Saul Defeats the Ammonites

11 Now ^(A)Nahash the Ammonite came up and ^[a]besieged ^(B)Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make ^(C)a covenant with us and we will serve you.” ² But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make 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)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 deliver us, we will come out to you.”

Ammon and Aram Defeated

10 ^(A)Now it happened afterwards that ^(B)the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. ² Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of ^(C)Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent ^[a]some of his servants to console him concerning his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites, ³ the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “^[b]Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers 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 When they told it to David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, “^[c]Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

⁶ Now when the sons of Ammon saw that ^(G)they had become odious to David, 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 were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of ^(C)Ammon.