1. While David was king, there were three years in a row when the nation of Israel could not grow enough food. So David asked the Lord for help, and the Lord answered, “Saul and his family are guilty of murder, because he had the Gibeonites killed.”
2. The Gibeonites were not Israelites; they were descendants of the Amorites. The people of Israel had promised not to kill them, but Saul had tried to kill them because he wanted Israel and Judah to control all the land.David called the Gibeonites to him, and he talked with them.
3. He said, “What can I do to make up for what Saul did, so that you'll ask the Lord to be kind to his people again?”
4. The Gibeonites answered, “Silver and gold from Saul and his family are not enough. On the other hand, we don't have the right to put any Israelite to death.”David said, “I'll do whatever you ask.”
5. They replied, “Saul tried to kill all our people so that none of us would be left in the land of Israel.
6. Give us seven of his descendants. We will hang these men near the place where the Lord is worshipped in Gibeah, the home town of Saul, the Lord's chosen king.”“I'll give them to you,” David said.
7. David had made a promise to Jonathan with the Lord as his witness, so he spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul.
8. But Saul and Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had two sons named Armoni and Mephibosheth. Saul's daughter Merab had five sons whose father was Adriel the son of Barzillai from Meholah. David took Rizpah's two sons and Merab's five sons and
9. turned them over to the Gibeonites, who hanged all seven of them on the mountain near the place where the Lord was worshipped. This happened right at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10. Rizpah spread out some sackcloth on a nearby rock. She wouldn't let the birds land on the bodies during the day, and she kept the wild animals away at night. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until it started to rain.
11-12. Earlier the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa and had hung their bodies in the town square at Beth-Shan. The people of Jabesh in Gilead had secretly taken the bodies away, but David found out what Saul's wife Rizpah had done, and he went to the leaders of Jabesh to get the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan.
13-14. David had their bones taken to the land of Benjamin and buried in a side room in Saul's family burial place. Then he gave orders for the bones of the men who had been hanged to be buried there. It was done, and God answered prayers to bless the land.
15. One time David got very tired when he and his soldiers were fighting the Philistines.
16. One of the Philistine warriors was Ishbibenob, who was a descendant of the Rephaim, and he tried to kill David. Ishbibenob was armed with a new sword, and his bronze spearhead alone weighed about three and a half kilogrammes.