Study Desk

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."

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).

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 ?"

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."

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,

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."

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.

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.

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.

^(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.

When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

^(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.

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.

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.

When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down.

^(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.

^(a)And David spoke ^(b)the words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the ^[a]hand of all his enemies and from the ^[b]hand of Saul.

He said, "^(c)The Lord is my ^[c]rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

^[d](d)My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My ^(e)shield and ^(f)the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and ^(g)my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.

"I call upon the Lord , ^(h)who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

"For ⁽ⁱ⁾the waves of death encompassed me; ^(j)The torrents of ^[e]destruction ^[f]overwhelmed me;

^(k)The cords of ^[g]Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

"^(l)In my distress I called upon the Lord , Yes, I ^[h]cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.

"Then ^(m)the earth shook and quaked, ⁽ⁿ⁾The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

"Smoke went up ^[i]out of His nostrils, ^(o)Fire from His mouth devoured; ^(p)Coals were kindled by it.

"He bowed the heavens also, and came down With ^(q)thick darkness under His feet.

"^(r)And He rode on a cherub and flew; And He ^[j]appeared on ^(s)the wings of the wind.

"^(t)And He made darkness ^[k]canopies around Him, A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.

"From the brightness before Him ^(u)Coals of fire were kindled.

"^(v)The Lord thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice.

"^(w)And He sent out arrows, and scattered them, Lightning, and ^[l]routed them.

"Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were ^[m]laid bare By the rebuke of the Lord , ^(x)At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

"^(y)He sent from on high, He took me; ^(z)He drew me out of many waters.

"He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

"They confronted me in the day of my calamity, ^(aa)But the Lord was my support.

"^(ab)He also brought me forth into a broad place; He rescued me, ^(ac)because He delighted in me.

"^(ad)The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; ^(ae)According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

"^(af)For I have kept the ways of the Lord , And have not acted wickedly against my God.

"^(ag)For all His ordinances were before me, And as for His statutes, I did not depart from ^[n]them.

"^(ah)I was also ^[o]blameless toward Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

"^(ai)Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes.

"^(aj)With the ^[p]kind You show Yourself ^[q]kind, With the ^[r]blameless You show Yourself ^[s]blameless;

^(ak)With the pure You show Yourself pure, ^(al)And with the perverted You show Yourself ^[t]astute.

"^(am)And You save an afflicted people; ^(an)But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase.

"^(ao)For You are my lamp, O Lord ; And the Lord illumines my darkness.

"^(ap)For by You I can ^[u]run upon a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.

"^(aq)As for God, His way is ^[v]blameless; ^(ar)The word of the Lord is tested; ^(as)He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

"^(at)For who is God, besides the Lord ? ^(au)And who is a rock, besides our God?

"^(av)God is my strong fortress; And He ^[w]sets the ^[x]blameless in ^[y]His way.

"^(aw)He makes ^[z]my feet like hinds' feet, ^(ax)And sets me on my high places.

"^(ay)He trains my hands for battle, ^(az)So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

"You have also given me ^(ba)the shield of Your salvation, And Your ^[aa]help makes me great.

"^(bb)You enlarge my steps under me, And my ^[ab]feet have not slipped.

"I pursued my enemies and ^(bc)destroyed them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

"And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise; And ^(bd)they fell under my feet.

"For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have ^[ac]subdued under me ^(be)those who rose up against me.

"You have also ^(bf)made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I ^[ad]destroyed those who hated me.

"^(bg)They looked, but there was none to save; ^(bh)Even to the Lord , but He did not answer them.

"^(bi)Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth; ^(bj)I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.

"^(bk)You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people; ^(bl)You have kept me as head of the nations; ^(bm)A people whom I have not known serve me.

"^(bn)Foreigners pretend obedience to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me.

"Foreigners ^[ae]lose heart, ^(bo)And ^[af]come trembling out of their ^[ag]fortresses.

"The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be ^[ah](bp)God, the rock of my salvation,

^(bq)The God who executes vengeance for me, ^(br)And brings down peoples under me,

Who also brings me out from my enemies; You even lift me above ^(bs)those who rise up against me; ^(bt)You rescue me from the violent man.

"^(bu)Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord , among the nations, And I will sing praises to Your name.

"^(bv)He is a tower of ^[ai]deliverance to His king, And ^(bw)shows lovingkindness to His anointed, ^(bx)To David and his ^[aj]descendants forever."