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 David took the authority of the mother-town from the hands of the Philistines.
1
Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again, defeated them, and ended their control over the land.
2 And he overcame the Moabites, and he had them measured with a line when they were stretched out on the earth; marking out two lines for death and one full line for life. So the Moabites became servants to David and gave him offerings.
2
Then he defeated the Moabites. He made the prisoners lie down on the ground and put two out of every three of them to death. So the Moabites became his subjects and paid taxes to him.
3 And David overcame Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to make his power seen by the River.
3
Then he defeated the king of the Syrian state of Zobah, Hadadezer son of Rehob, as Hadadezer was on his way to restore his control over the territory by the upper Euphrates River.
4 And David took from him one thousand, seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen: and David had the leg-muscles of the horses cut, only keeping enough of them for a hundred war-carriages.
4
David captured seventeen hundred of his cavalry and twenty thousand of his 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 of the Aramaeans.
5
When the Syrians of Damascus sent an army to help King Hadadezer, David attacked it and killed twenty-two thousand men.
6 And David put armed forces in Aram of Damascus: and the Aramaeans became servants to David 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 David took their gold body-covers from the servants of Hadadezer and took them to Jerusalem.
7
David captured the gold shields carried by Hadadezer's officials and took them to Jerusalem.
8 And from Tebah and Berothai, towns of Hadadezer, King David took a great store of brass.
8
He also took a great quantity of bronze from Betah and Berothai, cities ruled by Hadadezer.
9 And when Tou, king of Hamath, had news that David had overcome all the army of Hadadezer,
9
King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated all of Hadadezer's army.
10 He sent his son Hadoram to David, with words of peace and blessing, because he had overcome Hadadezer in the fight, for Hadadezer had wars with Tou; and Hadoram took with him vessels of silver and gold 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 took David presents made of gold, silver, and bronze.
11 These King David made holy to the Lord, together with the silver and gold which he had taken from the nations he had overcome--
11
King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he had conquered -
12 The nations of Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon and the Philistines and the Amalekites and the goods he had taken from Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
12
Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek - as well as part of the loot he had taken from Hadadezer.
13 And David got great honour for himself, when he came back, by the destruction of Edom in the valley of Salt, to the number of eighteen thousand men.
13
David became even more famous when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Edomites in Salt Valley.
14 And he put armed forces in Edom; all through Edom he had armed forces stationed, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went.
14
He set up military camps throughout Edom, and the people there became his subjects. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.
15 And David was king over all Israel, judging and giving right decisions for all his people.
15
David ruled over all of Israel and made sure that his people were always treated fairly and justly.
16 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the army; and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was keeper of the records;
16
Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, was the commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records;
17 And Zadok and Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, were priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;
17
Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the court secretary;
18 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were priests.
18
Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of David's bodyguards; and David's sons were priests.
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.