2 Samuel 21

21 ¹ Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; so David asked our Father about it. And our Father said, "There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death."

² So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (The Gibeonites were not Israelites but a remnant of the Amorites; Israel had sworn to spare them, yet Saul, passionate for Israel and Judah, had sought to kill them.) ³ David asked the Gibeonites, "What can I do for you? How can I make atonement so you'll bless our Father's people?"

⁴ The Gibeonites said, "It is not silver or gold between us and Saul or his house, and we have no right to kill anyone in Israel." David said, "Whatever you say, I will do for you."

⁵ They said to the king, "The man who wiped us out and plotted our destruction, so we'd have no place left anywhere in Israel's territory, ⁶ let seven men of his descendants be handed over to us, and we will hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the LORD's chosen one." The king said, "I will hand them over."

⁷ But the king spared Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, because of the oath before our Father between David and Jonathan, Saul's son. ⁸ But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons Rizpah daughter of Aiah bore to Saul, along with the five sons Merab daughter of Saul bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. ⁹ He handed them to the Gibeonites, who hanged them on the mountain before our Father; the seven fell together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, as the barley harvest began.

¹⁰ Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it on the rock, from the start of harvest until rain fell on the bodies; by day she kept the birds off them, by night the wild animals. ^a a v10 Sackcloth was rough, dark cloth worn as a visible sign of mourning and grief. ¹¹ When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Saul's concubine, had done, ¹² He went to the men of Jabesh-gilead and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan, which they had secretly removed from Beth-shan's square, where the Philistines hung them the day they killed Saul at Gilboa. ¹³ He brought up Saul's bones and his son Jonathan's bones from there, and they gathered the bones of the hanged men. ¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in Benjamin, in the tomb of his father Kish, and did all the king commanded. After that, our Father answered the prayers for the land.

David's Warriors Defeat Philistine Giants

¹⁵ Again there was war between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his servants to fight the Philistines, and he grew tired. ¹⁶ Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha whose bronze spearhead weighed about seven and a half pounds and who wore a new sword, meant to kill David. ^b b v16 Rapha was the ancestor of a clan of unusually large warriors — the giants who fought among the Philistines. ¹⁷ But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's aid, struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, "Never again go out with us to battle, or you'll put out the lamp of Israel."

¹⁸ Later there was another war with the Philistines at Gob. Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha. ¹⁹ There was another war with the Philistines at Gob, where Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's beam. ²⁰ War broke out again at Gath, where a huge man had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all; he too was born to Rapha. ²¹ And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down. ²² These four descended from Rapha in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and his servants.