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1 Samuel 11 1-1 Samuel 11 3
Nahash was the king of Ammon. He and his army went up to Jabesh Gilead. They surrounded it and got ready to attack it. All the men of Jabesh spoke to Nahash. They said,“ Make a peace treaty with us. Then we’ll be under your control.”Nahash, the king of Ammon, replied,“ I will make a peace treaty with you. But I’ll do it only on one condition. You must let me put out the right eye of every one of you. I want to bring shame on the whole nation of Israel.”The elders of Jabesh said to him,“ Give us seven days to report back to you. We’ll send messengers all through Israel. If no one comes to save us, we’ll hand ourselves over to you.”
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Judges 10:7-9
So the Lord became very angry with them. He handed them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites.That year they broke Israel’s power completely. They treated the Israelites badly for 18 years. The people who did this lived east of the Jordan River. They lived in Gilead. That was the land of the Amorites.The Ammonites also went across the Jordan. They crossed over to fight against the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim. Israel was suffering terribly.
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1 Chronicles 19 1-1 Chronicles 19 19
Nahash was king of Ammon. After he died, his son became the next king after him.David thought,“ I’m going to be kind to Hanun. His father Nahash was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to Hanun. He wanted them to tell Hanun how sad he was that Hanun’s father had died. David’s messengers went to the land of Ammon. They told Hanun how sad David was.The Ammonite commanders spoke to Hanun. They said,“ David has sent messengers to tell you he is sad. They say he wants to honor your father. But the real reason they’ve come is to look the land over. They want to destroy it.”So Hanun grabbed David’s messengers. He shaved them. He cut off their clothes just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away.Someone came and told David what had happened to his men. So David sent messengers to them because they were filled with shame. King David said to them,“ Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out again. Then come back here.”The Ammonites realized that what they had done had made David very angry with them. So Hanun and the Ammonites got 38 tons of silver. They used it to hire chariots and chariot riders from Aram Naharaim, Aram Maakah and Zobah.They hired 32,000 chariots and riders. They also hired the king of Maakah and his troops. All of them came out and camped near Medeba. At the same time the Ammonites brought their troops together from their towns. Then they marched out to fight.David heard about it. So he sent Joab out with the entire army of Israel’s fighting men.The Ammonites marched out. They took up their battle positions at the entrance to their city. The kings who came to help them gathered their troops together in the open country.Joab saw that there were lines of soldiers in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best troops in Israel. He sent them to march out against the Arameans.He put the rest of the men under the command of his brother Abishai. They were sent to march out against the Ammonites.Joab said,“ Suppose the Arameans are too strong for me. Then you must come and help me. But suppose the Ammonites are too strong for you. Then I’ll come and help you.Be strong. Let’s be brave as we fight for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is best.”Then Joab and the troops with him marched out to attack the Arameans. They ran away from him.The Ammonites realized that the Arameans were running away. So they also ran away from Joab’s brother Abishai. They went inside the city. Then Joab went back to Jerusalem.The Arameans saw that they had been driven away by Israel. So they sent messengers to get some Arameans from east of the Euphrates River. The Arameans were under the command of Shophak. He was the commander of Hadadezer’s army.David was told about it. So he gathered together the whole army of Israel. They went across the Jordan River. David marched out against the Arameans. He lined up his soldiers opposite them. He lined them up to meet the Arameans in battle. The Arameans began to fight against him.But then they ran away from Israel. David killed 7,000 of their chariot riders. He killed 40,000 of their soldiers who were on foot. He also killed Shophak, the commander of their army.The people who were under the rule of Hadadezer saw that Israel had won the battle over them. So they made a peace treaty with David. They were brought under his rule. After that, the Arameans wouldn’t help the Ammonites anymore.
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Judges 11:12-28
Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon. They asked,“ What do you have against me? Why have you attacked my country?”The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers. He said,“ Israel came up out of Egypt. At that time they took my land away. They took all the land between the Arnon River and the Jabbok River. It reached all the way to the Jordan River. Now give it back. Then there will be peace.”Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of Ammon.They said,“ Here is what Jephthah says to you. Israel didn’t take the land of Moab. They didn’t take the land of Ammon.When Israel came up out of Egypt, they went through the desert to the Red Sea. From there they went on to Kadesh.Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom. They said,‘ Please let us go through your country.’ But the king of Edom wouldn’t listen to them. They sent the same message to the king of Moab. But he refused too. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.“ Next, they traveled through the desert. They traveled along the borders of the lands of Edom and Moab. They passed along the east side of the country of Moab. They camped on the other side of the Arnon River. They didn’t enter the territory of Moab. The Arnon River was Moab’s border.“ Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon. He was the king of the Amorites. He ruled in Heshbon. They said to him,‘ Let us pass through your country to our own land.’But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered all his troops together. They camped at Jahaz. And they fought against Israel.“ Then the Lord, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and his whole army over to Israel. Israel won the battle over them. Amorites were living in the country at that time. And Israel took over all their land.Israel captured all the land between the Arnon River and the Jabbok River. It reached from the desert all the way to the Jordan River.“ The Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out to make room for his people. So what right do you have to take it over?You will take what your god Chemosh gives you, won’t you? In the same way, we will take over what the Lord our God has given us.Are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor? Balak was the king of Moab. Did he ever argue with Israel? Did he ever fight against them?For 300 years Israel has been living in Heshbon and Aroer. They have been living in the settlements around those cities. They have also been living in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why didn’t you take those places back during that time?I haven’t done anything wrong to you. But you are doing something wrong to me. You have gone to war against me. The Lord is the Judge. So let him decide our case today. Let him settle matters between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”But the king of Ammon didn’t pay any attention to the message Jephthah sent him.
