Psalm 98

A psalm.

The Gibeonites Avenged

21 During the reign of David, there was a famine^(A) for three successive years; so David sought^(B) the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

² The king summoned the Gibeonites^(C) and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) ³ David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”^(D)

⁴ The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”^(E)

“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.

⁵ They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, ⁶ let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed^(F) before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen^(G) one.”

So the king said, “I will give them to you.”

⁷ The king spared Mephibosheth^(H) son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath^(I) before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. ⁸ But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah,^(J) whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,^[a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.^{(K) 9} He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death^(L) during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.^(M)

¹⁰ Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night.^{(N) 11} When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, ¹² he went and took the bones of Saul^(O) and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead.^(P) (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan,^(Q) where the Philistines had hung^(R) them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.)^{(S) 13} David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.

¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela^(T) in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that,^(U) God answered prayer^(V) in behalf of the land.^(W)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ We ought always to thank God for you,^(A) brothers and sisters,^[a] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.^{(B) 4} Therefore, among God’s churches we boast^(C) about your perseverance and faith^(D) in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.^(E)

⁵ All this is evidence^(F) that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy^(G) of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶ God is just:^(H) He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you^{(I) 7} and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven^(J) in blazing fire^(K) with his powerful angels.^{(L) 8} He will punish^(M) those who do not know God^(N) and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.^{(O) 9} They will be punished with everlasting destruction^(P) and shut out from the presence of the Lord^(Q) and from the glory of his might^{(R) 10} on the day^(S) he comes to be glorified^(T) in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.^(U)

¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you,^(V) that our God may make you worthy^(W) of his calling,^(X) and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness^(Y) and your every deed prompted by faith.^{(Z) 12} We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,^(AA) and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.^[b]