David Avenges the Gibeonites
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Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David z 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."
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So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but a 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.
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And David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless b the heritage of the Lord?"
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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?"
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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,
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let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at c Gibeah of Saul, d the chosen of the Lord." And the king said, "I will give them."
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But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of e the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
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The king took the two sons of f Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom g she bore to h Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;
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and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, i at the beginning of barley harvest.
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j Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.
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When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,
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David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, k who had stolen them from the public square of l Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.
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And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.
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And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in m Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that n God responded to the plea for the land.
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Cross References
Numbers 27:21
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.
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Cross References
Joshua 9:3 - 17
But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 26:19
Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, 'Go, serve other gods.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 10:26
Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.
1 Samuel 11:4
When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 10:24
And Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people." And all the people shouted, "Long live the king!
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Cross References
1 Samuel 20:8
Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?
1 Samuel 20:42
Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, 'The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'" And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
1 Samuel 23:18
And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 3:7
Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?
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Cross References
Genesis 50:23
And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 18:19
But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.
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Cross References
Ruth 1:22
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 21:23
His body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 31:10 - 13
They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
2 Samuel 2:4
And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David, "It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.
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Cross References
Joshua 17:11
Also in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Naphath.
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Cross References
Joshua 18:28
Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath-jearim - fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin according to its clans.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 24:25
And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.