CHAPTER 20
In the spring,
at the time when
kings
march out to war,
Joab
led out
the army
and laid waste
to the land
of the Ammonites.
He came
to Rabbah
and besieged it,
but David
remained
in Jerusalem.
Joab
attacked
Rabbah
and demolished it.
Then David
took
the crown
from
the head
of their king.
It was found
to weigh
a talent
of gold
and was set with precious
stones,
and it was
placed on
David’s
head.
And David took
a great amount
of plunder
from the city.
David brought out
the people
who were
there
and put them to work
with saws,
iron
picks,
and axes.
And he
did
the same
to all
the Ammonite
cities.
Then David
and all
his troops
returned
to Jerusalem.
Some time later,
war
broke out
with
the Philistines
at Gezer.
At that time
Sibbecai
the Hushathite
killed
Sippai,
a descendant
of the Rephaim,
and the Philistines were subdued.
Once again
there was
a battle
with
the Philistines,
and Elhanan
son
of Jair
killed
Lahmi
the brother
of Goliath
the Gittite,
the shaft
of whose spear
was like a weaver’s
beam.
And there was
still another
battle
at Gath,
where there was
a man
of great stature
with six
fingers on each hand
and six toes on each foot—
twenty-four in all.
He
too
was descended
from Rapha,