2Samuel 21

David Avenges the Gibeonites

21There 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."H7458H3117H1732H7969H8141H8141H310H8141H1732H1245H6440H3068H3068H559H7586H1818H1004H4191H13932So 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.H4428H7121H1393H559H1393H1121H3478H3499H567H1121H3478H7650H7586H1245H5221H7065H1121H3478H30633David asked them, "What can I do for you? How can I make amends so that you will bless the LORD's people again?"H1732H559H1393H6213H3722H1288H5159H30684"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."H1393H559H3701H2091H5973H7586H1004H4191H376H3478H559H559H62135Then they replied, "It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel.H559H4428H376H3615H1819H8045H3320H1366H34786So 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

." "All right," the king said, "I will do it."H7651H582H1121H5414H3363H3068H1390H7586H3068H972H4428H559H54147The king spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth

, who was Saul's grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the LORD.H4428H2550H4648H1121H3083H1121H7586H3068H7621H1732H3083H1121H75868But 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

, the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah.H4428H3947H8147H1121H7532H1323H345H3205H7586H764H4648H2568H1121H4324H1323H7586H3205H5741H1121H1271H42599The 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.H5414H3027H1393H3363H2022H6440H3068H5307H7651H7659H3162H4191H3117H7105H7223H8462H8184H710510Then 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.H7532H1323H345H3947H8242H5186H6697H8462H7105H4325H5413H8064H5414H5775H8064H5117H3119H2416H7704H391511When David learned what Rizpah, Saul's concubine, had done,H5046H1732H7532H1323H345H6370H7586H621312he 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.)H1732H3212H3947H6106H7586H6106H3083H1121H1167H3003H1568H1589H7339H1052H6430H8511H8518H3117H6430H5221H7586H153313So David obtained the bones of Saul and Jonathan, as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed.H5927H6106H7586H6106H3083H1121H622H6106H336314Then 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.H6106H7586H3083H1121H6912H776H1144H6762H6913H7027H1H6213H4428H6680H310H430H6279H776

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.H6430H4421H3478H1732H3381H5650H3898H6430H1732H577416Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants

; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds, and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him.H3430H3211H7497H4948H7013H7969H3967H5178H4948H2296H2319H559H5221H173217But 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?"H52H1121H6870H5826H5221H6430H4191H582H1732H7650H559H3318H4421H3518H5216H347818After this, there was another battle against the Philistines at Gob. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.H310H4421H6430H1359H5444H2843H5221H5593H3211H749719During another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair

from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver's beam!H4421H1359H6430H445H1121H3296H1022H5221H1555H1663H6086H2595H707H450020In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants.H4421H1661H376H4067H4055H3027H8337H676H7272H8337H676H702H6242H4557H3205H749721But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shimea

.H2778H3478H3083H1121H8092H251H1732H522122These four Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.H702H3205H7497H1661H5307H3027H1732H3027H5650