Study Desk

Then King David went to the Holy Tent and sat before the Lord . David said, " Lord God, you have done so much for me and my family. And I don't understand why.

What more can I say? You have done so much for me. And I am only your servant. You know that.

Keep your promise so that people will honor your name forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord All-Powerful is Israel's God!' I am your servant. Please let my family be strong and continue to serve you.

"My God, you spoke to me, your servant. You made it clear that you would make my family a family of kings. That is why I am being so bold—that is why I am asking you to do these things.

You have been kind enough to bless my family. You were kind enough to promise that my family will serve you forever. Lord , you yourself blessed my family, so my family really will be blessed forever."

Then David put fortresses in the city of Damascus in Aram. The Arameans became David's servants and brought tribute to him. So the Lord gave victory to David everywhere he went.

So Tou sent his son Hadoram to King David to ask for peace and to bless him. He did this because David had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. Hadadezer had been at war with Tou before. Hadoram gave David all kinds of things made of gold, silver, and bronze.

Then David said, "Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to Hanun, Nahash's son." So David sent messengers to comfort Hanun about the death of his father. David's messengers went to the country of Ammon to comfort Hanun.

So Hanun arrested David's servants and cut off their beards. Hanun also cut their clothes off at the hip and sent them away.

David's men were too embarrassed to go home. Some people went to David and told him what happened to his men. So King David sent this message to his men: "Stay in the town of Jericho until your beards grow again. Then you can come back home."

David heard that the Ammonites were getting ready for war. So he sent Joab and the whole army of Israel to fight the Ammonites.

Joab saw that there were two army groups ready to fight against him. One group was in front of him and the other group was behind him. So Joab chose some of the best soldiers of Israel and sent them out to fight against the Aramean army.

The Aramean leaders saw that Israel had defeated them. So they sent messengers to get help from the Arameans living east of the Euphrates River. Shophach was the commander of Hadadezer's army from Aram. Shophach also led the other Aramean soldiers.

David heard the news that the Arameans were gathering for battle, so he gathered all the Israelites. David led them across the Jordan River, and they came face to face with the Arameans. David got his army ready for battle and they attacked the Arameans.

When Hadadezer's officers saw that Israel had defeated them, they made peace with David. They became his servants. So the Arameans refused to help the Ammonites again.

Later, the Israelites went to war with the Philistines at the town of Gezer. At that time Sibbecai from Hushah killed Sippai, who was one of the sons of the giants. So those Philistines became like slaves to the Israelites.

So when that man made fun of Israel, Jonathan killed him. Jonathan was Shimea's son. Shimea was David's brother.

So David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, "Go and count all the Israelites. Count everyone in the country—from the town of Beersheba all the way to the town of Dan. Then tell me, so I will know how many people there are."

But King David was stubborn. Joab had to do what the king said. So Joab left and went through all the country of Israel counting the people. Then he came back to Jerusalem

David had done a bad thing in God's sight, so God punished Israel.