David Defeats the Ammonites and the Syrians

¹Some time later King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king.

²King David said, “I must show loyal friendship to Hanun, as his father Nahash did to me.” So David sent messengers to express his sympathy. When they arrived in Ammon,

³the Ammonite leaders said to the king, “Do you think that it is in your father's honor that David has sent these men to express sympathy to you? Of course not! He has sent them here as spies to explore the city, so that he can conquer us!”

⁴Hanun seized David's messengers, shaved off one side of their beards, cut off their clothes at the hips, and sent them away.

⁵They were too ashamed to return home. When David heard about what had happened, he sent word for them to stay in Jericho and not return until their beards had grown again.

⁶The Ammonites realized that they had made David their enemy, so they hired twenty thousand Syrian soldiers from Bethrehob and Zobah, twelve thousand men from Tob, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men.

⁷David heard of it and sent Joab against them with the whole army.

⁸The Ammonites marched out and took up their position at the entrance to Rabbah, their capital city, while the others, both the Syrians and the men from Tob and Maacah, took up their position in the open countryside.

⁹Joab saw that the enemy troops would attack him in front and from the rear, so he chose the best of Israel's soldiers and put them in position facing the Syrians.

¹⁰He placed the rest of his troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who put them in position facing the Ammonites.

¹¹Joab said to him, “If you see that the Syrians are defeating me, come and help me, and if the Ammonites are defeating you, I will go and help you.

¹²Be strong and courageous! Let's fight hard for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord's will be done!”

¹³Joab and his men advanced to attack, and the Syrians fled.

¹⁴When the Ammonites saw the Syrians running away, they fled from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab turned back from fighting the Ammonites and went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁵The Syrians realized that they had been defeated by the Israelites, and so they called all their troops together.

¹⁶King Hadadezer sent for the Syrians who were on the east side of the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam under the command of Shobach, commander of the army of King Hadadezer of Zobah.

¹⁷When David heard of it, he gathered the Israelite troops, crossed the Jordan River, and marched to Helam, where the Syrians took up their position facing him. The fighting began,

¹⁸and the Israelites drove the Syrian army back. David and his men killed seven hundred Syrian chariot drivers and forty thousand cavalry, and they wounded Shobach, the enemy commander, who died on the battlefield.

¹⁹When the kings who were subject to Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by the Israelites, they made peace with them and became their subjects. And the Syrians were afraid to help the Ammonites any more.

The Covenant Box Is Moved from Kiriath Jearim

¹King David consulted with all the officers in command of units of a thousand men and units of a hundred men.

²Then he announced to all the people of Israel, “If you give your approval and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messengers to the rest of our people and to the priests and Levites in their towns, and tell them to assemble here with us.

³Then we will go and get God's Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king.”

⁴The people were pleased with the suggestion and agreed to it.

⁵So David assembled the people of Israel from all over the country, from the Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem.

⁶David and the people went to the city of Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, in the territory of Judah, to get the Covenant Box of God, which bears the name of the Lord enthroned above the winged creatures.

⁷At Abinadab's house they brought out the Covenant Box and put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart,

⁸while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments—harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets.

⁹As they came to the threshing place of Chidon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box.

¹⁰At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence,

¹¹and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

¹²Then David was afraid of God and said, “How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?”

¹³So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath.

¹⁴It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him.

A Prayer of Trust in God

¹I come to you, Lord, for protection; never let me be defeated. You are a righteous God; save me, I pray!

²Hear me! Save me now! Be my refuge to protect me; my defense to save me.

³You are my refuge and defense; guide me and lead me as you have promised.

⁴Keep me safe from the trap that has been set for me; shelter me from danger.

⁵I place myself in your care. You will save me, Lord; you are a faithful God.

⁶You hate those who worship false gods, but I trust in you.

⁷I will be glad and rejoice because of your constant love. You see my suffering; you know my trouble.

⁸You have not let my enemies capture me; you have given me freedom to go where I wish.

⁹Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are tired from so much crying; I am completely worn out.

¹⁰I am exhausted by sorrow, and weeping has shortened my life. I am weak from all my troubles; even my bones are wasting away.

¹¹All my enemies, and especially my neighbors, treat me with contempt. Those who know me are afraid of me; when they see me in the street, they run away.

¹²Everyone has forgotten me, as though I were dead; I am like something thrown away.

¹³I hear many enemies whispering; terror is all around me. They are making plans against me, plotting to kill me.

¹⁴But my trust is in you, O Lord; you are my God.

¹⁵I am always in your care; save me from my enemies, from those who persecute me.

¹⁶Look on your servant with kindness; save me in your constant love.

¹⁷I call to you, Lord; don't let me be disgraced. May the wicked be disgraced; may they go silently down to the world of the dead.

¹⁸Silence those liars— all the proud and arrogant who speak with contempt about the righteous.

¹⁹How wonderful are the good things you keep for those who honor you! Everyone knows how good you are, how securely you protect those who trust you.

²⁰You hide them in the safety of your presence from the plots of others; in a safe shelter you hide them from the insults of their enemies.

²¹Praise the Lord! How wonderfully he showed his love for me when I was surrounded and attacked!

²²I was afraid and thought that he had driven me out of his presence. But he heard my cry, when I called to him for help.

²³Love the Lord, all his faithful people. The Lord protects the faithful, but punishes the proud as they deserve.

²⁴Be strong, be courageous, all you that hope in the Lord.