² David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent envoys to console him concerning his father. When David’s envoys came into the land of the Ammonites,

Saul Defeats the Ammonites

11 About a month later,^[a] Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”^(A)

Foreigners Separated from Israel

13 On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,^{(A) 2} because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.^{(B) 3} When the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.^(C)

³ “No Ammonite or Moabite shall come into the assembly of the Lord even to the tenth generation. None of their descendants shall come into the assembly of the Lord forever, ⁴ because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey out of Egypt and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵ (Yet the Lord your God refused to heed Balaam; the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you.) ⁶ You shall never promote their welfare or their prosperity as long as you live.

³ Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “That stone wall they are building—any fox going up on it would break it down!”^{(A) 4} Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.^{(B) 5} Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have raged against the builders.^[a](C)

⁶ So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

^7 [b]But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry^(D)

³ David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come to you, until I know what God will do for me.” ⁴ He left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.