Now David’s soldiers ¹  and Joab were coming back from a raid, bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, for David ²  had sent him away and he had left in peace.

he stood his ground ¹  and fought the Philistines until his hand grew so tired that it ²  seemed stuck to his sword. The Lord gave a great victory on that day. When the army returned to him, the only thing left to do was to plunder the corpses.

David took the crown from the head of their king ¹  and wore it ²  (its weight was a talent ³  of gold and it was set with precious stones). He took a large amount of plunder from the city.

Now the Philistines had come and raided ¹  the Valley of Rephaim.

He ¹  leads ²  counselors away stripped ³  and makes judges ⁴  into fools. ⁵ 

He leads priests away stripped ¹  and overthrows ²  the potentates. ³ 

I rejoice in your instructions, like one who finds much plunder. ¹ 

For he says: “By my strong hand I have accomplished this, by my strategy that I devised. I invaded the territory of nations, ¹  and looted their storehouses. Like a mighty conqueror, ²  I brought down rulers. ³ 

The destroyer is as good as dead, ¹  you who have not been destroyed! The deceitful one is as good as dead, ²  the one whom others have not deceived! When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed; when you finish ³  deceiving, others will deceive you!

Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim, ‘Oh, the ruin and great destruction!’

therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, and to the desolate ruins and the abandoned cities that have become prey and an object of derision to the rest of the nations round about –

therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Surely I have spoken in the fire of my zeal against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who with great joy and utter contempt have made my land their property and prey, because of its pasture.’

But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, ¹  and they will enjoy ²  the land that you have despised.

They seized the Hagrites’ ¹  animals, including 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also took captive 100,000 people.

When ¹  you lie down among the sheepfolds, ²  the wings of the dove are covered with silver and with glittering gold. ³ 

to keep the poor from getting fair treatment, and to deprive ¹  the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own, and loot what belongs to orphans. ² 

I see ¹  one destruction after another taking place, so that the whole land lies in ruins. I see our ²  tents suddenly destroyed, their ³  curtains torn down in a mere instant. ⁴ 

A destructive army ¹  will come marching over the hilltops in the desert. For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon ²  against ³  everyone from one end of the land to the other. No one will be safe. ⁴ 

Let cries of terror be heard in their houses when you send bands of raiders unexpectedly to plunder them. ¹  For they have virtually dug a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for me to step into.

For the time has come to destroy all the Philistines. The time has come to destroy all the help that remains for Tyre ¹  and Sidon. ²  For I, the Lord, will ³  destroy the Philistines, that remnant that came from the island of Crete. ⁴