2 Samuel 21
21
David Avenges the Gibeonites
1There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted for three years, so David asked the Lord about it. And the Lord said, “The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.”
2So the king summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites. The people of Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe them out. 3David asked them, “What can I do for you? How can I make amends so that you will bless the Lord’s people again?”
4“Well, money can’t settle this matter between us and the family of Saul,” the Gibeonites replied. “Neither can we demand the life of anyone in Israel.”
“What can I do then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”
5Then they replied, “It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel. 6So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord.#21:6 As in Greek version (see also 21:9); Hebrew reads at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.”
“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.” 7The king spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth,#21:7 Mephibosheth is another name for Merib-baal. who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the Lord. 8But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,#21:8 As in a few Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and Syriac version (see also 1 Sam 18:19); most Hebrew manuscripts read Michal. the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah. 9The men of Gibeon executed them on the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night. 11When David learned what Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12he went to the people of Jabesh-gilead and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. (When the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, the people of Jabesh-gilead stole their bodies from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them.) 13So David obtained the bones of Saul and Jonathan, as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed.
14Then the king ordered that they bury the bones in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father, at the town of Zela in the land of Benjamin. After that, God ended the famine in the land.
Battles against Philistine Giants
15Once again the Philistines were at war with Israel. And when David and his men were in the thick of battle, David became weak and exhausted. 16Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants#21:16a Or a descendant of the Rapha; also in 21:18, 20, 22.; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds,#21:16b Hebrew 300 [shekels] [3.4 kilograms]. and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him. 17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”
18After this, there was another battle against the Philistines at Gob. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.
19During another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair#21:19a As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:5; Hebrew reads son of Jaare-oregim. from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath.#21:19b As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:5; Hebrew reads killed Goliath of Gath. The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam!
20In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man#21:20 As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:6; Hebrew reads a Midianite. with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants. 21But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.#21:21 As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:7; Hebrew reads Shimei, a variant spelling of Shimea.
22These four Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.
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2 Samuel 21: NLT
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2 Samuel 21
21
The Gibeonites Punish Saul’s Family
1During the time David was king, there was a shortage of food that lasted for three years. So David prayed to the Lord.
The Lord answered, “Saul and his family of murderers are the reason for this shortage, because he killed the Gibeonites.” 2(Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites; they were a group of Amorites who were left alive. The Israelites had promised not to hurt the Gibeonites, but Saul had tried to kill them, because he was eager to help the people of Israel and Judah.)
King David called the Gibeonites together and spoke to them. 3He asked, “What can I do for you? How can I make up for the harm done so you can bless the Lord’s people?”
4The Gibeonites said to David, “We cannot demand silver or gold from Saul or his family. And we don’t have the right to kill anyone in Israel.”
Then David asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
5The Gibeonites said, “Saul made plans against us and tried to destroy all our people who are left in the land of Israel. 6So bring seven of his sons to us. Then we will kill them and hang them on stakes in the presence of the Lord at Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, the Lord’s chosen king.”
The king said, “I will give them to you.” 7But the king protected Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the promise he had made to Jonathan in the Lord’s name. 8The king did take Armoni and Mephibosheth, sons of Rizpah and Saul. (Rizpah was the daughter of Aiah.) And the king took the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab. (Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite was the father of Merab’s five sons.) 9David gave these seven sons to the Gibeonites. Then the Gibeonites killed them and hung them on stakes on a hill in the presence of the Lord. All seven sons died together. They were put to death during the first days of the harvest season at the beginning of barley harvest.
10Aiah’s daughter Rizpah took the rough cloth that was worn to show sadness and put it on a rock for herself. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on her sons’ bodies. During the day she did not let the birds of the sky touch her sons’ bodies, and during the night she did not let the wild animals touch them.
11People told David what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s slave woman, was doing. 12Then David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan from the men of Jabesh Gilead. (The Philistines had hung the bodies of Saul and Jonathan in the public square of Beth Shan after they had killed Saul at Gilboa. Later the men of Jabesh Gilead had secretly taken them from there.) 13David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from Gilead. Then the people gathered the bodies of Saul’s seven sons who were hanged on stakes. 14The people buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in Benjamin in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. The people did everything the king commanded.
Then God answered the prayers for the land.
Wars with the Philistines
15Again there was war between the Philistines and Israel. David and his men went out to fight the Philistines, but David became tired. 16Ishbi-Benob, one of the sons of Rapha, had a bronze spearhead weighing about seven and one-half pounds and a new sword. He planned to kill David, 17but Abishai son of Zeruiah killed the Philistine and saved David’s life.
Then David’s men made a promise to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle. If you were killed, Israel would lose its greatest leader.”
18Later, at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another one of the sons of Rapha.
19Later, there was another battle at Gob with the Philistines. Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim from Bethlehem killed Goliath from Gath. His spear was as large as a weaver’s rod.
20At Gath another battle took place. A huge man was there; he had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four fingers and toes in all. This man also was one of the sons of Rapha. 21When he challenged Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.
22These four sons of Rapha from Gath were killed by David and his men.
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