In the spring, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, his mercenaries, and Israel’s army ⌞to war⌟. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem.
Jeriah was the head of Hebron’s descendants. In the fortieth year of David’s reign, the ancestry of Hebron’s descendants was researched family by family. Warriors from these families were found at Jazer in Gilead.
The fields of Heshbon and the vineyards of Sibmah wither. Rulers of the nations have cut off their grapes. The grapevines ⌞once⌟ reached as far as Jazer and strayed out into the desert. Their shoots had spread out over the sea.
I will cry for you as Jazer cries. I will cry for you, grapevines of Sibmah. Your branches ⌞once⌟ spread as far as the sea, and they reached as far as the sea of Jazer. The destroyer will destroy your ripened fruits and your grapes.
Mark the road that the king and his sword can take to the Ammonite city of Rabbah, and mark the road that leads to Judah and the fortified city of Jerusalem.
I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah and burn down its palaces while troops are shouting on the day of battle and winds are howling on the day of the storm.
When you come near the Ammonites, don’t bother them or start a fight with them. I’m not giving you any of the land that I have already given to the descendants of Lot as their property.”
(Of the Rephaim only King Og of Bashan was left. His bed was made of iron and was more than 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. It is still in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)