1. While David was king, there was a famine that continued for three years. So David prayed to the Lord. And the Lord answered, “Saul and his family of murderers are the reason for the famine, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
2. (The Gibeonites were not Israelites. They were a group of Amorites. The Israelites had promised not to hurt them, but Saul tried to kill the Gibeonites. He did this because of his strong feelings for the people of Israel and Judah.) King David called the Gibeonites together and talked to them.
3. David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you? What can I do to take away Israel’s sin, so that you can bless the Lord’S people?”
4. The Gibeonites said to David, “There isn’t enough gold and silver for Saul’s family to pay for what they did. But we don’t have the right to kill anyone else in Israel.” David said, “Well, what can I do for you?”
5. The Gibeonites said to King David, “The person who plotted against us was Saul. He is the one who tried to destroy all our people living in the land of Israel.
6. Give us seven of Saul’s sons. Saul was the Lord’S chosen king, so we will hang his sons in front of the Lord on Mount Gibeah of Saul.” King David said, “All right, I will give them to you.”
7. But the king protected Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. Jonathan was Saul’s son, and David had made a promise in the Lord’S name to Jonathan. So the king did not let them hurt Mephibosheth.
8. David gave them Armoni and Mephibosheth. These were the sons of Saul and Rizpah. Saul also had a daughter named Merab who was married to Adriel son of Barzillai, from Meholah. David took the five sons of Merab and Adriel.
9. David gave these seven men to the Gibeonites who then brought them to Mount Gibeah and hanged them in front of the Lord. Those seven men died together in the spring, during the first days of the barley harvest.
10. Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took a mourning cloth and put it on the rock. That cloth stayed on the rock from the time the harvest began until the rains came. Rizpah watched the bodies day and night. She protected them from the wild birds during the day and the wild animals at night.
11. People told David what Saul’s slave woman Rizpah was doing.