6
When it dawned on the Ammonites that as far as David was concerned, they stank to high heaven,
7
they hired, at a cost of a thousand talents of silver (thirty-seven and a half tons!), chariots and horsemen from the Arameans of Naharaim, Maacah, and Zobah - 32,000 chariots and drivers; plus the king of Maacah with his troops who came and set up camp at Medeba; the Ammonites, too, were mobilized from their cities and got ready for battle.
8
When David heard this, he dispatched Joab with his strongest fighters in full force.
9
The Ammonites marched out and spread out in battle formation at the city gate; the kings who had come as allies took up a position in the open fields.
10
When Joab saw that he had two fronts to fight, before and behind, he took his pick of the best of Israel and deployed them to confront the Arameans.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.