¹There was a famine in the days of David for three years , year after year ; and David sought the face of the LORD . The LORD said, “It is for Saul , and for his bloody house , because he put the Gibeonites to death .”

²The king called the Gibeonites and said to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel , but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the children of Israel had sworn to them ; and Saul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah );

³and David said to the Gibeonites , “What should I do for you ? And with what should I make atonement , that you may bless the LORD ’s inheritance ?”

⁴The Gibeonites said to him , “It is no 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 .”

He said, “I will do for you whatever you say .”

⁵They said to the king , “The man who consumed us and who plotted against us , that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel ,

⁶let seven men of his sons be delivered to us , and we will hang them up to the LORD in Gibeah of Saul , the chosen of the LORD .”

The king said, “I will give them .”

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

⁸But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul , Armoni and Mephibosheth ; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul , whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite .

⁹He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites ; and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD , and all seven of them fell together . They were put to death in the days of harvest , in the first days , at the beginning of barley harvest .

¹⁰Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock , from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them from the sky . She allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day , nor the animals of the field by night .

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

¹²So 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 street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa ;

¹³and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son . They also gathered the bones of those who were hanged .

¹⁴They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela , in the tomb of Kish his father ; and they performed all that the king commanded . After that , God answered prayer for the land.

¹⁵The Philistines had war again with Israel ; and David went down , and his servants with him , and fought against the Philistines . David grew faint ;

¹⁶and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant , the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight , he being armed with a new sword, thought he would kill David .

¹⁷But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him , and struck the Philistine and killed him . Then the men of David swore to him , saying, “Don’t go out with us to battle any more , so that you don’t quench the lamp of Israel .”

¹⁸After this , there was again war with the Philistines at Gob . Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph , who was of the sons of the giant .

¹⁹There was again war with the Philistines at Gob , and Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite ’s brother, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam .

²⁰There was again war at Gath , where there was a man of great stature , who had six fingers on every hand and six toes on every foot , twenty-four in number , and he also was born to the giant .

²¹When he defied Israel , Jonathan the son of Shimei , David ’s brother, killed him .

²²These four were born to the giant in Gath ; and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants .