David’s Triumphs

1Now it happened afterward that David [a]defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took [b]control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

2And He [c]defeated Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and a full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

3Then David [d]defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as he went to restore his [e]power at the Euphrates River. 4And David captured from him [f]1,700 horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers; and David hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots. 5When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David [g]killed twenty-two thousand men among the Arameans. 6Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the LORD helped David wherever he went. 7David took the shields of gold which were [h]carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. 8And from [i]Betah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

9Now when Toi king of Hamath heard that David had [j]defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10Toi sent his son [k]Joram to King David to [l]greet him and bless him, because he had fought Hadadezer and [m]defeated him; for Hadadezer [n]had been at war with Toi. And [o]Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze. 11King David also consecrated these gifts to the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had consecrated from all the nations which he had subdued: 12from [p]Aram, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

13So David made a name for himself when he returned from [q]killing eighteen thousand [r]Arameans in the Valley of Salt. 14He also put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the LORD helped David wherever he went.

15So David reigned over all Israel; and David [s]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. 16Joab the son of Zeruiah was commander over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was secretary. 17Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was scribe. 18Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [t]was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were [u]chief ministers.

[a] 1 Lit struck
[b] 1 Lit the bridle of the mother city
[c] 2 Lit struck
[d] 3 Lit struck
[e] 3 Lit hand
[f] 4 Here LXX reads as 1 Chr 18:4; partial DSS text appears to also
[g] 5 Lit struck
[h] 7 Lit on
[i] 8 In 1 Chr 18:8, Tibhath
[j] 9 Lit struck
[k] 10 In 1 Chr 18:10, Hadoram
[l] 10 Lit ask him of his welfare
[m] 10 Lit struck
[n] 10 Lit was a man of wars
[o] 10 Lit there were in his hand
[p] 12 Some mss Edom
[q] 13 Lit striking
[r] 13 Some mss Edom
[s] 15 Lit was doing
[t] 18 See 1 Chr 18:17; MT and the Cherethites
[u] 18 Lit priests