³ the Ammonite officials asked their lord Hanun, “Do you think that because David has sent a delegation of consolers to you that he is honoring your father? His delegation has arrived intending to search, scout the land, and then overthrow it, hasn’t it?” ⁴ So Hanun arrested David’s delegation, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their clothes at the waist line, and sent them away in disgrace.^[a]

⁵ When David had been informed about the incident,^[b] he sent word^[c] to them, since the men had been deeply humiliated. The king told them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”