11. Joab said to Abishai, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, come help me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you.
12. Be strong. Let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he decides is right.”
13. Then Joab and his men attacked the Arameans, and they ran away.
14. The Ammonites saw that the Arameans were running away. So they ran away from Abishai and went back to their city. So Joab returned from the battle with the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
15. The Arameans saw that the Israelites had defeated them. So they came together into one big army.
16. Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans who lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. These Arameans went to Helam. Their leader was Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army.
17. When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites together. They crossed over the Jordan River and went to Helam. There the Arameans prepared for battle and attacked.
18. But David defeated the Arameans, and they ran away from the Israelites. David killed 700 Aramean chariot drivers and 40,000 Aramean horsemen. He also killed Shobach, the commander of the Aramean army.
19. The kings who served Hadadezer saw that the Israelites had defeated them. So they made peace with the Israelites and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.