4
So Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved them, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.
5
When David heard what had happened to the men, he sent messengers to tell them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back.” For they felt deep shame because of their appearance.
6
When the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 75,000 pounds of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.
7
They also hired 32,000 chariots and secured the support of the king of Maacah and his army. These forces camped at Medeba, where they were joined by the Ammonite troops that Hanun had recruited from his own towns.
8
When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all his warriors to fight them.
9
The Ammonite troops came out and drew up their battle lines at the entrance of the city, while the other kings positioned themselves to fight in the open fields.
10
When Joab saw that he would have to fight on both the front and the rear, he chose some of Israel’s elite troops and placed them under his personal command to fight the Arameans in the fields.
11
He left the rest of the army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the Ammonites.
12
“If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me,” Joab told his brother. “And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will help you.
13
Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the LORD ’s will be done.”
14
When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away.
The eighteenth and nineteenth chapters are the same with 2Sa 8:1-10:19, 20:1-26 with very little variations, which are observed in the notes on them, to which the reader is referred. 18867-950102-2024-1Ch19.2