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David Defeats His Enemies

^1 (a)After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³ David also defeated ^(b)Hadadezer king of ^(c)Zobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument^[a] at the river Euphrates. ⁴ And David took from him 1,000 chariots, ^(d)7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots. ⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^(e)of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons^[b] in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David^[c] wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from ^(f)Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. ^(g)With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

⁹ When ^(h)Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king ⁽ⁱ⁾of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent his son ^(j)Hadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against ^(k)Hadadezer and defeated him; for ^(l)Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze. ¹¹ These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from ^(m)Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹² And ⁽ⁿ⁾Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Administration

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵ And ^(o)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ^16 (p)and Zadok the son of Ahitub and ^(q)Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; and ^(r)Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were the ^(s)chief officials in the service of the king.