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¹ And it comes to pass afterward, that the king of the sons of Ammon dies, and his son Hanun reigns in his stead,² and David says, "I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did kindness with me"; and David sends to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David come into the land of the sons of Ammon.³ And the heads of the sons of Ammon say to their lord Hanun, "Is David honoring your father in your eyes because he has sent comforters to you? For has David not sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it, and to overthrow it?"⁴ And Hanun takes the servants of David, and shaves off the half of their beard, and cuts off their long robes in the midst—to their buttocks, and sends them away;⁵ and they declare [it] to David, and he sends to meet them, for the men have been greatly ashamed, and the king says, "Abide in Jericho until your beard springs up—then you have returned."

⁶ And the sons of Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the sons of Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah [with] one thousand men, and Ish-Tob [with] twelve thousand men;⁷ and David hears, and sends Joab, and all the host—the mighty men.⁸ And the sons of Ammon come out, and set in array [for] battle, at the opening of the gate, and Aram of Zoba, and Rehob, and Ish-Tob, and Maacah, [are] by themselves in the field;⁹ and Joab sees that the front of the battle has been to him before and behind, and he chooses [out] of all the chosen in Israel, and sets in array to meet Aram,¹⁰ and he has given the rest of the people into the hand of his brother Abishai, and sets in array to meet the sons of Ammon.¹¹ And he says, "If Aram is stronger than I, then you have been for salvation to me, and if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you, then I have come to give salvation to you;¹² be strong and strengthen yourself for our people, and for the cities of our God, and YHWH does that which is good in His eyes."¹³ And Joab draws near, and the people who [are] with him, to battle against Aram, and they flee from his presence;¹⁴ and the sons of Ammon have seen that Aram has fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go into the city; and Joab turns back from the sons of Ammon, and comes to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ And Aram sees that it is struck before Israel, and they are gathered together;¹⁶ and Hadadezer sends, and brings out Aram which [is] beyond the River, and they come to Helam, and Shobach, head of the host of Hadadezer, [is] before them.¹⁷ And it is declared to David, and he gathers all Israel, and passes over the Jordan, and comes to Helam, and Aram sets itself in array to meet David, and they fight with him;¹⁸ and Aram flees from the presence of Israel, and David slays seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand horsemen of Aram, and he has struck Shobach, [the] head of its host, and he dies there.¹⁹ And all the kings—servants of Hadadezer—see that they have been struck before Israel, and make peace with Israel, and serve them; and Aram is afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.