¹⁷ And with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And ^(A)Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king,

David and Ziba

16 When David had passed a little beyond ^(A)the summit, ^(B)Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, ^(C)a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. ² And the king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, ^(D)“The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who ^(E)faint in the wilderness to drink.” ³ And the king said, “And where is your master's son?” ^(F)Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.’” ⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”

² Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^(A)Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.”

²⁶ He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself,^[a] that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For ^(A)your servant is lame. ^27 (B)He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is ^(C)like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you.

¹⁰ And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson ^(A)shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had ^(B)fifteen sons and twenty servants.