< 2 Samuel 21 >

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three consecutive years, so David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, "There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he murdered the Gibeonites."
And a famine occurred, during the days of David, for three years continuously. And David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: “This is because of Saul, and his house of bloodshed. For he killed the Gibeonites.”
2 So the king summoned 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, but Saul sought to exterminate them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.)
Therefore, the king, calling for the Gibeonites, spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but were the remnant of the Amorites. And the sons of Israel had sworn an oath to them, but Saul wished to strike them in zeal, as if on behalf of the sons of Israel and Judah.
3 And David said to the Gibeonites, "What can I do for you? And how can I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?"
Therefore, David said to the Gibeonites: “What shall I do for you? And what shall be your satisfaction, so that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?”
4 The Gibeonites said to him, "It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house, nor is it our place to put anyone to death in Israel." Then he said, "What do you want? For I will do it for you."
And the Gibeonites said to him: “There is no quarrel for us over silver or gold, but against Saul and against his house. And we do not desire that any man of Israel be put to death.” The king said to them, “Then what do you wish that I should do for you?”
5 So they said to the king, "The man who opposed us and persecuted us, who meant to eradicate us from having a place anywhere in the territory of Israel,
And they said to the king: “The man who unjustly afflicted and oppressed us, we ought to destroy in such manner that not even one of his stock may be left behind in all the parts of Israel.
6 let seven of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the LORD at Gibeon on the mountain of the LORD." And the king replied, "I will do it."
Let seven men from his sons be given to us, so that we may crucify them to the Lord in Gibeon of Saul, formerly the chosen place of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
7 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.
But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord which had been made between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul.
8 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.
And so the king took the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she conceived of Adriel, the son of Barzillai, who was from Meholath,
9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and all seven of them fell together. And they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.
and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites. And they crucified them on a hill in the sight of the Lord. And these seven fell together in the first days of the harvest, when the barley is beginning to be reaped.
10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on a rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky. And she did not allow the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the wild animals by night.
Then Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, taking a haircloth, spread it under herself on a rock, from the beginning of the harvest until water dropped from heaven upon them. And she did not permit the birds to tear them by day, nor the beasts by night.
11 It was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the secondary wife of Saul, had done.
And it was reported to David what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
12 Then David went and obtained 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 Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them on the day that the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa;
And David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had suspended them after they had slain Saul at Gilboa.
13 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.
And he brought the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from there. And they collected the bones of those who had been crucified.
14 And he buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they performed all that the king commanded. After that God responded to prayers for the land.
And they buried them with the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan, in the land of Benjamin, to the side of the sepulcher of his father Kish. And they did all that the king had instructed. And after these things, God showed favor again to the land.
15 The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. Now David became exhausted,
Then the Philistines again undertook a battle against Israel. And David descended, and his servants with him, and they fought against the Philistines. But when David grew faint,
16 and Dodo son of Joash, 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.
Ishbibenob, who was of the ancestry of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed three hundred ounces, who had been girded with a new sword, strove to strike down David.
17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David took an oath, saying, "You must not go out to battle with us again, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel."
And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, defended him, and striking the Philistine, he killed him. Then David’s men swore an oath to him, saying, “You shall no longer go out to war with us, lest you extinguish the lamp of Israel.”
18 Now it came to pass after this that there was another battle with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of the Raphah.
Also, a second war occurred in Gob against the Philistines. Then Sibbecai from Hushah struck down Saph, from the stock of Arapha, of the ancestry of the giants.
19 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.
Then there was a third war in Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus, a son of the forest, a weaver from Bethlehem, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like the beam used by a cloth maker.
20 There was another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had on six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty four in number, and he also was a descendant of Raphah.
A fourth battle was in Gath. In that place, there was a lofty man, who had six digits on each hand and each foot, that is, twenty-four in all, and he was from the origins of Arapha.
21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah, David's brother, killed him.
And he blasphemed Israel. So Jonathan, the son of Shimei, the brother of David, struck him down.
22 These four were descendants of Raphah in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
These four men were born of Arapha in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and his servants.

< 2 Samuel 21 >