Gibeonite 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 for 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 ^[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 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless ^(D)the inheritance of the Lord?” ⁴ Then the Gibeonites said to him, “^(E)We 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.” ⁵ So they said to the king, “^(F)The man who consumed us and who planned ^[c]to exterminate us from remaining 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 gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they ^[f]hanged 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 ^(N)the beginning of barley harvest.

^10 (O)And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it 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 beasts of the field by night. ¹¹ When it was told 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 Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of ^(R)Beth-shan, ^(S)where the Philistines had hanged them on the day ^(T)the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. ¹³ He 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 ^[i]hanged. ¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in ^(U)Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that ^(V)God was moved by prayer for the land.

¹⁵ Now when ^(W)the 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. ¹⁶ Then Ishbi-benob, who was ^(X)among the descendants of the ^[j]giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, ^[k]was girded with a new sword, and he ^[l]intended to kill David. ¹⁷ But ^(Y)Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David 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 down Saph, who was among the descendants of the ^[m]giant. ¹⁹ There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite ^[n]killed ^[o]Goliath the Gittite, ^(AD)the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ²⁰ 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 ^[p]giant. ²¹ When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. ^22 (AF)These four were born to the ^[q]giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Purpose of This Letter

3 This is now, ^(A)beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am ^(B)stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ² that you should ^(C)remember the words spoken beforehand by ^(D)the holy prophets and ^(E)the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

The Coming Day of the Lord

^3 (F)Know this first of all, that ^(G)in the last days ^(H)mockers will come with their mocking, ^(I)following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “^(J)Where is the promise of His ^(K)coming? For ever since the fathers ^(L)fell asleep, all continues just as it was ^(M)from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For ^[a]when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that ^(N)by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was ^(O)formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which ^(P)the world at that time was ^(Q)destroyed, being flooded with water. ⁷ But by His word ^(R)the present heavens and earth are being reserved for ^(S)fire, kept for ^(T)the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, ^(U)beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and ^(V)a thousand years like one day. ^9 (W)The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but ^(X)is patient toward you, ^(Y)not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

A New Heaven and Earth

¹⁰ But ^(Z)the day of the Lord ^(AA)will come like a thief, in which ^(AB)the heavens ^(AC)will pass away with a roar and the ^(AD)elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and ^(AE)the earth and ^[b]its works will be ^[c]burned up.

¹¹ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ^12 (AF)looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which ^(AG)the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the ^(AH)elements will melt with intense heat! ¹³ But according to His ^(AI)promise we are looking for ^(AJ)new heavens and a new earth, ^(AK)in which righteousness dwells.

^14 (AL)Therefore, ^(AM)beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be ^(AN)found by Him in peace, ^(AO)spotless and blameless, ¹⁵ and regard the ^(AP)patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also ^(AQ)our beloved brother Paul, ^(AR)according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, ¹⁶ as also in all his letters, speaking in them of ^(AS)these things, ^(AT)in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and ^(AU)unstable distort, as they do also ^(AV)the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ You therefore, ^(AW)beloved, knowing this beforehand, ^(AX)be on your guard so that you are not carried away by ^(AY)the error of ^(AZ)unprincipled men and ^(BA)fall from your own steadfastness, ¹⁸ but grow in the grace and ^(BB)knowledge of our ^(BC)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ^(BD)To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.