Davids sejre over nabofolkene
1David besejrede efterhånden filistrene fuldstændigt og undertvang dem ved at indtage deres hovedstad. 2Han besejrede også moabitterne. Han lod dem lægge sig ned i lange rækker, hvorefter han afmålte dem med en målesnor: To snorlængder blev slået ihjel, en snorlængde fik lov at leve. De overlevende blev Davids skattepligtige undersåtter.
3Kong Hadadezer af Zoba, Rehobs søn, forsøgte at generobre sit gamle territorium syd for Eufratfloden,8,3 Et område, som Saul havde taget fra ham. men David besejrede ham. 4Ved den lejlighed erobrede David 1000 stridsvogne8,4 Oplysningen om de 1000 vogne er ved en fejl faldet ud af den hebraiske kopi, men findes i LXX og 1.Krøn. 18,4. og tog 70008,4 Den hebraiske kopi siger 1700, men LXX og 1.Krøn. 18,4 siger 7000. ryttere og 20.000 fodfolk til fange. Han skar haserne over på 90 procent af hestene. 5Da aramæerne rykkede ud fra Damaskus for at hjælpe Hadadezer, huggede David 22.000 af dem ned. 6I Damaskusområdet udstationerede han flere garnisoner og indlemmede aramæerne blandt sine skattepligtige undersåtter. Herren gav David sejr over alle hans fjender. 7David beslaglagde alle de guldskjolde, som kong Hadadezers officerer havde brugt, og førte dem til Jerusalem 8sammen med en stor ladning kobber fra byerne Teba og Berotaj.
9Da kong Toi af Hamat8,9 I det nordvestlige Syrien, vest for Zoba området og ca. 200 km nord for Damaskus. hørte om Davids triumf over Hadadezers hær, 10sendte han sin søn Joram af sted for at lykønske ham. Hadadezer og Toi var nemlig ærkefjender. Joram forærede David mange gaver af sølv, guld og bronze, 11-12og David indviede dem til Herren sammen med det guld og sølv, han havde taget i krigsbytte fra edomitterne, moabitterne, ammonitterne, filistrene, amalekitterne og kong Hadadezers hær.
13Således voksede Davids ry ude omkring. På hjemvejen fra kampene mod nord tilintetgjorde han 18.000 edomitter i Saltdalen, 14hvorefter han etablerede en række garnisoner i Edom, så edomitterne kom under Davids herredømme. Således gav Herren David sejr, hvor som helst han kom frem.
Davids embedsmænd
15David var en retfærdig konge i Israel, der gav alle en fair behandling. 16Joab var øverstbefalende for hæren; Joshafat, Ahiluds søn, var kongens øverste embedsmand med ansvar for arkiverne; 17Zadok, Ahitubs søn, og Ahimelek, Ebjatars søn,8,17 Ahimelek var far til Ebjatar ifølge 1.Sam. 22,20, så enten er der sket en fejl, eller også er det en anden Ebjatar. var de ledende præster; Seraja var statssekretær; 18Benaja, Jojadas søn, var chef for livgarden; og Davids egne sønner havde ledende stillinger ved hoffet.
David Wins Many Battles
1While David was king of Israel, he won many battles over the Philistines. He brought them under his control. He took Metheg Ammah away from them.
2David also won the battle over the people of Moab. He made them lie down on the ground. Then he measured them off with a piece of rope. He put two-thirds of them to death. He let the other third remain alive. So the Moabites were brought under David’s rule. They gave him the gifts he required them to bring him.
3David fought against Hadadezer, the son of Rehob. Hadadezer was king of Zobah. He had gone to repair his monument at the Euphrates River. 4David captured 1,000 of Hadadezer’s chariots, 7,000 chariot riders and 20,000 soldiers on foot. He cut the legs of all but 100 of the chariot horses.
5The Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. But David struck down 22,000 of them. 6He stationed some soldiers in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus. The people of Aram were brought under his rule. They gave him the gifts he required them to bring him. The Lord helped David win his battles everywhere he went.
7David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer. He brought the shields to Jerusalem. 8He took a huge amount of bronze from Tebah and Berothai. Those towns belonged to Hadadezer.
9Tou was king of Hamath. He heard that David had won the battle over the entire army of Hadadezer. 10So Tou sent his son Joram to King David. Joram greeted David. He praised David because he had won the battle over Hadadezer. Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. So Joram brought with him gifts made out of silver, of gold and of bronze.
11King David set those gifts apart for the Lord. He had done the same thing with the silver and gold he had taken from the other nations. Those were nations he had brought under his control. 12Those nations were Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia and Amalek. He also set apart for the Lord what he had taken from Hadadezer, the son of Rehob. Hadadezer was king of Zobah.
13David returned after he had struck down 18,000 men of Edom in the Valley of Salt. He became famous for doing it.
14He stationed some soldiers all through Edom. The whole nation of Edom was brought under David’s rule. The Lord helped him win his battles everywhere he went.
David’s Officials
15David ruled over the whole nation of Israel. He did what was fair and right for all his people. 16Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was commander over the army. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, kept the records. 17Zadok, the son of Ahitub, was a priest. Ahimelek, the son of Abiathar, was also a priest. Seraiah was the secretary. 18Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was commander over the Kerethites and Pelethites. And David’s sons were priests.
