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2 S A MU EL 9
David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth
One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s
family still alive—anyone to whom I can
show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 He summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of
Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked.
“Yes sir, I am,” Ziba replied.
3 The king then asked him, “Is anyone still
alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show
God’s kindness to them.”
Ziba replied, “Yes, one of Jonathan’s sons is
still alive. He is crippled in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?” the king asked.
“In Lo-debar,” Ziba told him, “at the home of
Makir son of Ammiel.”
5 So David sent for him and brought him from
Makir’s home. 6 His name was Mephibosheth*;
he was Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson.
When he came to David, he bowed low to the
ground in deep respect. David said, “Greetings,
Mephibosheth.”
Mephibosheth replied, “I am your servant.”
7 “Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to
show kindness to you because of my promise
to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the
property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at
the king’s table!”
8 Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should
show such kindness to a dead dog like me?”
9 Then the king summoned Saul’s servant
Ziba and said, “I have given your master’s
grandson everything that belonged to Saul and
his family. 10 You and your sons and servants are
to farm the land for him to produce food for your
master’s household.* But Mephibosheth, your
master’s grandson, will eat here at my table.”
(Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
11 Ziba replied, “Yes, my lord the king; I am
your servant, and I will do all that you have
commanded.” And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David’s table,* like one of
the king’s own sons.
12 Mephibosheth had a young son named
Mica. From then on, all the members of Ziba’s
household were Mephibosheth’s servants.
13 And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both
feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the
king’s table.
9
David Defeats the Ammonites
Some time after this, King Nahash* of
the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun
became king. 2 David said, “I am going to show
loyalty to Hanun just as his father, Nahash,
was always loyal to me.” So David sent ambassadors to express sympathy to Hanun about his
father’s death.
But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the
land of Ammon, 3 the Ammonite commanders
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said to Hanun, their master, “Do you really
think these men are coming here to honor your
father? No! David has sent them to spy out the
city so they can come in and conquer it!” 4 So
Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved
off half of each man’s beard, cut off their robes
at the buttocks, and sent them back to David
in shame.
5 When David heard what had happened, he
sent messengers to tell the men, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come
back.” For they felt deep shame because of their
appearance.
6 When the people of Ammon realized how
seriously they had angered David, they sent
and hired 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers from
the lands of Beth-rehob and Zobah, 1,000 from
the king of Maacah, and 12,000 from the land
of Tob. 7 When David heard about this, he sent
Joab and all his warriors to fight them. 8 The Ammonite troops came out and drew up their battle
lines at the entrance of the city gate, while the
Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men
from Tob and Maacah positioned themselves to
fight in the open fields.
9 When Joab saw that he would have to fight
on both the front and the rear, he chose some
of Israel’s elite troops and placed them under
his personal command to fight the Arameans in the fields. 10 He left the rest of the army
under the command of his brother Abishai, who
was to attack the Ammonites. 11 “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and
help me,” Joab told his brother. “And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and
help you. 12 Be courageous! Let us fight bravely
for our people and the cities of our God. May the
Lord’s will be done.”
13 When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away. 14 And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they ran
from Abishai and retreated into the city. After
the battle was over, Joab returned to Jerusalem.
15 The Arameans now realized that they were
no match for Israel. So when they regrouped,
16 they were joined by additional Ar amean
troops summoned by Hadadezer from the other
side of the Euphrates River.* These troops arrived at Helam under the command of Shobach,
the commander of Hadadezer’s forces.
17 When David heard what was happening, he
mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River,
and led the army to Helam. The Arameans positioned themselves in battle formation and
fought against David. 18 But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David’s
forces killed 700 charioteers and 40,000 foot
9:6 Mephibosheth is another name for Merib-baal. 9:10 As in
Greek version; Hebrew reads your master’s grandson. 9:11 As
in Greek version; Hebrew reads my table. 10:1 As in parallel
text at 1 Chr 19:1; Hebrew reads the king. 10:16 Hebrew the
river.