21 While David was king, there was a famine in Israel for three years. So David asked the Lord what had caused this trouble. The Lord said, ‘Saul's family is guilty of murder, because Saul killed many of the Gibeonites.’
2 The Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel. They were the only Amorite people who still lived. The Israelites had promised not to kill them. [ a ] But Saul thought that he should kill them. He thought that this would help Israel and Judah to rule their land.
Now King David told the Gibeonites to come to speak with him. 3 He asked them, ‘What can I do to help you? How can I make things right between us? I want you to bring the Lord 's blessing to his people again.’
4 The Gibeonites answered David, ‘We do not want Saul's family to give us money or gold. And it would not be right for us to kill anyone in Israel.’
So David asked them, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
5 They answered the king, ‘You know that Saul tried to destroy us. That man wanted to kill all of our family who were living in Israel. 6 So we want you to give us seven of his male descendants. Then we will kill them. We will hang their bodies at the place where people worship the Lord in Gibeah. That was Saul's town, the man that the Lord had chosen to be king.’
The king said, ‘I will give them to you.’
7 The king did not give Jonathan's son Mephibosheth to them. He was kind to Mephibosheth because of David's promise to Jonathan, Saul's son. David had made that promise in the Lord 's name. 8 Instead, the king took Saul's two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth. Aiah's daughter Rizpah was their mother. He also took the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab. Adriel, the son of Barzillai from Meholath, was their father. 9 He gave them to the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites hanged them on a hill where people worshipped the Lord . All seven of them died together. That happened at the time when the barley harvest was beginning.
10 Aiah's daughter, Rizpah, put sackcloth on a rock and she sat on it. She stayed there to watch her sons' bodies, from the harvest time until the heavy rain came. During that time, she stopped the birds from eating the bodies in the daytime. At night, she kept the wild animals away.
11 They told David what Saul's slave wife, Rizpah, had done. 12 Then David went to fetch the bones of Saul and Saul's son Jonathan from the people at Jabesh Gilead. Their men had secretly taken their bodies from the open place in Beth Shan. The Philistines had killed Saul on Gilboa mountain and they had hung their bodies there. [ b ] 13 Now David brought the bones of Saul and Jonathan back from Jabesh Gilead. He also picked up the bones of the seven men that the Gibeonites had killed.
14 People buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan in the grave of Saul's father, Kish. The grave was in Zela, in land that belonged to Benjamin's tribe. The king had told them everything that they should do. After they had done all these things, God answered their prayers for their country.
15 Now the Philistines had started to attack the Israelites again. David went with his soldiers to fight against the Philistines. He became very tired. 16 A descendant of Rapha who was called Ishbi-Benob said that he would kill David. He had a bronze spear that weighed 3½ kilograms and he had a new sword. 17 But Zeruiah's son Abishai saved David. Abishai knocked down the Philistine and he killed him. So David's men said very strongly, ‘Our king, you must never again come out with us to fight a battle. You are like Israel's light. We do not want your life to finish.’ [ c ]
18 Some time after that, the Israelites fought a battle against the Philistines at Gob. In that battle, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, a descendant of Rapha.
19 In another battle against the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan, the son of Jaare-Oregim from Bethlehem, killed Goliath from Gath. Goliath's spear was very thick and heavy, like a big tree.
20 There was another battle at Gath. Another descendant of Rapha fought against the Israelites there. He was a very large man. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. 21 He shouted to insult the Israelite soldiers. So Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shimeah, killed him.
22 Those four Philistines were descendants of Rapha and they lived in Gath. David and his soldiers killed all of them. [ d ]
21 While David was king, there was a famine that continued for three years. So David prayed to the Lord . And the Lord answered, “Saul and his family of murderers [ a ] are the reason for the famine, because he killed the Gibeonites.” 2 (The Gibeonites were not Israelites. They were a group of Amorites. The Israelites had promised not to hurt them, [ b ] but Saul tried to kill the Gibeonites. He did this because of his strong feelings for the people of Israel and Judah.)
King David called the Gibeonites together and talked to them. 3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you? What can I do to take away Israel’s sin, so that you can bless the Lord ’s people?”
4 The Gibeonites said to David, “There isn’t enough gold and silver for Saul’s family to pay for what they did. But we don’t have the right to kill anyone else in Israel.”
David said, “Well, what can I do for you?”
5 The Gibeonites said to King David, “The person who plotted against us was Saul. He is the one who tried to destroy all our people living in the land of Israel. 6 Give us seven of Saul’s sons. Saul was the Lord ’s chosen king, [ c ] so we will hang his sons in front of the Lord on Mount Gibeah of Saul.”
King David said, “All right, I will give them to you.” 7 But the king protected Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. Jonathan was Saul’s son, and David had made a promise in the Lord ’s name to Jonathan. [ d ] So the king did not let them hurt Mephibosheth. 8 David gave them Armoni and Mephibosheth. [ e ] These were the sons of Saul and Rizpah. Saul also had a daughter named Merab who was married to Adriel son of Barzillai, from Meholah. David took the five sons of Merab and Adriel. 9 David gave these seven men to the Gibeonites who then brought them to Mount Gibeah and hanged them in front of the Lord . Those seven men died together in the spring, during the first days of the barley harvest.
10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took a mourning cloth and put it on the rock. [ f ] That cloth stayed on the rock from the time the harvest began until the rains came. Rizpah watched the bodies day and night. She protected them from the wild birds during the day and the wild animals at night.
11 People told David what Saul’s slave woman Rizpah was doing. 12 Then David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan from the men of Jabesh Gilead. (The men of Jabesh Gilead got these bones after Saul and Jonathan were killed at Gilboa. The Philistines had hanged the bodies of Saul and Jonathan on a wall in Beth Shan. [ g ] But the men of Beth Shan went there and stole the bodies from that public area.) 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from Jabesh Gilead and buried them with the bodies of the seven men who were hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the area of Benjamin, in one of the tunnels in the grave of Saul’s father Kish, as the king commanded. After that God again listened to the prayers of the people in that land.
15 The Philistines started another war with Israel. David and his men went out to fight the Philistines, but David became very tired and weak. 16 Ishbi-Benob was one of the giants. [ h ] His spear weighed over 7 pounds. [ i ] He put on new armor and thought he would be able to kill David. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah killed this giant Philistine and saved David’s life.
Then David’s men made him promise that he would not go out to battle anymore. They said, “If you do, Israel might lose its brightest leader.”
18 Later, there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob. Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another one of the giants.
19 Later, there was another battle at Gob against the Philistines. Elhanan the son of Jaare Oregim from Bethlehem killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath from Gath. [ j ] His spear was as big as a post. [ k ]
20 There was another battle at Gath. There was a very large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He had 24 fingers and toes in all. This man was also one of the giants. 21 This man challenged Israel and made fun of them, but Jonathan killed this man. (This was Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimei.)
22 All four of these men were giants from Gath. They were killed by David and his men.
21 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the Lord . And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto 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 unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
3 Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord ?
4 And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
5 And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
6 Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, 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 the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord : and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
11 And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
13 And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.
14 And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.
15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
16 And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.
17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.
18 And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.
19 And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
20 And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that 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 defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.
22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
21 Now there was ( A ) a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and ( B ) David sought the presence of the Lord . And the Lord said, “ It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and ( C ) the sons of Israel had [ a ] made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to [ b ] kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make amends, so that you will bless ( D ) the inheritance of the Lord ?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “ ( E ) For us it is not a matter of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” Nevertheless David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “ ( F ) The man who destroyed us and who planned [ c ] to eliminate us so that we would not exist within any border of Israel— 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will [ d ] hang them ( G ) before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, ( H ) the chosen of the Lord .” And the king said, “I will give them .”
7 But the king spared ( I ) Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, ( J ) because of the oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of ( K ) Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of [ e ] ( L ) Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the ( M ) Meholathite. 9 Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they [ f ] hanged them on the mountain before the Lord , so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at ( N ) the beginning of barley harvest.
10 ( O ) And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until [ g ] it rained on them from the sky; and ( P ) she [ h ] allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night. 11 When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took ( Q ) the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of ( R ) Beth-shan, ( S ) where the Philistines had hanged them on the day ( T ) the Philistines struck and killed Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been [ i ] hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in ( U ) Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; So they did everything that the king commanded, and after that ( V ) God responded to prayer for the land.
15 Now when ( W ) the Philistines were at war with Israel again, David went down, and his servants with him; and when they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was ( X ) among the descendants of the [ j ] giant, the weight of whose spear was [ k ] three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, [ l ] had strapped on a new sword , and he [ m ] intended to kill David. 17 But ( Y ) Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “ ( Z ) You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish ( AA ) the lamp of Israel.”
18 ( AB ) Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then ( AC ) Sibbecai the Hushathite struck and killed Saph, who was among the descendants of the [ n ] giant. 19 And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite [ o ] killed [ p ] Goliath the Gittite, ( AD ) the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 And there was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born ( AE ) to the [ q ] giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck and killed him. 22 ( AF ) These four were born to the [ r ] giant at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
21 During the reign of David, there was a famine ( A ) for three successive years; so David sought ( B ) the face of the Lord . The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
2 The king summoned the Gibeonites ( C ) and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) 3 David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord ’s inheritance?” ( D )
4 The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.” ( E )
“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.
5 They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, 6 let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed ( F ) before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord ’s chosen ( G ) one.”
So the king said, “I will give them to you.”
7 The king spared Mephibosheth ( H ) son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath ( I ) before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8 But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, ( J ) whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, [ a ] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. ( K ) 9 He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord . All seven of them fell together; they were put to death ( L ) during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning. ( M )
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. ( N ) 11 When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went and took the bones of Saul ( O ) and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. ( P ) (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, ( Q ) where the Philistines had hung ( R ) them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) ( S ) 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.
14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela ( T ) in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, ( U ) God answered prayer ( V ) in behalf of the land. ( W )
15 Once again there was a battle between the Philistines ( Y ) and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. 16 And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels [ b ] and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. 17 But Abishai ( Z ) son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp ( AA ) of Israel will not be extinguished. ( AB ) ”
18 In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai ( AC ) the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.
19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair [ c ] the Bethlehemite killed the brother of [ d ] Goliath the Gittite, ( AD ) who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. ( AE )
20 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 21 When he taunted ( AF ) Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, ( AG ) David’s brother, killed him.
22 These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.
