2 Samuel 21

All 22 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1During David's reign, there was a famine that lasted for three consecutive years. David prayed to the LORD about it, and the LORD said, "It is because of Saul and his bloody house, for he killed the Gibeonites."
2. 2So the king summoned the Gibeonites to speak with them. Now, the Gibeonites weren't Israelites — they were survivors of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn an oath to them, but Saul had tried to kill them in his zeal for Israel and Judah.
3. 3David asked the Gibeonites, "What can I do for you? How can I make atonement so that you'll bless the LORD's people?"
4. 4The Gibeonites replied, "This isn't about silver or gold from Saul's family, and it's not our place to put anyone in Israel to death." David said, "Whatever you ask, I'll do it."
5. 5They told the king, "The man who tried to destroy us — who plotted to wipe us out completely from every corner of Israel —
6. 6Deliver seven of his sons to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD chose. The king said, I will give them.
7. 7But David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the LORD.
8. 8Instead, the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the 2 sons that Rizpah daughter of Aiah had borne to Saul, along with the 5 sons that Michal daughter of Saul had raised for Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
9. 9He handed all 7 of them over to the Gibeonites, who hanged them on the hill before the LORD. They died together, executed during the first days of the barley harvest.
10. 10Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth and spread it on the rock from the beginning of harvest until rain fell from heaven. She did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the wild animals by night.
11. 11When David heard what Rizpah, Saul's concubine, had done,
12. 12David went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabeshgilead, who had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them after killing Saul on Mount Gilboa.
13. 13David brought back the bones of Saul and Jonathan, and they also gathered the remains of the 7 men who had been hanged.
14. 14They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin, in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. They carried out all that the king commanded. After that, God was entreated for the land.
15. 15War broke out again between the Philistines and Israel. David went into battle with his men to fight the Philistines, but during the fighting he became exhausted.
16. 16A warrior named Ishbibenob, one of the descendants of the giants, came after David intending to kill him. He carried a bronze spear weighing 300 shekels and had a new sword strapped on.
17. 17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David's men made him swear, saying, 'You shall not go out with us to battle anymore, so that you do not extinguish the light of Israel.'
18. 18Sometime later, another battle broke out with the Philistines at Gob. In that fight, Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.
19. 19In yet another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jaareoregim from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear had a shaft as thick as a weaver's beam.
20. 20Still another battle took place at Gath, where there was a massive warrior who had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot — 24 in all. He too was a descendant of the giants.
21. 21When he defied Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David's brother, struck him down and killed him.
22. 22All 4 of these warriors were descendants of the giants of Gath, and they all fell at the hands of David and his men.