David Defeats Ammon and Syria

10 ^(A)After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will deal loyally^[a] with Hanun the son of ^(B)Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites. ³ But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, ^(C)at their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”

⁶ When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of ^(D)Beth-rehob, and ^(E)the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^(F)Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of ^(G)Tob, 12,000 men. ⁷ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of ^(H)the mighty men. ⁸ And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and ^(I)the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and ^(J)the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

⁹ When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. ¹⁰ The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. ¹¹ And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. ^12 (K)Be of good courage, and ^(L)let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and ^(M)may the Lord do what seems good to him.” ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. ¹⁴ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶ And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond ^(N)the Euphrates.^[b] They came to Helam, with ^(O)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded ^(P)Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. ¹⁹ And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel ^(Q)and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.

The Ammonites Disgrace David's Men

19 ^(A)Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him. ³ But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” ⁴ So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away; ⁵ and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”

⁶ When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents^[a] of silver to hire chariots and horsemen ^(B)from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from ^(C)Zobah. ⁷ They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and encamped before ^(D)Medeba. And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle. ⁸ When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. ⁹ And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country.

Ammonites and Syrians Defeated

¹⁰ When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. ¹¹ The rest of his men he put in the charge of ^(E)Abishai his brother, and they were arrayed against the Ammonites. ¹² And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. ¹³ Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” ¹⁴ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before ^(F)Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates,^[b] with ^(G)Shophach the commander of the army of ^(H)Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of ^(I)7,000 chariots and 40,000 ^(J)foot soldiers, and put to death also ^(K)Shophach the commander of their army. ¹⁹ And when the servants of ^(L)Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

A Life Pleasing to God

4 Finally, then, brothers,^[a] we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you ^(A)received from us ^(B)how you ought to walk and ^(C)to please God, just as you are doing, that you ^(D)do so more and more. ² For ^(E)you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, ^(F)your sanctification:^{[b] (G)}that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own ^(H)body^[c] in holiness and ^(I)honor, ⁵ not in ^(J)the passion of lust ^(K)like the Gentiles ^(L)who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and ^(M)wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is ^(N)an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For ^(O)God has not called us for ^(P)impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore ^(Q)whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, ^(R)who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ Now concerning ^(S)brotherly love ^(T)you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been ^(U)taught by God ^(V)to love one another, ¹⁰ for that indeed is what ^(W)you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to ^(X)do this more and more, ¹¹ and to aspire ^(Y)to live quietly, and ^(Z)to mind your own affairs, and ^(AA)to work with your hands, as we instructed you, ¹² so that you may ^(AB)walk properly before ^(AC)outsiders and be dependent on no one.

The Coming of the Lord

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, ^(AD)that you may not grieve as others do ^(AE)who have no hope. ¹⁴ For ^(AF)since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him ^(AG)those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you ^(AH)by a word from the Lord,^[d] that ^(AI)we who are alive, who are left until ^(AJ)the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For ^(AK)the Lord himself will descend ^(AL)from heaven ^(AM)with a cry of command, with the voice of ^(AN)an archangel, and ^(AO)with the sound of the trumpet of God. And ^(AP)the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be ^(AQ)caught up together with them ^(AR)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ^(AS)we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.