The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them, and took Gath with its daughter-towns out of the hands of the Philistines.
1
Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again and defeated them. He took out of their control the city of Gath and its surrounding villages.
2 And he overcame Moab, and the Moabites became his servants and gave him offerings.
2
He also defeated the Moabites, who became his subjects and paid taxes to him.
3 Then David overcame Hadadezer, king of Zobah, near Hamath, when he was going to make his power seen by the river Euphrates.
3
Next, David attacked King Hadadezer of the Syrian state of Zobah, near the territory of Hamath, because Hadadezer was trying to gain control of the territory by the upper Euphrates River.
4 And David took from him a thousand war-carriages and seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand footmen: and he had the leg-muscles of all the horses cut, keeping only enough of them for a hundred war-carriages.
4
David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand cavalry troops, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He kept enough horses for a hundred chariots and crippled all the rest.
5 And when the Aramaeans of Damascus came to the help of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David put to the sword twenty-two thousand Aramaeans.
5
When the Syrians of Damascus sent an army to help King Hadadezer, David attacked it and killed twenty-two thousand men.
6 Then David put armed forces in Damascus, and the Aramaeans became his servants and gave him offerings. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went.
6
Then he set up military camps in their territory, and they became his subjects and paid taxes to him. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.
7 And the gold body-covers of the servants of Hadadezer, David took to Jerusalem.
7
David captured the gold shields carried by Hadadezer's officials and took them to Jerusalem.
8 And from Tibhath and from Cun, towns of Hadadezer, David took a great store of brass, of which Solomon made the great brass water-vessel and the brass pillars and vessels.
8
He also took a great quantity of bronze from Tibhath and Kun, cities ruled by Hadadezer. (Solomon later used this bronze to make the tank, the columns, and the bronze utensils for the Temple.)
9 Now when Tou, king of Hamath, had news that David had overcome all the army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah,
9
King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated Hadadezer's entire army.
10 He sent his son Hadoram to King David, to give him words of peace and blessing, because he had overcome Hadadezer in the fight, for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou; and he gave him all sorts of vessels of gold and silver and brass.
10
So he sent his son Joram to greet King David and congratulate him for his victory over Hadadezer, against whom Toi had fought many times. Joram brought David presents made of gold, silver, and bronze.
11 These King David made holy to the Lord, together with the silver and gold he had taken from all nations; from Edom and Moab and from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines and from Amalek.
11
King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he conquered - Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek.
12 And when he came back from putting to the sword eighteen thousand of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt,
12
Abishai, whose mother was Zeruiah, defeated the Edomites in Salt Valley and killed eighteen thousand of them.
13 David put armed forces in all the towns of Edom; and all the Edomites became servants to David. The Lord made David overcome wherever he went.
13
He set up military camps throughout Edom, and the people there became King David's subjects. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.
14 So David was king over all Israel, judging and giving right decisions for all his people.
14
David ruled over all Israel and made sure that his people were always treated fairly and justly.
15 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the army; and Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was keeper of the records.
15
Abishai's brother Joab was commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records;
16 And Zadok, the son of Ahitub; and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were priests; and Shavsha was the scribe;
16
Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was court secretary;
17 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief of those whose places were at the king's side.
17
Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of David's bodyguards; and King David's sons held high positions in his service.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.