David Avenges the Gibeonites 1 CPDV And a famine occurred, during the days of David, for three years continuously. And David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: “This is because of Saul, and his house of bloodshed. For he killed the Gibeonites.” 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 CPDV Therefore, the king, calling for the Gibeonites, spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but were the remnant of the Amorites. And the sons of Israel had sworn an oath to them, but Saul wished to strike them in zeal, as if on behalf of the sons of Israel and Judah. 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 CPDV Therefore, David said to the Gibeonites: “What shall I do for you? And what shall be your satisfaction, so that you 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 CPDV And the Gibeonites said to him: “There is no quarrel for us over silver or gold, but against Saul and against his house. And we do not desire that any man of Israel be put to death.” The king said to them, “Then what do you wish that I should do for you?” 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 CPDV And they said to the king: “The man who unjustly afflicted and oppressed us, we ought to destroy in such manner that not even one of his stock may be left behind in all the parts 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 CPDV Let seven men from his sons be given to us, so that we may crucify them to the Lord in Gibeon of Saul, formerly the chosen place of 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 CPDV But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord which had been made 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 CPDV And so 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 Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she conceived of Adriel, the son of Barzillai, who was from Meholath, 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 CPDV and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites. And they crucified them on a hill in the sight of the Lord. And these seven fell together in the first days of the harvest, when the barley is beginning to be reaped. 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 CPDV Then Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, taking a haircloth, spread it under herself on a rock, from the beginning of the harvest until water dropped from heaven upon them. And she did not permit the birds to tear them by day, nor the beasts 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 CPDV And it was reported to David what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. BSB BSB: When David was told what Saul’s concubine Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, had done,
12 CPDV And David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had suspended them after they had slain Saul at Gilboa. 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 CPDV And he brought the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from there. And they collected the bones of those who had been crucified. 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 CPDV And they buried them with the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan, in the land of Benjamin, to the side of the sepulcher of his father Kish. And they did all that the king had instructed. And after these things, God showed favor again to 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 CPDV Then the Philistines again undertook a battle against Israel. And David descended, and his servants with him, and they fought against the Philistines. But when David grew faint, 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 CPDV Ishbibenob, who was of the ancestry of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed three hundred ounces, who had been girded with a new sword, strove to strike down 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 CPDV And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, defended him, and striking the Philistine, he killed him. Then David’s men swore an oath to him, saying, “You shall no longer go out to war with us, lest you extinguish 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 CPDV Also, a second war occurred in Gob against the Philistines. Then Sibbecai from Hushah struck down Saph, from the stock of Arapha, of the ancestry of the giants. 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 CPDV Then there was a third war in Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus, a son of the forest, a weaver from Bethlehem, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like the beam used by a cloth maker. 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 CPDV A fourth battle was in Gath. In that place, there was a lofty man, who had six digits on each hand and each foot, that is, twenty-four in all, and he was from the origins of Arapha. 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 CPDV And he blasphemed Israel. So Jonathan, the son of Shimei, the brother of David, struck him down. BSB BSB: and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.
22 CPDV These four men were born of Arapha in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and his servants. BSB BSB: So these four descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.