ASV - 2 Samuel Chapter 21 to 22

21 2 Samuel 21

¹And there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of Jehovah. And Jehovah said, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put to death the Gibeonites. ²And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto 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 unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah); ³and David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of Jehovah? ⁴And the Gibeonites said unto 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. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. ⁵And they said unto the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel, ⁶let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto Jehovah in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of Jehovah. And the king said, I will give them.

⁷But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of Jehovah's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. ⁸But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she bare to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: ⁹And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the mountain before Jehovah, and they fell all seven together. And they were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of barley harvest.

¹⁰And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured upon them from heaven; and she suffered neither the birds of the heavens to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.

¹²And 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 slew Saul in Gilboa; ¹³and he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son: and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged. ¹⁴And they buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was entreated for the land.

¹⁵And the Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David waxed faint; ¹⁶and Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. ¹⁷But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the lamp of Israel.

¹⁸And it came to pass after this, that there was again war with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Saph, who was of the sons of the giant. ¹⁹And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. ²⁰And there was again war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant. ²¹And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, slew him. ²²These four were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

22 2 Samuel 22

¹And David spake unto Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: ²and he said, Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine; ³God, my rock, in him will I take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge; My saviour, thou savest me from violence. ⁴I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies.

⁵For the waves of death compassed me; The floods of ungodliness made me afraid: ⁶The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me. ⁷In my distress I called upon Jehovah; Yea, I called unto my God: And he heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came into his ears. ⁸Then the earth shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven quaked And were shaken, because he was wroth. ⁹There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it. ¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet. ¹¹And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; Yea, he was seen upon the wings of the wind. ¹²And he made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies. ¹³At the brightness before him Coals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴Jehovah thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered his voice. ¹⁵And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; Lightning, and discomfited them. ¹⁶Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of Jehovah, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁷He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters; ¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy, From them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me. ¹⁹They came upon me in the day of my calamity; But Jehovah was my stay. ²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²¹Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. ²²For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not wickedly departed from my God. ²³For all his ordinances were before me; And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. ²⁴I was also perfect toward him; And I kept myself from mine iniquity. ²⁵Therefore hath Jehovah recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight.

²⁶With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; With the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect; ²⁷With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; And with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward. ²⁸And the afflicted people thou wilt save; But thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.

²⁹For thou art my lamp, O Jehovah; And Jehovah will lighten my darkness. ³⁰For by thee I run upon a troop; By my God do I leap over a wall. ³¹As for God, his way is perfect: The word of Jehovah is tried; He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in him.

³²For who is God, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, save our God? ³³God is my strong fortress; And he guideth the perfect in his way. ³⁴He maketh his feet like hinds' feet, And setteth me upon my high places. ³⁵He teacheth my hands to war, So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass. ³⁶Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation; And thy gentleness hath made me great. ³⁷Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; And my feet have not slipped.

³⁸I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; Neither did I turn again till they were consumed. ³⁹And I have consumed them, and smitten them through, so that they cannot arise: Yea, they are fallen under my feet. ⁴⁰For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle; Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. ⁴¹Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me, That I might cut off them that hate me. ⁴²They looked, but there was none to save; Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not. ⁴³Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth, I did crush them as the mire of the streets, and did spread them abroad.

⁴⁴Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people; Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me. ⁴⁵The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me: As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. ⁴⁶The foreigners shall fade away, And shall come trembling out of their close places.

⁴⁷Jehovah liveth; And blessed be my rock; And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation, ⁴⁸Even the God that executeth vengeance for me, And that bringeth down peoples under me, ⁴⁹And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me; Thou deliverest me from the violent man. ⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the nations, And will sing praises unto thy name. ⁵¹Great deliverance giveth he to his king, And showeth lovingkindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, for evermore.