When Joab saw that there was a battle line both in front of and behind him, he chose some of the best fighters of Israel and lined them up against the Arameans;
Listen! the rumble on the mountains: that of an immense throng! Listen! the noise of kingdoms, nations assembled! The Lord of hosts is mustering an army for battle.
Call archers out against Babylon, all who bend the bow; Encamp around them; let no one escape. Repay them for their deeds; what they have done, do to them, For they insulted the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
Bow and javelin they wield, cruel and pitiless are they; They sound like the roaring sea, as they ride forth on horses, Each in place for battle against you, daughter Babylon.
Whoever happened upon them devoured them; their enemies said, “We are not guilty, Because they sinned against the Lord, the abode of justice, the hope of their ancestors.”
See, I am stirring up against Babylon a band of great nations from the land of the north; They are arrayed against her, from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior who never returns empty-handed.
Raise a signal in the land, sound the trumpet among the nations; Dedicate nations for war against her, summon against her the kingdoms: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; Appoint a recruiting officer against her, dispatch horses like bristling locusts.
For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover you, and the destruction of the animals shall terrify you; Because of the shedding of human blood, and violence done to the land, to the city and to all who live in it.
Because you plundered many nations, the remaining peoples shall plunder you; Because of the shedding of human blood, and violence done to the land, to the city and to all who live in it.
Early the next morning, having left the flock with a shepherd, David packed up and set out, as Jesse had commanded him. He reached the barricade of the camp just as the army, on their way to the battleground, were shouting their battle cry.