1 There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death."

2 The king called the Gibeonites, and said to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the children of Israel had sworn to them; and Saul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah); 3 and David said to the Gibeonites, "What should I do for you? And with what should I make atonement, that you may bless the LORD’s inheritance?"

4 The Gibeonites said to him, "It is no 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."

He said, "I will do for you whatever you say."

5 They said to the king, "The man who consumed us, and who devised against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel, 6 let seven men of his sons be delivered to us, and we will hang them up to the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD."

The king said, "I will give them."

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8 But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 He delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and all seven of them fell together. They were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest. 10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them from the sky. She allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night. 11 David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. 12 So David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, in the day that the Philistines killed Saul in Gilboa; 13 and he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son. They also gathered the bones of those who were hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer for the land.

15 The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. David grew faint; 16 and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, he being armed with a new sword, thought he would kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "Don’t go out with us to battle any more, so that you don’t quench the lamp of Israel."

18 After this, there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was of the sons of the giant. 19 There was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite’s brother, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on every hand, and six toes on every foot, twenty four in count; and he also was born to the giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him. 22 These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

1 Houve uma fome durante o reinado de David que durou três anos consecutivos, e David orou insistentemente por isso. Então o Senhor disse: Esta fome é por causa da maldade de Saul e da sua família sanguinária, que matou os gibeonitas.

2 O rei chamou os gibeonitas. Estes não faziam parte de Israel; eram o resto que ficou da nação dos amorreus. Israel jurara não os matar, mas Saul, no seu zelo nacionalista, tentou liquidá-los.

3 David perguntou-lhes: Que hei-de eu fazer por vocês, para que nos livremos desta culpa que recai sobre nós, e para que possamos enfim pedir a bênção de Deus?

4 Pois bem, dinheiro não resolve o caso, e também não pretendemos matar seja quem for dos israelitas como vingança.David perguntou: Então, que posso eu fazer? Digam-me o que acham e fá-lo-ei.

5 Então eles responderam: Dá-nos sete descendentes de Saul - esse homem que procurou destruir-nos. Enforcá-los-emos em Gibeão, a cidade daquele que foi do rei Saul.Está certo; farei isso, disse o rei.

7 No entanto poupou Mefibosete, filho de Jónatas e neto de Saul, devido ao juramento que fizera a Jónatas. Mas deu-lhes os dois filhos de Rizpa - Armoni e Mefibosete - que eram netos de Saul através da sua mulher Aia. Também lhes entregou cinco filhos de Merabe, filha de Saul, mulher de Adriel, e que tinham sido criados pela sua irmã Mical. Os homens de Gibeão enforcaram-nos na montanha perante o Senhor. Portanto, os sete morreram juntos no princípio da colheita da cevada.

10 Rispa, a mãe de dois dos homens, estendeu um saco de serapilheira sobre um rochedo e ali ficou guardando os cadáveres, durante toda a estação da sega , para evitar que as aves de rapina os despedaçassem, de dia, e também que os animais selvagens, de noite, os comessem. David, ao saber o que ela tinha feito, mandou que os ossos dos homens fossem enterrados no túmulo de Cis, o pai de Saul. Ao mesmo tempo enviou um pedido à população de Jabes-Gileade para que lhe trouxessem os ossos de Saul e Jónatas. Eles tinham furtado os corpos duma praça pública de Bete-Sã, onde os filisteus os tinham pendurado, depois de terem morrido na batalha do monte Gilboa. Foi dessa forma que os seus ossos lhe foram trazidos. O Senhor respondeu às orações e fez terminar aquela fome.

15 Uma vez em que os filisteus estavam em guerra com Israel, e em que David mais os seus homens se encontravam no aceso da luta, o rei ficou exausto e muito fraco.

16 Isbi-Benobe, um gigante, cuja lança pesava mais de cinco quilos, e que trazia uma nova armadura, aproximou-se de David com a intenção de o matar. Mas Abisai, o filho de Zeruía, chegou-se a tempo e matou o filisteu gigante. Na sequência desse incidente os homens de David disseram-lhe: Nunca mais voltarás a combater! Por que razão havíamos nós de correr o risco de se apagar a luz de Israel?

18 Mais tarde, durante uma guerra com os filisteus também em Gobe, Sibecai o husatita matou Safe, um outro gigante.

19 E ainda noutra peleja no mesmo sítio, El-Hanã matou o irmão de Golias o giteu, cuja lança era tão grande como a viga dum tecelão!

20 Noutra altura ainda, em que os filisteus e os israelitas estavam a combater em Gate, um gigante com seis dedos em cada mão e em cada pé injuriava a nação de Israel; Jónatas, sobrinho de David (filho de Simei, irmão do rei), matou-o.

22 Estes quatro gigantes pertenciam à tribo dos gigantes de Gate; foram pois mortos por elementos da tropa de David.