1When Nahash, king of the Ammonites, died, Hanun, his son, ascended to the throne. 2And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun, because his father, Nahash, has shown kindness to me.” And so, David sent messengers with words of comfort to him regarding the loss of his father. But when the David’s envoys arrived in the land of the Ammonites to comfort Hanun, 3The Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, “Do you think that David does this to honor your father? Have his envoys not really come here to search, spy, and to overthrow the land?” 4And so Hanun took David's envoys, shaved them, cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. 5When someone told David how the men were treated, he sent messengers to meet them; for the men were greatly humiliated. And David said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown, then return.”

6And when the Ammonites realized that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents (about 65 pounds) of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah. 7So they hired the king of Maachah, thirty-two thousand chariots, and his army; who came and camped near Medeba. And the Ammonites came from their cities prepared for battle. 8And when David learned of it, he sent Joab, and all the army. 9And the Ammonites put themselves in battle array at the entrance of their city; and the kings who had come were by off by themselves in the field. 10Now when Joab saw that the battle lines were set against him both in front and behind, he selected all the best of Israel, and deployed them against the Syrians. 11And the rest of the people he assigned to Abishai, his brother, and they deployed themselves against the Ammonites. 12And Joab said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you must help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. 13Be strong and fight valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God; and let the LORD do what is good in His sight.” 14So Joab and his troops advanced to engage the Syrians in battle; and the Syrians fled from before him. 15And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they also fled before Abishai’s men, retreating into the city. And then Joab returned to Jerusalem.

16And when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent for more Syrian (Aramean) troops from beyond the Euphrates River; led by Shophach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army. 17This was reported to David; and he mustered Israel, crossed the Jordan, and formed battle lines, and fought the Syrians. 18And the Syrians again fled from before Israel; and David killed seven thousand Syrian charioteers, forty thousand footmen, and Shophach, the commander of the army. 19And when the allies of Hadadezer saw that Israel had defeated them, they sought peace with David, and became his subjects; nor would the Syrians help the Ammonites any more.