2 Samuel 21

₁While David was king, there was a famine in the land and for 3 years there was almost no food. David prayed to the Lord and the Lord said it was because Saul had killed the Gibeonite people. ₂The people of Gibeon were not Israelites. They were Amorites. The Israelites had promised them that they would stay alive, but Saul tried to kill all of them. He thought he was doing a good thing for Israel and Judah. Then King David called the people of Gibeon ₃and he asked them: ‘What can I do for you? How can I help you so that you will forgive the wrong things that the people of God did to you?’

₄The people of Gibeon said to the king: ‘We do not want silver or gold or money from Saul and his family. And we do not want to kill any of the Israelites.’ The king asked them: ‘Tell me then, what must I do for you?’ ₅They said to the king: ‘Saul killed our people. He wanted to kill all of us so that not one of us could stay alive in Israel. ₆We ask that you give us 7 of his descendants. We want to kill them at the place where you worship the Lord in the town of Gibeah of Saul, the man whom God chose to be king.’ The king said: ‘I will give you 7 men.’

₇The king did not give them Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, because David and Jonathan had made a promise and the Lord was their Witness. ₈Then David took the 2 sons of Saul and Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, and 5 sons of Michal, daughter of Saul. They were her 5 sons with Adriel, son of Barzillai from Meholah. ₉David gave these sons to the people of Gibeon and the people of Gibeon hanged and killed them on the mountain near the place where they worshipped the Lord. The 7 men died together in the time when people started to cut the barley.

₁₀Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took sack-cloth and she put it over a rock to make a shelter for herself. She protected the bodies from the birds in the day and from the wild animals in the night. She stayed there from the beginning of harvest time until it started to rain. ₁₁They told David what Aiah's daughter, Rizpah, had done. She had been a concubine of Saul. ₁₂David took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-Gilead. When the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan at Gilboa, they had hung their bodies on a wall in Beth-Shan and then the men of Jabesh-Gilead had stolen them from the market place of Beth-Shan. ₁₃David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan and the bones of the 7 men who had been killed ₁₄and he buried them in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Kish, Saul's father. The tomb was in a rock. After King David had done this, God listened to their prayers for the land again.

₁₅Again there was war_between the Philistines and the people of Israel. One day when David and his men were fighting against the Philistines, he got very tired. ₁₆One of the Philistines was Ishbi-Benob, he was very big. He was a descendant of the Rapha people. His spear was made of bronze and it weighed 300 shekels. He also had a new sword and he wanted to kill David. ₁₇But Abishai, son of Zeruiah, helped David and he killed the Philistine. Then David's men promised him and said: ‘As sure as the Lord lives, you will not go to war with us again. You are the lamp which must give light to Israel. No person must put out this lamp.’

₁₈Later the Israelites were making war_against the Philistines at the town of Gob. Sibbekai from Hushah killed Saph. He was also a descendant of the Rapha people. ₁₉Later when the Israelites came to fight again in a war_against the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan, son of Jair from Bethlehem, killed the brother of Goliath from Gath. His spear was as thick as the pole of a loom. ₂₀When they made war in the town of Gath again, there was a very big man. He had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot. He was also a descendant of the Rapha people. ₂₁He laughed at the Israelites and then Jonathan, son of David's brother Shimeah, killed him. ₂₂These 4 men were all descendants of the Rapha people in the town of Gath. David and his men killed them all.