2 Samuel 21

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 In the days of David there was a famine which lasted for three years on end. David consulted Yahweh,and Yahweh said, 'Saul and his family have incurred blood-guilt, by putting the Gibeonites to death.'	1 And a famine occurred, during the days of David, for three years continuously. And David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: “This is because of Saul, and his house of bloodshed. For he killed the Gibeonites.”
2 Then the king summoned the Gibeonites and said-now, the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but were aremnant of the Amorites, to whom the Israelites had bound themselves by oath; Saul, however, in his zeal for theIsraelites and for Judah, had done his best to exterminate them -- hence David said to the Gibeonites,	2 Therefore, the king, calling for the Gibeonites, spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel, but were the remnant of the Amorites. And the sons of Israel had sworn an oath to them, but Saul wished to strike them in zeal, as if on behalf of the sons of Israel and Judah.
3 'What can I do for you? How can I make amends, so that you wil cal a blessing down on Yahweh'sheritage?'	3 Therefore, David said to the Gibeonites: “What shall I do for you? And what shall be your satisfaction, so that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?”
4 The Gibeonites replied, 'Our quarrel with Saul and his family cannot be settled for silver or gold, nor byputting to death one man in Israel.' David said, 'Say what you want and I wil do it for you.'	4 And the Gibeonites said to him: “There is no quarrel for us over silver or gold, but against Saul and against his house. And we do not desire that any man of Israel be put to death.” The king said to them, “Then what do you wish that I should do for you?”
5 Then they replied to the king, 'The man who dismembered us and planned to annihilate us, so that weshould not exist anywhere in Israelite territory-	5 And they said to the king: “The man who unjustly afflicted and oppressed us, we ought to destroy in such manner that not even one of his stock may be left behind in all the parts of Israel.
6 we want seven of his descendants handed over to us; and we shal dismember them before Yahwehat Gibeon on Yahweh's hill.' 'I shal hand them over,' said the king.	6 Let seven men from his sons be given to us, so that we may crucify them to the Lord in Gibeon of Saul, formerly the chosen place of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
7 The king, however, spared Meribbaal son of Jonathan, son of Saul, on account of the oath by Yahwehbinding them together, binding David and Jonathan son of Saul.	7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord which had been made between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul.
8 The king took the two sons born to Saul by Rizpah daughter of Aiah: Armoni and Meribbaal; and thefive sons borne by Merab daughter of Saul to Adriel son of Barzil ai, of Meholah.	8 And so 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 conceived of Adriel, the son of Barzillai, who was from Meholath,
9 He handed these over to the Gibeonites who dismembered them before Yahweh on the hil . Theseven of them perished together; they were put to death in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of thebarley harvest.	9 and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites. And they crucified them on a hill in the sight of the Lord. And these seven fell together in the first days of the harvest, when the barley is beginning to be reaped.
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah, wearing sacking and spreading some out for herself on the rock, from thebeginning of the barley harvest until the rain fel on them from heaven, kept the birds of the sky away from themin the daytime, and the wild animals away at night.	10 Then Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, taking a haircloth, spread it under herself on a rock, from the beginning of the harvest until water dropped from heaven upon them. And she did not permit the birds to tear them by day, nor the beasts by night.
11 David was told of what Saul's concubine, Rizpah daughter of Aiah, had done.	11 And it was reported to David what Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
12 David went and recovered the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the notables of Jabesh inGilead. The latter had stolen them from the square in Beth-Shean, where the Philistines had hung them, whenthe Philistines had defeated Saul at Gilboa.	12 And David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had suspended them after they had slain Saul at Gilboa.
13 David fetched the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. The bones of the men who had beendismembered were col ected	13 And he brought the bones of Saul, and the bones of his son Jonathan, from there. And they collected the bones of those who had been crucified.
14 and these, with the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan, were buried in the territory of Benjamin, atZela, in the tomb of Saul's father, Kish. The king's orders were carried out to the letter and after that, God tookpity on the country.	14 And they buried them with the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan, in the land of Benjamin, to the side of the sepulcher of his father Kish. And they did all that the king had instructed. And after these things, God showed favor again to the land.
15 Once again the Philistines made war on Israel. David went down with his retainers; they fought thePhilistines and David began to tire.	15 Then the Philistines again undertook a battle against Israel. And David descended, and his servants with him, and they fought against the Philistines. But when David grew faint,
16 There was a champion, one of the sons of Rapha. His spear weighed three hundred shekels ofbronze; he was wearing a new sword and was confident of kil ing David.	16 Ishbibenob, who was of the ancestry of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed three hundred ounces, who had been girded with a new sword, strove to strike down David.
17 Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his rescue, however, attacking the Philistine and kil ing him. Then itwas that David's men swore the fol owing oath to him, 'You are never to go into battle with us again, in case youshould extinguish the lamp of Israel!'	17 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, defended him, and striking the Philistine, he killed him. Then David’s men swore an oath to him, saying, “You shall no longer go out to war with us, lest you extinguish the lamp of Israel.”
18 After this, war with the Philistines broke out again at Gob. This was when Sibbecai of Hushah kil edSaph, one of the sons of Rapha.	18 Also, a second war occurred in Gob against the Philistines. Then Sibbecai from Hushah struck down Saph, from the stock of Arapha, of the ancestry of the giants.
19 Again, war with the Philistines broke out at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair, of Bethlehem, kil ed Goliathof Gath, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.	19 Then there was a third war in Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus, a son of the forest, a weaver from Bethlehem, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like the beam used by a cloth maker.
20 There was further warfare at Gath, where there was a man of huge stature with six fingers on eachhand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in al . He too was a son of Rapha.	20 A fourth battle was in Gath. In that place, there was a lofty man, who had six digits on each hand and each foot, that is, twenty-four in all, and he was from the origins of Arapha.
21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, brother of David cut him down.	21 And he blasphemed Israel. So Jonathan, the son of Shimei, the brother of David, struck him down.
22 These four were sons of Rapha in Gath and fel at the hands of David and his retainers.	22 These four men were born of Arapha in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and his servants.