2Sa 21 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years , year after year ; and 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 Samuel 21

Gibeonite’s Revenge

1 Now there was ^aa famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and ^bDavid 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 ^cthe sons of Israel had ^{▼▼Lit sworn to}made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to ^{▼▼Lit strike}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 ^fthe inheritance of the Lord?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “ ^gFor 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, “ ^hThe man who destroyed us and who planned ^{▼▼Lit against us that we are eliminated from}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 ^{▼▼Or expose them}hang them ^kbefore the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, ^lthe chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared ^mMephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, ⁿbecause 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 ^oRizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of ^{▼▼As in some ancient versions and two Heb mss; MT Michal
,} ^qMerab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the ^rMeholathite. 9 Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they ^{▼▼Or exposed them}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 ^tthe beginning of barley harvest.

10 ^uAnd Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until ^{▼▼Lit water gushed forth}it rained on them from the sky; and ^wshe ^{▼▼Lit gave}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 ^ythe 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 ^zBeth-shan, ^aawhere the Philistines had hanged them on the day ^abthe 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 ^{▼▼Or exposed}hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in ^adZela, in the grave of his father Kish; So they did everything that the king commanded, and after that ^aeGod responded to prayer for the land.

15 Now when ^afthe 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 ^agamong the descendants of the ^{▼▼Heb Raphah}giant, the weight of whose spear was ^{▼▼About 9 lb. or 4 kg}three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, ^{▼▼Lit and he had strapped}had strapped on a new sword, and he ^{▼▼Lit said}intended to kill David. 17 But ^alAbishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “ ^amYou shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish ^anthe lamp of Israel.”

18 ^aoNow it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then ^apSibbecai the Hushathite struck and killed Saph, who was among the descendants of the ^{▼▼Heb Raphah}giant. 19 And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite ^{▼▼Lit struck}killed ^{▼▼In 1 Chr 20:5, Lahmi, the brother of Goliath}Goliath the Gittite, ^atthe 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 ^auto the ^{▼▼Heb Raphah}giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck and killed him. 22 ^awThese four were born to the ^{▼▼Heb Raphah}giant at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.