1 Now after this, death came to the king of the children of Ammon, and Hanun, his son, became king in his place.

2 And David said, I will be a friend to Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father was a friend to me. So David sent his servants, to give him words of comfort on account of his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

3 But the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Does it seem to you that David is honouring your father by sending comforters to you? has he not sent his servants to go through the town and make secret observation of it, and overcome it?

4 So Hanun took David's servants, and after cutting off half the hair on their chins, and cutting off the skirts of their robes up to the middle, he sent them away.

5 When David had news of it, he sent men out with the purpose of meeting them on their way, for the men were greatly shamed: and the king said, Go to Jericho till your hair is long again, and then come back.

6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves hated by David, they sent to the Aramaeans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, and got for payment twenty thousand footmen, and they got from the king of Maacah a thousand men, and from Tob twelve thousand.

7 And hearing of this, David sent Joab and all the army and the best fighting-men.

8 And the children of Ammon came out and put their forces in position at the way into the town: and the Aramaeans of Zobah and of Rehob, with the men of Tob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.

9 Now when Joab saw that their forces were in position against him in front and at his back, he took the best of the men of Israel and put them in line against the Aramaeans;

10 And the rest of the people he put in position against the children of Ammon, with Abishai, his brother, at their head.

11 And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then you are to come to my help; but if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help.

12 Take heart, and let us be strong for our people and for the towns of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.

13 Then Joab and the people with him went forward to the fight against the Aramaeans, and they went in flight before him.

14 And when the children of Ammon saw the flight of the Aramaeans, they themselves went in flight from Abishai, and came into the town. So Joab went back from fighting the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

15 And when the Aramaeans saw that Israel had overcome them, they got themselves together.

16 And Hadadezer sent for the Aramaeans who were on the other side of the River: and they came to Helam, with Shobach, the captain of Hadadezer's army, at their head.

17 And word of this was given to David: and he got all Israel together and went over Jordan and came to Helam. And the Aramaeans put their forces in position against David, and made an attack on him.

18 And the Aramaeans went in flight before Israel; and David put to the sword the men of seven hundred Aramaean war-carriages and forty thousand footmen, and Shobach, the captain of the army, was wounded, and came to his death there.

19 And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they were overcome by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their servants. So the Aramaeans, in fear, gave no more help to the children of Ammon.

1 Algum tempo depois, morreu o rei amonita, e o seu filho Hanum ascendeu ao trono em seu lugar. David decidiu o seguinte:

2 Hei-de usar de beneficência para com ele, visto que o seu pai Naás sempre foi leal para comigo. Por isso David enviou embaixadores que expressassem as suas condolências a Hanum pelo falecimento do pai.

3 Contudo os conselheiros militares de Hanum falaram desta forma ao rei amonita: Esta gente não veio honrar a memória do teu pai. David mandou-os para espiarem a cidade antes de a atacar!

4 Hanum então reteve os homens de David, rapou-lhes metade da barba, cortou-lhes a roupa que traziam até à altura das ancas e mandou-os embora meio nus. Quando David teve conhecimento do que acontecera, disse-lhes que ficassem em Jericó até lhes crescer novamente a barba, pois que aqueles homens estavam incomodados com o aspecto que tinham.

6 Nessa altura o povo de Amom deu-se conta de como tinha suscitado seriamente a ira de David; em consequência, alugaram vinte mil mercenários sírios, da terra de Reobe e de Zobá, outros mil ao rei de Maaca e dez mil da terra de Tobe.

7 Quando contaram isto a David, este mandou Joabe e todo o exército israelita para os atacar. Os amonitas defendiam as entradas da cidade, enquanto os sírios de Zobá, Reobe, Tobe e Maaca lutavam no campo.

9 Joabe, vendo que tinha de lutar em duas frentes, pôs de parte os melhores combatentes da sua tropa e, sob o seu próprio comando, levou-os a confrontarem-se com os sírios na planície. O resto do exército deixou-o às ordens do seu irmão Abisai, que devia atacar a cidade.

11 Se eu precisar de ajuda contra os sírios, vem ajudar-me, combinou Joabe com ele. E se forem os amonitas mais fortes do que tu, sou eu quem virá em teu auxílio. Coragem! Devemos actuar com muita energia se queremos salvar o nosso povo e as cidades do nosso Deus. Que se faça a vontade do Senhor.

13 Seguidamente, quando Joabe e as suas tropas atacaram, os sírios começaram a fugir.

14 Por sua vez os amonitas ao verem isso também se puseram a fugir para dentro da cidade. Joabe retirou-se para Jerusalém.

15 Os sírios viram bem que não eram suficientes para fazer frente ao exército de Israel, por isso, ao reagruparem-se, engrossaram os seus efectivos com um contingente adicional, mobilizado por Hadadezer do outro lado do rio Eufrates. Estas tropas chegaram a Helã sob as ordens de Sobaque, comandante das forças militares de Hadadezer.

17 Tendo tido conhecimento disso tudo, David decidiu chefiar pessoalmente o seu exército e foi para Helã, onde os sírios tinha atacado. Mas aí os sírios fugiram de novo dos israelitas, mas desta vez deixando mortos no campo de luta setecentos condutores de carros de combate e ainda quarenta mil cavaleiros, incluindo o general Sobaque. Os aliados de Hadadezer, constatando que os sírios tinham sido derrotados, renderam-se a David e tornaram-se seus servos. A partir de então os sírios tiveram medo de socorrer mais vez alguma os amonitas.