9. David gave these seven sons to the Gibeonites. Then the Gibeonites killed them and hung them on stakes on a hill before the Lord. All seven sons died together. They were put to death during the first days of the harvest season. (The barley harvest was just beginning.)
10. Aiah’s daughter Rizpah took the rough cloth that was worn to show sadness. Then she put it on a rock for herself. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on her sons’ bodies. During the day she did not let the birds of the sky touch her sons’ bodies. At night she did not let the wild animals touch them.
11. People told David what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s slave woman, was doing.
12. Then David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan from the men of Jabesh Gilead. (They had taken these bones secretly from the public square of Beth Shan. The Philistines had hung the bodies of Saul and Jonathan there after they had killed Saul at Gilboa.)
13. David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from Gilead. Then the people gathered the bodies of Saul’s seven sons who were hanged on stakes.
14. The people buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in Benjamin. They buried them in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. The people did everything the king commanded.Then God answered the prayers of the people in the land.
15. Again there was war between the Philistines and Israel. David and his men went out to fight the Philistines. But David became tired and weak.
16. Ishbi-Benob was one of the sons of Rapha. His bronze spearhead weighed about seven and a half pounds. Ishbi-Benob had a new sword, and he planned to kill David.
17. But Abishai son of Zeruiah killed the Philistine. So he saved David’s life.Then David’s men made a promise to David. They said, “Never again will you go out with us to battle. If you were killed, Israel would lose its greatest leader.”