1 Chronicles 19

1 And it comes to pass after this, that Nahash king of the sons of Ammon dies, and his son reigns in his stead,

Some time later, Nahash, king of the Ammonites, died and his son succeeded him.

2 and David says, “I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, for his father did kindness with me”; and David sends messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David come to the land of the sons of Ammon, to Hanun, to comfort him,

David said, “I will be kind to Hanun, son of Nahash, for his father was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him over his father's death. David's ambassadors arrived in the land of the Ammonites and went comfort Hanun.

3 and the heads of the sons of Ammon say to Hanun, “Is David honoring your father in your eyes because he has sent comforters to you? Have his servants not come to you in order to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?”

But the Ammonite princes said to Hanun, “Do you really think that David is honoring your father by sending comforters to you? Haven't these ‘comforters’ only come to spy out the land to find ways to conquer it?”

4 And Hanun takes the servants of David and shaves them, and cuts their long robes in the midst, to the buttocks, and sends them away.

So Hanun detained David's ambassadors and had them shaved, and their robes cut off at the buttocks. Then he sent them back.

5 And [some] go and declare to David concerning the men, and he sends to meet them—for the men have been greatly ashamed—and the king says, “Dwell in Jericho until your beard is grown, then you have returned.”

A message was sent to David to explain what had happened to the men. David then sent messengers to the men to tell them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then you can come back.”

6 And the sons of Ammon see that they have made themselves abhorred by David, and Hanun and the sons of Ammon send one thousand talents of silver, to hire for themselves, from Aram-Naharaim, and from Aram-Maachah, and from Zobah, chariots and horsemen;

Then the Ammonites realized that they had really been offensive to David So Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.

7 and they hire for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people, and they come in and encamp before Medeba, and the sons of Ammon have been gathered out of their cities, and come to the battle.

They also hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army. They came set up camp near Medeba. The Ammonites were also called up from their towns and prepared for battle.

8 And David hears, and sends Joab, and all the host of the mighty men,

When David learned of this, he sent Joab and the entire army to confront them.

9 and the sons of Ammon come out and set in array [for] battle at the opening of the city, and the kings who have come [are] by themselves in the field.

The Ammonites set up their battle lines near the town entrance, while the other kings who had joined them took up positions in the open fields.

10 And Joab sees that the front of the battle has been to him, before and behind, and he chooses out of all the choice in Israel, and sets in array to meet Aram,

Joab realized he would have to fight both in front of him and behind him, he chose some of Israel's best troops and he took charge of them to lead the attack the Arameans.

11 and he has given the remnant of the people into the hand of his brother Abishai, and they set in array to meet the sons of Ammon.

He put the rest of the army under the command of Abishai, his brother. They were to attack the Ammonites.

12 And he says, “If Aram is stronger than me, then you have been for salvation to me; and if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you, then I have saved you;

Joab told him, “If the Arameans are stronger than me, you come and help me. If the Ammonites are stronger than you, I'll come and help you.

13 be strong, and we strengthen ourselves, for our people, and for the cities of our God, and YHWH does that which is good in His eyes.”

Be brave, and fight your best for our people and the towns of our God. May the Lord do what he sees as good!”

14 And Joab draws near, and the people who [are] with him, before Aram to battle, and they flee from his face;

Joab attacked the Arameans with his forces and they ran away from him.

15 and the sons of Ammon have seen that Aram has fled, and they flee—they also—from the face of his brother Abishai, and go into the city. And Joab comes to Jerusalem.

When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had run away, they also ran away from Abishai, Joab's brother, and retreated into the town. So Joab went back to Jerusalem.

16 And Aram sees that they have been struck before Israel, and send messengers, and bring out Aram that [is] beyond the River, and Shophach head of the host of Hadarezer [is] before them.

As soon as the Arameans saw they had been defeated by the Israelites so they sent for reinforcements from the other side of the Euphrates River, under the leadership of Shobach, commander of Hadadezer's army.

17 And it is declared to David, and he gathers all Israel, and passes over the Jordan, and comes to them, and sets in array against them; indeed, David sets in array [for] battle to meet Aram, and they fight with him;

When this was reported to David, he assembled all Israel together. He crossed the Jordan and approached the Aramean army, drawing up his forces in battle line against them. When David engaged in battle with them they fought with him.

18 and Aram flees from the face of Israel, and David slays seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand footmen of Aram, and he has put Shophach head of the host to death.

But the Aramean army ran away from the Israelites, and David killed 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 infantry, as well as Shobach, their army commander.

19 And the servants of Hadarezer see that they have been struck before Israel, and they make peace with David and serve him, and Aram has not been willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

When Hadadezer's allies realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. As a result, the Arameans didn't want to help the Ammonites any more.