2 Samuel 21

¹And there was a famine in the days of David, three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, It is because of Saul and because of the house of blood, because he put to death the Gibeonites.

²And the king called to the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but rather of the remnant of the Amorites; and the sons of Israel had sworn to them, but Saul sought to strike them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah.

³And David said to the Gibeonites, 'What shall I do for you, and with what shall I make atonement, so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?'

⁴The Gibeonites said to him, 'It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house, and it is not for us to put any man to death in Israel.' He said, 'What do you say I shall do for you all?'

⁵And they said to the king, 'The man who consumed us and who devised against us — we have been destroyed from standing in any territory of Israel.'

⁶Let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will expose them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD. And the king said, ‘I will give them.’

⁷But the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul, on account of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

⁸The 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.

⁹And he gave them into the hand of the Gibeonites, and they exposed them on the hill before the LORD; and they fell, all seven together — they were put to death in the early days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹⁰And Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from the sky. And she did not allow the flying things of the sky to rest upon them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

¹¹And it was told to David what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.

¹²And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the plaza of Beth-shean, where the Philistines had hung them when the Philistines struck Saul at Gilboa.

¹³And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.

¹⁴And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin at Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father; and they did everything the king commanded. And after this God was entreated for the land.

¹⁵Now there was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down with his men and fought against the Philistines; and David grew weary.

¹⁶And Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the Rapha, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was girded with a new weapon, intended to strike David.

¹⁷And Abishai son of Zeruiah helped him, and he struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, saying: 'You shall no longer go out with us to battle, so that you do not quench the lamp of Israel.'

¹⁸And it came to pass after this that there was yet again battle at Gob with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck Saph, who was among the offspring of the Rapha.

¹⁹And there was war again at Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite struck down Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's beam.

²⁰And there was war again at Gath, and 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 born to the Rapha.

²¹And he taunted Israel, and Jonathan son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down.

²²All four of these were born to the Rapha at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.