2 Samuel 21

There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. David sought the face of the LORD, and the LORD said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn an oath to them, but Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for Israel and Judah. David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement, so that you may bless the LORD’s inheritance?” The Gibeonites said to him, “Our dispute with Saul and his house is not a matter of silver or gold, nor is it for us to put anyone in Israel to death.” He said, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” They said to the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us so that we would be destroyed, with no place remaining for us in all the territory of Israel, let seven men from among his descendants be handed over to us. We will hang them up before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the LORD’s chosen one.” The king said, “I will hand them over.” But the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul. The king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she had borne to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Michal daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who hung them up on the hill before the LORD. All seven fell together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest. Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them from heaven. She did not allow the birds of the heavens to settle on them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul’s concubine, had done. David went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead. They had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul at Gilboa. He brought up the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hung up. They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin, at Zela, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. They did all that the king commanded, and after that God answered the plea for the land. War broke out again between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his servants and fought the Philistines, and David grew weary. Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed over seven pounds, was armed with a new sword. He intended to strike David down. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck down the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out to battle with us, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.” After this there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha. There was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite struck down Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam. There was another battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha. He defied Israel, and Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, struck him down. These four were descended from Rapha in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Rights and attribution