2 Samuel 21–22

Chapter 21

Gibeonite Revenge

¹Now there was ^aa famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and ^bDavid sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is for Saul and his bloody 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 sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and ^athe sons of Israel ¹made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to ²kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah).

³Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless ^athe inheritance of the Lord?”

⁴Then the Gibeonites said to him, “^aWe have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.”

⁵So they said to the king, “^aThe man who consumed us and who planned ¹to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel,

⁶let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will ¹hang them ^abefore the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, ^bthe chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

⁷But the king spared ^aMephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, ^bbecause of the oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan.

⁸So the king took the two sons of ^aRizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of ^1bMerab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the ^cMeholathite.

⁹Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they ¹hanged them in the mountain before the Lord, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at ^athe beginning of barley harvest.

^10aAnd Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until ¹it rained on them from the sky; and ^bshe ²allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.

¹¹When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

¹²then David went and took ^athe bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of ^bBeth-shan, ^cwhere the Philistines had hanged them on the day ^dthe Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa.

¹³He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been ¹hanged.

¹⁴They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in ^aZela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that ^bGod was moved by prayer for the land.

¹⁵Now when ^athe Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary.

¹⁶Then Ishbi-benob, who was ^aamong the descendants of the ¹giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, ²was girded with a new sword, and he ³intended to kill David.

¹⁷But ^aAbishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “^bYou shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish ^cthe lamp of Israel.”

^18aNow it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then ^bSibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the ¹giant.

¹⁹There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite ¹killed ²Goliath the Gittite, ^athe shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

²⁰There was war at Gath again, 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 had been born ^ato the ¹giant.

²¹When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down.

^22aThese four were born to the ¹giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Chapter 22

David’s Psalm of Deliverance

^1aAnd David spoke ^bthe words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the ¹hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

²He said,

“^aThe Lord is my ¹rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

^31aMy God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

My ^bshield and ^cthe horn of my salvation, my stronghold and ^dmy refuge;

My savior, You save me from violence.

⁴“I call upon the Lord, ^awho is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

⁵“For ^athe waves of death encompassed me;

^bThe torrents of ¹destruction ²overwhelmed me;

^6aThe cords of ¹Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

⁷“^aIn my distress I called upon the Lord,

Yes, I ¹cried to my God;

And from His temple He heard my voice,

And my cry for help came into His ears.

⁸“Then ^athe earth shook and quaked,

^bThe foundations of heaven were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁹“Smoke went up ¹out of His nostrils,

^aFire from His mouth devoured;

^bCoals were kindled by it.

¹⁰“He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With ^athick darkness under His feet.

¹¹“^aAnd He rode on a cherub and flew;

And He ¹appeared on ^bthe wings of the wind.

¹²“^aAnd He made darkness ¹canopies around Him,

A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.

¹³“From the brightness before Him

^aCoals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴“^aThe Lord thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered His voice.

¹⁵“^aAnd He sent out arrows, and scattered them,

Lightning, and ¹routed them.

¹⁶“Then the channels of the sea appeared,

The foundations of the world were ¹laid bare

By the rebuke of the Lord,

^aAt the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

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

^bHe drew me out of many waters.

¹⁸“He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

¹⁹“They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

^aBut the Lord was my support.

²⁰“^aHe also brought me forth into a broad place;

He rescued me, ^bbecause He delighted in me.

²¹“^aThe Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;

^bAccording to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

²²“^aFor I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And have not acted wickedly against my God.

²³“^aFor all His ordinances were before me,

And as for His statutes, I did not depart from ¹them.

²⁴“^aI was also ¹blameless toward Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

²⁵“^aTherefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to my cleanness before His eyes.

²⁶“^aWith the ¹kind You show Yourself kind,

With the ²blameless You show Yourself blameless;

^27aWith the pure You show Yourself pure,

^bAnd with the perverted You show Yourself ¹astute.

²⁸“^aAnd You save an afflicted people;

^bBut Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase.

²⁹“^aFor You are my lamp, O Lord;

And the Lord illumines my darkness.

³⁰“^aFor by You I can ¹run upon a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

³¹“^aAs for God, His way is ¹blameless;

^bThe word of the Lord is tested;

^cHe is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

³²“^aFor who is God, besides the Lord?

^bAnd who is a rock, besides our God?

³³“^aGod is my strong fortress;

And He ¹sets the ²blameless in ³His way.

³⁴“^aHe makes ¹my feet like hinds’ feet,

^bAnd sets me on my high places.

³⁵“^aHe trains my hands for battle,

^bSo that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶“You have also given me ^athe shield of Your salvation,

And Your ¹help makes me great.

³⁷“^aYou enlarge my steps under me,

And my ¹feet have not slipped.

³⁸“I pursued my enemies and ^adestroyed them,

And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁹“And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise;

And ^athey fell under my feet.

⁴⁰“For You have girded me with strength for battle;

You have ¹subdued under me ^athose who rose up against me.

⁴¹“You have also ^amade my enemies turn their backs to me,

And I ¹destroyed those who hated me.

⁴²“^aThey looked, but there was none to save;

^bEven to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

⁴³“^aThen I pulverized them as the dust of the earth;

^bI crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.

⁴⁴“^aYou have also delivered me from the contentions of my people;

^bYou have kept me as head of the nations;

^cA people whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁵“^aForeigners pretend obedience to me;

As soon as they hear, they obey me.

⁴⁶“Foreigners ¹lose heart,

^aAnd ²come trembling out of their ³fortresses.

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

And exalted be ^1aGod, the rock of my salvation,

^48aThe God who executes vengeance for me,

^bAnd brings down peoples under me,

⁴⁹Who also brings me out from my enemies;

You even lift me above ^athose who rise up against me;

^bYou rescue me from the violent man.

⁵⁰“^aTherefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations,

And I will sing praises to Your name.

⁵¹“^aHe is a tower of ¹deliverance to His king,

And ^bshows lovingkindness to His anointed,

^cTo David and his ²descendants forever.”