Saul Strikes Down the Ammonites

11 And ^(A)Nahash the Ammonite came up and ^[a]besieged ^(B)Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Cut ^(C)a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” ² But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will cut it with you on this condition, ^(D)that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it ^(E)a reproach on all Israel.” ^3 (F)Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.”

The Ammonites Dishonor David’s Men

10 ^(A)Now it happened afterwards, that ^(B)the king of the sons of Ammon died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. ² So David said, “I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of ^(C)Nahash, just as his father showed lovingkindness to me.” So David sent to comfort him concerning his father by the hand of his servants. And David’s servants came to the land of the sons of Ammon. ³ But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, “In your eyes, is David honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? ^(D)Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and ^(E)shaved off half of their beards, and ^(F)cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ Then they told it to David. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly dishonored. And the king said, “^[a]Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶ Then the sons of Ammon saw that ^(G)they had become odious to David. So the sons of Ammon sent and ^(H)hired the Arameans of ^(I)Beth-rehob and the ^(J)Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^(K)Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men.

^21 (A)Edom, ^(B)Moab, and the sons of ^(C)Ammon,

¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the ^(A)remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^(B)king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and went to cross over to the sons of ^(C)Ammon.