^aNow after this it came about that David ¹defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ²control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

2 ^aHe ¹defeated ^bMoab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And ^cthe Moabites became servants to David, ^dbringing tribute.

3 Then David ¹defeated ^aHadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^bhe went to restore his ²rule at the ³River. 4 David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^ahamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots. 5 When ^athe Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David ¹killed 22,000 Arameans. 6 Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and ^athe Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^bthe LORD helped David wherever he went. 7 David took the shields of gold which were ¹carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From ¹Betah and from ^aBerothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

9 Now when Toi king of ^aHamath heard that David had ¹defeated all the army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent ¹Joram his son to King David to ²greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and ³defeated him; for Hadadezer ⁴had been at war with Toi. And ⁵Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze. 11 King David also ^adedicated these to the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued: 12 from ¹Aram and ^aMoab and ^bthe sons of Ammon and ^cthe Philistines and ^dAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

13 So ^aDavid made a name for himself when he returned from ¹killing 18,000 ²Arameans in ^bthe Valley of Salt. 14 He put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and ^aall the Edomites became servants to David. And ^bthe LORD helped David wherever he went.

15 So David reigned over all Israel; and David ¹administered justice and righteousness for all his people. 16 ^aJoab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^bJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^crecorder. 17 ^aZadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^bpriests, and Seraiah was ^csecretary. 18 ^aBenaiah the son of Jehoiada ¹was over the ^bCherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were ^2cchief ministers.