1 Etter dette døde kongen av ammonittene, og hans sønn Hanun ble konge etter ham.

Now after this, death came to the king of the children of Ammon, and Hanun, his son, became king in his place.

2 David sa: Jeg vil vise vennlighet mot Hanun, Nahasj' sønn, slik hans far viste mot meg. Så David sendte tjenere for å trøste ham i sorgen over faren. Davids tjenere kom da til ammonittenes land.

And David said, I will be a friend to Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father was a friend to me. So David sent his servants, to give him words of comfort on account of his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

3 Men lederne blant ammonittene sa til Hanun, deres herre: Tror du David hedrer din far ved å sende trøstere til deg? Har han ikke sendt sine tjenere for å utforske byen og spionere på den, slik at han kan overvinne den?

But the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Does it seem to you that David is honouring your father by sending comforters to you? has he not sent his servants to go through the town and make secret observation of it, and overcome it?

4 Da tok Hanun Davids tjenere og barberte halvparten av skjegget deres og kuttet av kjortlene halvt ned; så sendte han dem bort.

So Hanun took David's servants, and after cutting off half the hair on their chins, and cutting off the skirts of their robes up to the middle, he sent them away.

5 Da David fikk høre om dette, sendte han folk for å møte dem, for de følte stor skam. Kongen sa: Bli i Jeriko til skjegget har vokst ut igjen, og kom så tilbake.

When David had news of it, he sent men out with the purpose of meeting them on their way, for the men were greatly shamed: and the king said, Go to Jericho till your hair is long again, and then come back.

6 Da ammonittene skjønte at de var blitt foraktet av David, sendte de bud til arameerne i Bet-Rehob og Soba og leide tjue tusen fotsoldater av dem, og fra kongen i Maaka leide de tusen mann, og fra Tob tolv tusen.

And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves hated by David, they sent to the Aramaeans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, and got for payment twenty thousand footmen, and they got from the king of Maacah a thousand men, and from Tob twelve thousand.

7 Da David hørte om dette, sendte han Joab og hele hæren med de beste krigerne.

And hearing of this, David sent Joab and all the army and the best fighting-men.

8 Ammonittene rykket ut og stilte seg opp ved byporten, mens arameerne fra Soba og Rehob og mennene fra Tob og Maaka stod alene i marken.

And the children of Ammon came out and put their forces in position at the way into the town: and the Aramaeans of Zobah and of Rehob, with the men of Tob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.

9 Da Joab så at han hadde fiender foran og bak seg, valgte han ut de beste mennene i Israel og stilte dem opp mot arameerne.

Now when Joab saw that their forces were in position against him in front and at his back, he took the best of the men of Israel and put them in line against the Aramaeans;

10 Resten av folket satte han opp mot ammonittene, med Abisjai, hans bror, som leder.

And the rest of the people he put in position against the children of Ammon, with Abishai, his brother, at their head.

11 Han sa: Hvis arameerne blir for sterke for meg, skal du komme og hjelpe meg. Men hvis ammonittene blir for sterke for deg, vil jeg komme og hjelpe deg.

And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then you are to come to my help; but if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help.

12 Vær modige og sterke for vårt folk og for vår Guds byer, og la Herren gjøre det som er godt i hans øyne.

Take heart, and let us be strong for our people and for the towns of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.

13 Joab og folket med ham rykket frem for å kjempe mot arameerne, som flyktet for ham.

Then Joab and the people with him went forward to the fight against the Aramaeans, and they went in flight before him.

14 Da ammonittene så at arameerne flyktet, flyktet de også for Abisjai og trakk seg tilbake til byen. Så vendte Joab tilbake fra kampen mot ammonittene og dro til Jerusalem.

And when the children of Ammon saw the flight of the Aramaeans, they themselves went in flight from Abishai, and came into the town. So Joab went back from fighting the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

15 Da arameerne så at de var slått av Israel, samlet de seg igjen.

And when the Aramaeans saw that Israel had overcome them, they got themselves together.

16 Hadadeser sendte bud etter arameerne som var på den andre siden av elven, og de kom til Helam, med Sjobak, hærføreren til Hadadeser, i spissen.

And Hadadezer sent for the Aramaeans who were on the other side of the River: and they came to Helam, with Shobach, the captain of Hadadezer's army, at their head.

17 Da David fikk vite dette, samlet han hele Israel og krysset Jordan og kom til Helam. Arameerne stilte seg opp mot David og angrep ham.

And word of this was given to David: and he got all Israel together and went over Jordan and came to Helam. And the Aramaeans put their forces in position against David, and made an attack on him.

18 Arameerne flyktet for Israel; David drepte syv hundre stridsvogner og førti tusen fotsoldater, og Sjobak, hærføreren, ble drept der.

And the Aramaeans went in flight before Israel; and David put to the sword the men of seven hundred Aramaean war-carriages and forty thousand footmen, and Shobach, the captain of the army, was wounded, and came to his death there.

19 Alle kongene som hadde tjent Hadadeser, så at de var blitt overvunnet av Israel. De sluttet fred med Israel og ble deres tjenere. Etter dette våget ikke arameerne å hjelpe ammonittene mer.

And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they were overcome by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their servants. So the Aramaeans, in fear, gave no more help to the children of Ammon.