and he sent to meet them, for the men were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Dwell in Jericho until your beards sprout, and then return.”

⁶When the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious with David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah.

⁷They hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, along with the king of Maacah and his people; and they came and camped before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered from their cities and came to the war.

⁸David heard, and sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men.

⁹The children of Ammon went out and set in order the battle at the entrance of the city, while the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰When Joab saw that the face of the battle was against him in front and behind, he chose from all the chosen men in Israel and drew them up to meet Aram.

¹¹The rest of the people he put in the hand of Abishai his brother, and they arranged themselves to meet the children of Ammon.

¹²He said, “If Aram is too strong for me, then you will be my deliverance; and if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will save you.

¹³Be strong, and let us show ourselves strong on behalf of our people and on behalf of the cities of our God; and Yahweh will do what is good in his eyes.

¹⁴Joab drew near, with the people who were with him, before Aram for the battle, and they fled from his face.

¹⁵When the children of Ammon saw that Aram had fled, they also fled from the face of Abishai his brother and went into the city. Then Joab went to Jerusalem.

¹⁶When Aram saw that they had been struck down before Israel, they sent messengers and brought out Aram that was from the other side of the River, with Shophach the official of the host of Hadadezer going before them.

¹⁷It was told to David, and he gathered all Israel and crossed over the Jordan and came to them and drew up against them. David drew up to meet Aram in battle, and they fought with him.

¹⁸Aram fled from the face of Israel, and David killed of Aram seven thousand chariot riders and forty thousand men on foot, and he put to death Shophach the official of the host.

¹⁹When the slaves of Hadadezer saw that they had been struck down before Israel, they made peace with David and served him; and Aram was not willing to save the children of Ammon any more.