2 Samuel 21–22

David Avenges the Gibeonites

21Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David ^zsought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” ²So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but ^aof the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. ³And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless ^bthe heritage of the Lord?” ⁴The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” ⁵They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, ⁶let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at ^cGibeah of Saul, ^dthe chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

⁷But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of ^ethe oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. ⁸The king took the two sons of ^fRizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab¹ the daughter of Saul, whom ^gshe bore to ^hAdriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; ⁹and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, ⁱat the beginning of barley harvest.

^10jThen Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, ¹²David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, ^kwho had stolen them from the public square of ^lBeth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. ¹³And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. ¹⁴And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in ^mZela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that ⁿGod responded to the plea for the land.

War with the Philistines

¹⁵There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. ¹⁶And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants ^oof the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels² of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. ¹⁷But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, ^p“You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench ^qthe lamp of Israel.”

^18rAfter this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then ^sSibbecai ^tthe Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants ^uof the giants. ¹⁹And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and ^vElhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, ^wthe shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.^{3 20}And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended ^xfrom the giants. ²¹And when ^yhe taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. ²²These four were descended ^xfrom the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

David’s Song of Deliverance

22And David spoke ^zto the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ^2aHe said,

^b“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

^3cmy¹ God, my rock, ^din whom I take refuge,

^emy shield, and ^fthe horn of my salvation,

^gmy stronghold and ^hmy refuge,

my savior; you save me from violence.

⁴I call upon the Lord, who is ⁱworthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

^5j“For the waves of death encompassed me,

the torrents of destruction assailed me;²

^6kthe cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

^7l“In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I called.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry ^mcame to his ears.

⁸“Then ⁿthe earth reeled and rocked;

^othe foundations of the heavens trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

⁹Smoke went up from his nostrils,³

and devouring fire from his mouth;

^pglowing coals flamed forth from him.

^10qHe bowed the heavens and ^rcame down;

^sthick darkness was under his feet.

¹¹He rode on a cherub and flew;

he was seen on ^tthe wings of the wind.

¹²He made ^sdarkness around him ^uhis canopy,

thick clouds, a gathering of water.

¹³Out of the brightness before him

^vcoals of fire flamed forth.

^14wThe Lord thundered from heaven,

and the Most High uttered his voice.

¹⁵And he sent out ^xarrows and scattered them;

lightning, and routed them.

¹⁶Then the channels of the sea were seen;

the foundations of the world were laid bare,

at the rebuke of the Lord,

at the ^yblast of the breath of his nostrils.

^17z“He sent from on high, he took me;

he drew me out of many waters.

¹⁸He rescued me from my strong enemy,

from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁹They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

^20aHe brought me out into a broad place;

he rescued me, because ^bhe delighted in me.

²¹“The Lord ^cdealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the ^dcleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

^22eFor I have kept the ways of the Lord

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

^23fFor all his rules were before me,

and from his statutes I did not turn aside.

²⁴I was ^gblameless before him,

and I kept myself from guilt.

^25dAnd the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to my cleanness in his sight.

^26h“With the merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the ^gblameless man you show yourself blameless;

²⁷with the purified you deal purely,

and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

²⁸ⁱYou save a humble people,

^jbut your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.

^29kFor you are my lamp, O Lord,

and my God lightens my darkness.

³⁰For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.

³¹This God—^lhis way is perfect;

the ^mword of the Lord proves true;

he is ⁿa shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³²“For who is God, but the Lord?

^oAnd who is a rock, except our God?

³³This God is my ^pstrong refuge

and has made my⁴ way blameless.⁵

^34qHe made my feet like the feet of a deer

and set me secure ^ron the heights.

^35sHe trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your gentleness made me great.

^37tYou gave a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet⁶ did not slip;

³⁸I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

and did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁹I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;

they fell ^uunder my feet.

⁴⁰For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

you made ^vthose who rise against me sink under me.

⁴¹You ^wmade my enemies turn their backs to me,⁷

those who hated me, and I destroyed them.

⁴²They looked, but there was none to save;

they cried to the Lord, but ^xhe did not answer them.

⁴³I beat them fine ^yas the dust of the earth;

I crushed them and stamped them down ^zlike the mire of the streets.

⁴⁴“You delivered me from strife with my people;⁸

you kept me as the head of ^athe nations;

^bpeople whom I had not known served me.

⁴⁵Foreigners came cringing to me;

as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.

⁴⁶Foreigners lost heart

and came trembling^{9 c}out of their fortresses.

⁴⁷“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be ^dmy God, ^ethe rock of my salvation,

⁴⁸the God who gave me vengeance

and ^fbrought down peoples under me,

⁴⁹who brought me out from my enemies;

you exalted me above ^vthose who rose against me;

you delivered me from ^gmen of violence.

^50h“For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and sing praises to your name.

⁵¹ⁱGreat salvation he brings¹⁰ to his king,

and shows steadfast love to ^jhis anointed,

to David and his offspring ^kforever.”