1 Chronicles 19

1 And it cometh to pass after this, that Nahash king of the sons of Ammon dieth, and his son reigneth in his stead,

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

2 and David saith, 'I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, for his father did with me kindness;' and David sendeth messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David come in unto the land of the sons of Ammon, unto 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 honouring thy father, in thine eyes, because he hath sent to thee comforters? in order to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out, the land, have not his servants come in unto thee?'

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 taketh the servants of David, and shaveth them, and cutteth their long robes in the midst, unto the buttocks, and sendeth 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 sendeth to meet them — for the men have been greatly ashamed — and the king saith, 'Dwell in Jericho till that your beard is grown, then ye 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 a thousand talents of silver, to hire to them, 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 to them two and thirty 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 in 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 heareth, and sendeth 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 battle in array 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 seeth that the front of the battle hath been unto him, before and behind, and he chooseth out of all the choice in Israel, and setteth 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 the remnant of the people he hath given into the hand of Abishai his brother, 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 saith, 'If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation; and if the sons of Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have saved thee;

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 Jehovah doth 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 draweth nigh, 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 hath fled, and they flee — they also — from the face of Abishai his brother, and go in to the city. And Joab cometh in 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 seeth that they have been smitten 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 gathereth all Israel, and passeth over the Jordan, and cometh in unto them, and setteth in array against them; yea, David setteth in array the 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 fleeth from the face of Israel, and David slayeth of Aram seven thousand charioteers, and forty thousand footmen, and Shophach head of the host he hath put 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 smitten before Israel, and they make peace with David and serve him, and Aram hath not been willing to help the sons of Ammon any more.

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.