Immerse: Chronicles Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 47
1C
| 19:9–20:4
C hronicles – E Z R A – N E H E M I A H
35
fight them. The Ammonite troops came out and drew up their battle lines
at the entrance of the city, while the other kings positioned themselves to
fight in the open fields.
When Joab saw that he would have to fight on both the front and the
rear, he chose some of Israel’s elite troops and placed them under his personal command to fight the Arameans in the fields. He left the rest of the
army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the
Ammonites. “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and
help me,” Joab told his brother. “And if the Ammonites are too strong for
you, I will help you. Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and
the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”
When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away.
And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they also ran from
Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem.
The Arameans now realized that they were no match for Israel, so they
sent messengers and summoned additional Aramean troops from the
other side of the Euphrates River. These troops were under the command
of Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s forces.
When David heard what was happening, he mobilized all Israel, crossed
the Jordan River, and positioned his troops in battle formation. Then
David engaged the Arameans in battle, and they fought against him. But
again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David’s forces killed
7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, including Shobach, the commander of their army. When Hadadezer’s allies saw that they had been
defeated by Israel, they surrendered to David and became his subjects.
After that, the Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.
In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, Joab led the
Israelite army in successful attacks against the land of the Ammonites. In
the process he laid siege to the city of Rabbah, attacking and destroying it.
However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
Then David went to Rabbah and removed the crown from the king’s
head, and it was placed on his own head. The crown was made of gold and
set with gems, and he found that it weighed seventy-five pounds. David
took a vast amount of plunder from the city. He also made slaves of the
people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with saws, iron picks, and iron
axes. That is how David dealt with the people of all the Ammonite towns.
Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
After this, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. As they fought,
Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, a descendant of the giants, and so the
Philistines were subdued.
ImmerseChronicles_NLT.indd 35
6/21/2017 10:01:28 AM
