David Avenges the Gibeonites 1 Brenton And 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, There is guilt upon Saul and his house because of his bloody murder, whereby he slew the Gabaonites. BSB BSB: During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
2 Brenton And king David called the Gabaonites, and said to them;—(now the Gabaonites are not the children of Israel, but are of the remnant of the Amorite, and the children of Israel had sworn to them: but Saul sought to smite them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Juda.) BSB BSB: At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)
3 Brenton And David said to the Gabaonites, What shall I do to you? and wherewithal shall I make atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? BSB BSB: So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?”
4 Brenton And the Gabaonites said to him, We have no question about silver or gold with Saul and with his house; and there is no man for us to put to death in Israel. BSB BSB: The Gibeonites said to him, “We need no silver or gold from Saul or his house, nor should you put to death anyone in Israel for us.” “Whatever you ask, I will do for you,” he replied.
5 Brenton And he said, What say ye? speak, and I will do it for you. And they said to the king, The man who would have made an end of us, and persecuted us, who plotted against us to destroy us, let us utterly destroy him, so that he shall have no standing in all the coasts of Israel. BSB BSB: And they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us to exterminate us from existing within any border of Israel,
6 Brenton Let one give us seven men of his sons, and let us hang them up in the sun to the Lord in Gabaon of Saul, as chosen out for the Lord. And the king said, I will give them . BSB BSB: let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” “I will give them to you,” said the king.
7 Brenton But the king spared Memphibosthe son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, even between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. BSB BSB: Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.
8 Brenton And the king took the two sons of Respha the daughter of Aia, whom she bore to Saul, Hermonoi and Memphibosthe, and the five sons of Michol daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Esdriel son of Berzelli the Moülathite. BSB BSB: But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons whom Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, as well as the five sons whom Merab daughter of Saul had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
9 Brenton And he gave them into the hand of the Gabaonites, and they hanged them up to the sun in the mountain before the Lord: and they fell, even the seven together: moreover they were put to death in the days of harvest at the commencement, in the beginning of barley-harvest. BSB BSB: And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. So all seven of them fell together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10 Brenton And Respha the daughter of Aia took sackcloth, and fixed it for herself on the rock in the beginning of barley harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven: and she did not suffer the birds of the air to rest upon them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. BSB BSB: And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
11 Brenton And it was told David what Respha the daughter of Aia the concubine of Saul had done, and they were faint, and Dan the son of Joa of the offspring of the giants overtook them. BSB BSB: When David was told what Saul’s concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, had done,
12 Brenton And David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of the sons of Jabis Galaad, who stole them from the street of Bæthsan; for the Philistines set them there in the day in which the Philistines smote Saul in Gelbue. BSB BSB: he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.
13 Brenton And he carried up thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son, and gathered the bones of them that had been hanged. BSB BSB: So David had the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan brought from there, and they also gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.
14 Brenton And they buried the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son, and the bones of them that had been hanged, in the land of Benjamin in the hill, in the sepulchre of Cis his father; and they did all things that the king commanded: and after this God hearkened to the prayers of the land. BSB BSB: And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.
Four Battles against the Philistines (1 Chronicles 20:4–8)
15 Brenton And there was yet war between the Philistines and Israel: and David went down and his servants with him, and they fought with the Philistines, and David went. BSB BSB: Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines. But David became exhausted.
16 Brenton And Jesbi, who was of the progeny of Rapha, and the head of whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, who also was girt with a club, even he thought to smite David. BSB BSB: Then Ishbi-benob, a descendant of Rapha, whose bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and who was bearing a new sword, resolved to kill David.
17 Brenton And Abessa the son of Saruia helped him and smote the Philistine, and slew him. Then the men of David swore, saying, Thou shalt not any longer go out with us to battle, and thou shalt not quench the lamp of Israel. BSB BSB: But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”
18 Brenton And after this there was a battle again with the Philistines in Geth: then Sebocha the Astatothite slew Seph of the progeny of Rapha. BSB BSB: Some time later at Gob, there was another battle with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, a descendant of Rapha.
19 Brenton And there was a battle in Rom with the Philistines; and Eleanan son of Ariorgim the Bethleemite slew Goliath the Gittite; and the staff of his spear was as a weaver's beam. BSB BSB: Once again there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
20 Brenton And there was yet a battle in Geth: and there was a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands and the toes of his feet were six on each, four and twenty in number: and he also was born to Rapha. BSB BSB: And there was also a battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,
21 Brenton And he defied Israel, and Jonathan son of Semei brother of David, smote him. BSB BSB: and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.
22 Brenton These four were born descendants of the giants in Geth, the family of Rapha; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants. BSB BSB: So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.
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