David Wins the Victory Over the Ammonites
1The king of Ammon died. His son Hanun became the next king after him. 2David thought, “I’m going to be kind to Hanun. His father Nahash was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to Hanun. He wanted them to tell Hanun how sad he was that Hanun’s father had died.
David’s messengers went to the land of Ammon. 3The Ammonite commanders spoke to their master Hanun. They said, “David has sent messengers to tell you he is sad. They say he wants to honor your father. But the real reason they’ve come is to look the city over. They want to destroy it.” 4So Hanun grabbed David’s messengers. He shaved off half of each man’s beard. He cut their clothes off just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away.
5David was told about it. So he sent messengers to his men because they were filled with shame. King David said to them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out again. Then come back here.”
6The Ammonites realized that what they had done had made David very angry with them. So they hired 20,000 Aramean soldiers who were on foot. The soldiers came from Beth Rehob and Zobah. The Ammonites also hired the king of Maakah and 1,000 men. And they hired 12,000 men from Tob.
7David heard about it. So he sent Joab out with the entire army of Israel’s fighting men. 8The Ammonites marched out. They took up their battle positions at the entrance of their city gate. The Arameans of Zobah and Rehob gathered their troops together in the open country. So did the men of Tob and Maakah.
9Joab saw that there were lines of soldiers in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best troops in Israel. He sent them to march out against the Arameans. 10He put the rest of the men under the command of his brother Abishai. Joab sent them to march out against the Ammonites. 11He said, “Suppose the Arameans are too strong for me. Then you must come and help me. But suppose the Ammonites are too strong for you. Then I’ll come and help you. 12Be strong. Let’s be brave as we fight for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is best.”
13Then Joab and the troops with him marched out to attack the Arameans. They ran away from him. 14The Ammonites realized that the Arameans were running away. So they ran away from Abishai. They went inside the city. After Joab had fought against the Ammonites, he went back to Jerusalem.
15The Arameans saw that they had been driven away by Israel. So they brought their troops together. 16Hadadezer had some Arameans brought from east of the Euphrates River. They went to Helam under the command of Shobak. He was the commander of Hadadezer’s army.
17David was told about it. So he gathered the whole army of Israel together. They went across the Jordan River to Helam. The Arameans lined up their soldiers to go to war against David. They began to fight against him. 18But then they ran away from Israel. David killed 700 of their chariot riders. He killed 40,000 of their soldiers who were on foot. He also struck down Shobak, the commander of their army. Shobak died there. 19All the kings who were under the rule of Hadadezer saw that Israel had won the battle over them. So they made a peace treaty with the Israelites. They were brought under Israel’s rule.
After that, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.
David derrota a los amonitas
10:1-19 – 1Cr 19:1-19
1Pasado algún tiempo, murió el rey de los amonitas, y su hijo Janún le sucedió en el trono. 2Entonces David pensó: «Debo ser leal con Janún hijo de Najás, tal como su padre lo fue conmigo». Así que envió unos mensajeros para darle el pésame por la muerte de su padre.
Cuando los mensajeros de David llegaron al país de los amonitas, 3los jefes de ese pueblo aconsejaron a Janún, su rey: «¿Y acaso crees que David ha enviado estos mensajeros solo para darte el pésame, y porque quiere honrar a tu padre? ¿No será más bien que los ha enviado a explorar y espiar la ciudad para luego destruirla?» 4Entonces Janún mandó que apresaran a los mensajeros de David y que les afeitaran media barba y les rasgaran la ropa por la mitad, a la altura de las nalgas. Y así los despidió.
5Los hombres del rey David se sentían muy avergonzados. Cuando David se enteró de lo que les había pasado, mandó que los recibieran y les dieran este mensaje de su parte: «Quedaos en Jericó, y no regreséis hasta que os crezca la barba».
6Al darse cuenta los amonitas de que habían ofendido a David, hicieron trámites para contratar mercenarios: de entre los sirios de Bet Rejob y de Sobá, veinte mil soldados de infantería; del rey de Macá, mil hombres; y de Tob, doce mil hombres. 7Cuando David lo supo, despachó a Joab con todos los soldados del ejército. 8Los amonitas avanzaron hasta la entrada de su ciudad y se alistaron para la batalla, mientras que los sirios de Sobá y Rejob se quedaron aparte, en campo abierto, junto con los hombres de Tob y de Macá.
9Joab se vio amenazado por el frente y por la retaguardia, así que escogió a las mejores tropas israelitas para pelear contra los sirios, 10y el resto de las tropas las puso al mando de su hermano Abisay, para que enfrentaran a los amonitas. 11A Abisay le ordenó: «Si los sirios pueden más que yo, tú vendrás a rescatarme; y, si los amonitas pueden más que tú, yo iré a tu rescate. 12¡Ánimo! ¡Luchemos con valor por nuestro pueblo y por las ciudades de nuestro Dios! Y que el Señor haga lo que bien le parezca».
13En seguida Joab y sus tropas avanzaron para atacar a los sirios, y estos huyeron de él. 14Al ver que los sirios se daban a la fuga, también los amonitas huyeron de Abisay y se refugiaron en la ciudad. Entonces Joab suspendió el ataque contra los amonitas y regresó a Jerusalén.
15Los sirios, al verse derrotados por Israel, volvieron a reunirse. 16Además, Hadad Ezer mandó movilizar a los sirios que estaban al otro lado del río Éufrates, los cuales fueron a Jelán bajo el mando de Sobac, general del ejército de Hadad Ezer.
17Cuando David se enteró de esto, reunió a todo Israel, cruzó el Jordán y marchó hacia Jelán. Los sirios se enfrentaron con David y lo atacaron, 18pero tuvieron que huir ante los israelitas. David mató a setecientos soldados sirios de caballería y cuarenta mil de infantería.10:18 de infantería (mss. de LXX; véase también 1Cr 19:18); jinetes (TM). También hirió a Sobac, general del ejército sirio, quien murió allí mismo. 19Al ver que los sirios habían sido derrotados por los israelitas, todos los reyes vasallos de Hadad Ezer hicieron la paz con los israelitas y se sometieron a ellos. Y nunca más se atrevieron los sirios a ir en auxilio de los amonitas.
