1And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the king of the Bene-Ammon dieth, and Hanun his son reigneth in his stead,
2and David saith, `I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did with me kindness;` and David sendeth to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David come in to the land of the Bene-Ammon.
3And the heads of the Bene-Ammon say unto Hanun their lord, `Is David honouring thy father in thine eyes because he hath sent to thee comforters? for to search the city, and to spy it, and to overthrow it, hath not David sent his servants unto thee?`
4And Hanun taketh the servants of David, and shaveth off the half of their beard, and cutteth off their long robes in the midst -- unto their buttocks, and sendeth them away;
5and they declare [it] to David, and he sendeth to meet them, for the men have been greatly ashamed, and the king saith, `Abide in Jericho till your beard doth spring up -- then ye have returned.`
6And the Bene-Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the Bene-Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah [with] a thousand men, and Ish-Tob [with] twelve thousand men;
7and David heareth, and sendeth Joab, and all the host -- the mighty men.