¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

What Does the Lord Require?

David Avenges the Gibeonites

21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David ^(A)sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his 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 people of Israel but ^(B)of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. ³ And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless ^(C)the heritage of the Lord?” ⁴ The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” ⁵ They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, ⁶ let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at ^(D)Gibeah of Saul, ^(E)the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

² And the Philistines called for the priests and ^(A)the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” ³ They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^(B)a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^(C)his hand does not turn away from you.”

¹¹ And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ^(A)the prophet Gad, David's ^(B)seer, saying, ¹² “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer^[a] you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” ¹³ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^(C)three^[b] years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”