2Sa 9 | EE | STEP | David asked, ‘Does anyone know if there is anyone still alive from Saul’s family?’ I want to be kind to them because Jonathan was my friend.

2 Samuel 9

David helps Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth

1 David asked, ‘Does anyone know if there is anyone still alive from Saul’s family?’ I want to be kind to them because Jonathan was my friend.

2 Saul’s family had a servant called Ziba. So they asked him to come to see David. The king said to him, ‘Are you Ziba?’

‘I am your servant’, he replied.

3 The king asked him, ‘Is there anyone still alive from Saul’s family? I want to be kind to them as God is kind.’

Ziba replied, ‘There is still a son of Jonathan. He has two bad feet, so he cannot walk well.’ ^{▼▼9:3 Jonathan was the son of King Saul. David and Jonathan had been very good friends (1 Samuel 18:1-4). David had promised to show love to Jonathan’s family, and now David remembered this promise.}

4 ‘Where is he?’ the king asked.

Ziba answered, ‘He lives in the house of Ammiel’s son Machir in Lo-debar.’

5 So David sent servants to bring him from the house of Ammiel’s son Machir in Lo-debar.

6 Then Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, grandson of Saul, came to David. He lay on the floor. He was honouring David.

David said, ‘Mephibosheth!’

‘I am your servant’, he replied.

7 ‘Do not be afraid,’ David said to him, ‘because I want to be kind to you. I want to be kind to you because your father Jonathan was my friend. I will give you back all Saul’s land and I want you to eat here with me always.’

8 Mephibosheth bent his head very low. He said, ‘I am not as important as a dead dog. So I do not know why you should be so good to me!’

Ziba says that he will work for Mephibosheth

9 Then David sent men to fetch Saul’s servant Ziba. He said to him, ‘I have given everything that was Saul’s or his family’s to your master’s grandson. 10 You and your sons and your servants must work on the land for him. You must get the food that grows there. And you must bring it to him. Then he will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will always eat at my table.’ (Also, Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants.)

11 Then Ziba said to the king, ‘I am your servant. I will do as my lord the king has said.’ So Mephibosheth ate food at the king’s table. He was like the king’s sons.

12 Mephibosheth had a young son called Mica. And Ziba and all his family and servants became servants to Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth came to live in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king’s table. He had two bad feet, so he could not walk well.