2 Samuel 21
1 In the days of David they were short of food for three years, year after year; and David went before the Lord for directions. And the Lord said, On Saul and on his family there is blood, because he put the Gibeonites to death.
There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put to death the Gibeonites."
2 Then the king sent for the Gibeonites; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but were the last of the Amorites, to whom the children of Israel had given an oath; but Saul, in his passion for the children of Israel and Judah, had made an attempt on their lives: )
The king called the Gibeonites, and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn to them: and Saul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.)
3 So David said to the Gibeonites, What may I do for you? how am I to make up to you for your wrongs, so that you may give a blessing to the heritage of the Lord?
And David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?"
4 And the Gibeonites said to him, It is not a question of silver and gold between us and Saul or his family; and it is not in our power to put to death any man in Israel. And he said, Say, then, what am I to do for you?
The Gibeonites said to him, "It is no matter of silver or gold between us and Saul, or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel." He said, "Whatever you say, that will I do for you."
5 And they said to the king, As for the man by whom we were wasted, and who made designs against us to have us completely cut off from the land of Israel,
They said to the king, "The man who consumed us, and who devised against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his family be given up to us and we will put an end to them by hanging them before the Lord in Gibeon, on the hill of the Lord. And the king said, I will give them.
let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD." The king said, "I will give them."
7 But the king did not give up Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the Lord's oath made between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul.
But the king spared Mippibaal, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8 But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Saul to whom Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, had given birth; and the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, whose father was Adriel, the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mippibaal; and the five sons of Merob the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
9 And he gave them up to the Gibeonites, and they put them to death, hanging them on the mountain before the Lord; all seven came to their end together in the first days of the grain-cutting, at the start of the cutting of the barley.
He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, and all seven of them fell together. They were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.
10 And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took haircloth, placing it on the rock as a bed for herself, from the start of the grain-cutting till rain came down on them from heaven; and she did not let the birds of the air come near them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured on them from the sky. She allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.
11 And news was given to David of what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, one of Saul's wives, had done.
It was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the secondary wife of Saul, had done.
12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had taken them away secretly from the public place of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had put them, hanging up the bodies there on the day when they put Saul to death in Gilboa:
David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa;
13 And he took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from that place; and they got together the bones of those who had been put to death by hanging.
and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son: and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.
14 And they put them with the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the resting-place of Kish, his father, in Zela in the country of Benjamin; they did all the king had given them orders to do. And after that, God gave ear to their prayers for the land.
They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. After that God was entreated for the land.
15 And the Philistines went to war again with Israel; and David went down with his people, and while they were at Gob they had a fight with the Philistines:
The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines, and David became exhausted.
16 And there came against David one of the offspring of the Rephaim, whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, and having a new sword, he made an attempt to put David to death.
And Dodo son of Joash, one of the descendants of the Raphah, captured him. His spear weighed three hundred bronze shekels, and he was girded with a new sword, and he thought he could kill David.
17 But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, came to his help, and, turning on the Philistine, gave him his death-blow. Then David's men took an oath, and said, Never again are you to go out with us to the fight, so that you may not put out the light of Israel.
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore, saying, "You must not go out to battle with us again, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel."
18 Now after this there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Sibbecai the Hushathite put to death Saph, one of the offspring of the Rephaim.
It came to pass after this, that there was again war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of the Raphah.
19 And again there was war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan, the son of Jair the Beth-lehemite, put to death Goliath the Gittite, the stem of whose spear was like a cloth-worker's rod.
There was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
20 And again there was war at Gath, where there was a very tall man, who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on his hands and six toes on his feet; he was one of the offspring of the Rephaim.
There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
21 And when he was purposing to put shame on Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimei, David's brother, put him to death.
When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah, David's brother, killed him.
22 These four were of the offspring of the Rephaim in Gath; and they came to their end by the hands of David and his servants.
These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
