2Sa 21 | ESV | STEP | Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years , year after year . And David sought the face of the Lord . And the Lord said , There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house , because he put the Gibeonites to death .

‏ 2 Samuel 21

David Avenges the Gibeonites

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David ^asought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his 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 people of Israel but ^bof the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless ^cthe heritage 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; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” 5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at ^dGibeah of Saul, ^ethe chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of ^fthe oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8 The king took the two sons of ^gRizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab ^{▼▼Two Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts Michal} the daughter of Saul, whom ⁱshe bore to ^jAdriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9 and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, ^kat the beginning of barley harvest.

10 ^lThen Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. 11 When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, ^mwho had stolen them from the public square of ⁿBeth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. 13 And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. 14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in ^oZela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that ^pGod responded to the plea for the land.

War with the Philistines

15 There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. 16 And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants ^qof the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, ^s“You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench ^tthe lamp of Israel.”

18 ^uAfter this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then ^vSibbecai ^wthe Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants ^xof the giants. 19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and ^yElhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, ^zthe shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ^{▼▼Contrast 1 Chronicles 20:5, which may preserve the original reading} 20 And there was again war at Gath, 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 was descended ^abfrom the giants. 21 And when ^ache taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. 22 These four were descended ^adfrom the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.