³ the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out^(A) and overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard,^(B) cut off their garments at the buttocks,^(C) and sent them away.

⁵ When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”