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2 Samuel 21
New American Standard Bible

Gibeonite’s Revenge

21 Now there was (A)a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and (B)David sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So 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 (C)the sons of Israel had [a]made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to [b]kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make amends, so that you will bless (D)the inheritance of the Lord?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “(E)For us it is not a matter of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” Nevertheless David said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “(F)The man who destroyed us and who planned [c]to eliminate us so that we would not exist within any border of Israel— 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will [d]hang them (G)before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, (H)the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared (I)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, (J)because of the oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of (K)Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of [e](L)Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the (M)Meholathite. 9 Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they [f]hanged them on 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 (N)the beginning of barley harvest.

10 (O)And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until [g]it rained on them from the sky; and (P)she [h]allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night. 11 When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took (Q)the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of (R)Beth-shan, (S)where the Philistines had hanged them on the day (T)the Philistines struck and killed Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been [i]hanged. 14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in (U)Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; So they did everything that the king commanded, and after that (V)God responded to prayer for the land.

15 Now when (W)the Philistines were at war with Israel again, David went down, and his servants with him; and when they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob, who was (X)among the descendants of the [j]giant, the weight of whose spear was [k]three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, [l]had strapped on a new sword, and he [m]intended to kill David. 17 But (Y)Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “(Z)You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish (AA)the lamp of Israel.”

18 (AB)Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then (AC)Sibbecai the Hushathite struck and killed Saph, who was among the descendants of the [n]giant. 19 And there was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite [o]killed [p]Goliath the Gittite, (AD)the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 And there 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 (AE)to the [q]giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck and killed him. 22 (AF)These four were born to the [r]giant at Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit sworn to
  2. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit strike
  3. 2 Samuel 21:5 Lit against us that we are eliminated from
  4. 2 Samuel 21:6 Or expose them
  5. 2 Samuel 21:8 As in some ancient versions and two Heb mss; MT Michal
  6. 2 Samuel 21:9 Or exposed them
  7. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit water gushed forth
  8. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit gave
  9. 2 Samuel 21:13 Or exposed
  10. 2 Samuel 21:16 Heb Raphah
  11. 2 Samuel 21:16 About 9 lb. or 4 kg
  12. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit and he had strapped
  13. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit said
  14. 2 Samuel 21:18 Heb Raphah
  15. 2 Samuel 21:19 Lit struck
  16. 2 Samuel 21:19 In 1 Chr 20:5, Lahmi, the brother of Goliath
  17. 2 Samuel 21:20 Heb Raphah
  18. 2 Samuel 21:22 Heb Raphah
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2 Samuel 21
The Voice

21 After the people had suffered from a famine for three successive years, David asked the Eternal One why the famine lingered, and the answer came that the nation was guilty for not making amends for the bloodlust of King Saul, who slaughtered the people of Gibeon. 2 (The Gibeonites were not from Israel—they were related to the Amorites. Saul tried to annihilate them in his zeal for Israel and Judah, although the people of Israel had promised to spare them during the days of Joshua.) So David called for the leaders of Gibeon.

David: 3 What can I do, what can I give you, to lift this guilt from my land so that you will honor the Eternal’s chosen people?

Gibeonite Leaders: 4 Silver and gold won’t make things right for us with Saul’s kingdom. And it is not for us to tell you who should be subject to capital punishment in Israel.

David: I will do whatever you ask.

Gibeonite Leaders: 5 Saul attacked us and tried to destroy us, to wipe us off the map of Israel. 6 Give us seven of his descendants, and we will hang them on a tree in Gibeah before the Eternal, on His mountain.

David: I will give them to you.

7 Now the king did not give them Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson and Jonathan’s son, because of the sacred oath between David and Jonathan. 8 But he did take Saul’s two sons by Rizpah (daughter of Aiah), Armoni and Mephibosheth, and the five sons of Merab (Saul’s daughter) that she had by Adriel (son of Barzillai the Meholathite). 9 David had them seized and handed them over to the Gibeonites, who executed them before the Eternal One on the mountain. All seven of them died together, in the spring of the year during the first days of the barley harvest.

10 Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter, spread out sackcloth on a rock to make a place to sit; and from the time her sons died until rain fell in late autumn, she refused to let the birds or wild animals desecrate the bodies. 11 When David heard what Saul’s concubine Rizpah had done, 12 he went and gathered the bones of Saul and Jonathan (which the people of Jabesh-gilead had stolen from the place where they were hanged in the Philistine public square in Beth-shan on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa). 13 He took the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son and gathered the bones of those who had been impaled in Gibeon. 14 He had Saul and Jonathan buried in the tomb of their father Kish, in Zela in the land of Benjamin. All that David commanded was done; and afterward, God answered the prayers of the people of Israel for the land.

15 Philistia and Israel were at war again, and David and his soldiers fought them long and hard until at last he grew weary. 16 Then Ishbi-benob (who was a descendant of Raphah) announced that he had come to kill David. He carried a bronze spear, the head of which weighed nearly 10 pounds, and he carried a new sword. 17 But Abishai, Zeruiah’s son, came to David’s aid. He attacked and killed this Philistine.

David’s Men (to David): You can’t go out to fight with us any longer. If you are killed, then the lamp of Israel will go out.

18 Later the Israelites fought the Philistines at Gob; and Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, another Philistine warrior descended from the giant. 19 In another fight at Gob with the Philistines, Elhanan (son of Jaare-oregim of Bethlehem), killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was as large as a weaver’s beam. 20 Then in a battle at Gath, they fought against another famous warrior. He was a huge man with 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot—24 in all—and he was also descended from the giant. 21 When he insulted the people of Israel, Jonathan (the son of David’s brother Shimei) killed him. 22 All four of these great warriors were descended from the giant of Gath, but all of them were defeated by the skill of David and his men.

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2 Samuel 21
New Living Translation

David Avenges the Gibeonites

21 There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted for three years, so David asked the Lord about it. And the Lord said, “The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.”

2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites. The people of Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe them out. 3 David asked them, “What can I do for you? How can I make amends so that you will bless the Lord’s people again?”

4 “Well, money can’t settle this matter between us and the family of Saul,” the Gibeonites replied. “Neither can we demand the life of anyone in Israel.”

“What can I do then?” David asked. “Just tell me and I will do it for you.”

5 Then they replied, “It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in the territory of Israel. 6 So let seven of Saul’s sons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the Lord at Gibeon, on the mountain of the Lord.[a]”

“All right,” the king said, “I will do it.” 7 The king spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth,[b] who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the Lord. 8 But he gave them Saul’s two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,[c] the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah. 9 The men of Gibeon executed them on the mountain before the Lord. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.

10 Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night. 11 When David learned what Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went to the people of Jabesh-gilead and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. (When the Philistines had killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, the people of Jabesh-gilead stole their bodies from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hung them.) 13 So David obtained the bones of Saul and Jonathan, as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed.

14 Then the king ordered that they bury the bones in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father, at the town of Zela in the land of Benjamin. After that, God ended the famine in the land.

Battles against Philistine Giants

15 Once again the Philistines were at war with Israel. And when David and his men were in the thick of battle, David became weak and exhausted. 16 Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants[d]; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds,[e] and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him. 17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

18 After this, there was another battle against the Philistines at Gob. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.

19 During another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair[f] from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath.[g] The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam!

20 In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man[h] with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants. 21 But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.[i]

22 These four Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.

Footnotes

  1. 21:6 As in Greek version (see also 21:9); Hebrew reads at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.
  2. 21:7 Mephibosheth is another name for Merib-baal.
  3. 21:8 As in a few Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and Syriac version (see also 1 Sam 18:19); most Hebrew manuscripts read Michal.
  4. 21:16a Or a descendant of the Rapha; also in 21:18, 20, 22.
  5. 21:16b Hebrew 300 [shekels] [3.4 kilograms].
  6. 21:19a As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:5; Hebrew reads son of Jaare-oregim.
  7. 21:19b As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:5; Hebrew reads killed Goliath of Gath.
  8. 21:20 As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:6; Hebrew reads a Midianite.
  9. 21:21 As in parallel text at 1 Chr 20:7; Hebrew reads Shimei, a variant spelling of Shimea.
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2 Samuel 21
Nueva Biblia de las Américas

Venganza de los gabaonitas

21 En los días de David hubo hambre por tres años consecutivos(A), y David buscó la presencia del Señor(B). Y el Señor dijo: «Es por causa de Saúl y de su casa sangrienta, porque él dio muerte a los gabaonitas». 2 Y llamó el rey a los gabaonitas y les habló. (Los gabaonitas no eran de los israelitas, sino del remanente de los amorreos, y los israelitas habían hecho un pacto con[a] ellos(C), pero Saúl había procurado matarlos[b] en su celo por los israelitas y los de Judá). 3 Dijo, pues, David a los gabaonitas: «¿Qué debo hacer por ustedes? ¿Y cómo haré restitución para que bendigan la heredad del Señor(D)?». 4 Entonces los gabaonitas le respondieron: «No nos importa la plata ni el oro(E) de Saúl o de su casa, ni nos corresponde dar muerte a ningún hombre en Israel». «Haré por ustedes lo que digan», les dijo el rey. 5 Y ellos dijeron al rey: «Del hombre que nos consumió y que trató de exterminarnos[c](F) para que no quedáramos dentro del territorio de Israel, 6 que nos entreguen siete hombres de entre sus hijos, y los ahorcaremos[d](G) delante del Señor en Guibeá de Saúl, el elegido del Señor(H)». «Los entregaré[e]», dijo el rey.

7 Pero el rey perdonó a Mefiboset, hijo de Jonatán, hijo de Saúl(I), a causa del pacto del Señor que había entre ellos, entre David y Jonatán, hijo de Saúl(J). 8 El rey tomó a los dos hijos de Rizpa, hija de Aja(K), Armoni y Mefiboset, que ella había dado a Saúl, y a los cinco hijos de Merab[f], hija de Saúl, que ella había dado a Adriel(L), hijo de Barzilai el meholatita(M). 9 Entonces los entregó en manos de los gabaonitas, que los ahorcaron[g] en el monte delante del Señor, de modo que los siete cayeron a la vez. Les dieron muerte en los primeros días de la cosecha, al comienzo de la cosecha de la cebada(N).

10 Y Rizpa, hija de Aja, tomó tela de cilicio y lo tendió para sí sobre la roca, desde el comienzo de la cosecha hasta que llovió[h] del cielo sobre ellos; y no permitió[i] que las aves del cielo se posaran sobre ellos de día ni las fieras del campo(O) de noche(P). 11 Cuando le contaron a David lo que había hecho Rizpa, hija de Aja, concubina de Saúl, 12 David fue y recogió los huesos de Saúl y los huesos de Jonatán su hijo, que estaban en posesión de los hombres de Jabes de Galaad(Q), quienes los habían robado de la plaza de Bet Sán(R), donde los filisteos los habían colgado(S) el día que los filisteos mataron[j] a Saúl(T) en Gilboa. 13 David trajo de allí los huesos de Saúl y los huesos de su hijo Jonatán, y recogieron también los huesos de los ahorcados[k]. 14 Entonces sepultaron los huesos de Saúl y de su hijo Jonatán en tierra de Benjamín, en Zela(U), en el sepulcro de su padre Cis, e hicieron todo lo que el rey había ordenado. Después de esto Dios fue movido a misericordia para con la tierra(V).

Guerras contra los filisteos

15 De nuevo hubo guerra entre los filisteos e Israel. Descendió David con sus siervos(W), y mientras peleaban contra los filisteos, David se cansó. 16 Entonces Isbi Benob, que era de los descendientes del gigante[l](X), y cuya lanza pesaba 300 siclos (3.4 kilos) de bronce, y que estaba ceñido con una espada nueva, trató de matar[m] a David; 17 pero Abisai, hijo de Sarvia, vino en su ayuda, e hirió al filisteo y lo mató(Y). Entonces los hombres de David le juraron: «Nunca más saldrá a la batalla con nosotros(Z), para que no apague la lámpara(AA) de Israel».

18 (AB)Después de esto otra vez hubo guerra en Gob[n] contra los filisteos. Entonces Sibecai el husatita(AC) mató[o] a Saf, que era de los descendientes del gigante. 19 De nuevo hubo guerra contra los filisteos en Gob, y Elhanán, hijo de Jaare Oregim, de Belén, mató a Goliat[p] el geteo. El asta de su lanza era como un rodillo de tejedor(AD). 20 Hubo guerra otra vez en Gat, donde había un hombre de gran estatura que tenía seis dedos en cada mano y seis dedos en cada pie, veinticuatro en total. Él también descendía del gigante(AE). 21 Cuando desafió a Israel, lo mató Jonatán, hijo de Simea, hermano de David. 22 Estos cuatro descendían del gigante en Gat y cayeron por mano de David y por mano de sus siervos(AF).

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit. habían jurado a.
  2. 2 Samuel 21:2 Lit. herirlos.
  3. 2 Samuel 21:5 Lit. y que tramó contra nosotros para que fuéramos exterminados.
  4. 2 Samuel 21:6 Lit. dejaremos expuestos.
  5. 2 Samuel 21:6 Lit. Yo daré.
  6. 2 Samuel 21:8 Así en dos mss. heb. en algunos mss. de la versión gr. y en la versión siriaca; en el T.M., Mical.
  7. 2 Samuel 21:9 Lit. dejaron expuestos.
  8. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit. agua fue derramada.
  9. 2 Samuel 21:10 Lit. dio.
  10. 2 Samuel 21:12 Lit. hirieron.
  11. 2 Samuel 21:13 Lit. expuestos.
  12. 2 Samuel 21:16 Heb. Rafá, y así en el resto del cap.
  13. 2 Samuel 21:16 Lit. dijo de herir.
  14. 2 Samuel 21:18 En 1Crón. 20:4, Gezer.
  15. 2 Samuel 21:18 Lit. hirió, y así en los vers. 19 y 21.
  16. 2 Samuel 21:19 En 1Crón. 20:5, Lahmi, hermano de Goliat.
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