1During the days of David there was a famine year after year, for three years; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, “It is because of Saul, and his bloody house; because he killed the Gibeonites.” 2And David called the Gibeonites, and said to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the descendants of Israel, but a remnant of the Amorites, whom the descendants of Israel had sworn to spare: but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had sought to annihilate them), 3And so David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make the atonement, that you may bless the people of the LORD?” 4And the Gibeonites replied, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul, nor that you kill any of his house; nor anyone in Israel.” And David asked, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5And they answered, “Saul was the man who plotted to annihilate us, that none of us would remain within borders of Israel, 6Let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them up before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD chose.” And David said, “I will give them to you.” 7But the king spared Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, and grandson of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan. 8But the king took Saul’s two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth, whom Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, bore to Saul; and the five sons of Merab, Saul’s daughter, whom she bore to Adriel, son of Barzillai, the Meholathite; 9And David turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. And all seven died together, in the first days of harvest, in the beginning of barley harvest.

10And Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, took sackcloth (burlap), and spread it out upon a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season, protecting the seven bodies from being torn by scavenger birds during the day, and by wild animals at night. 11And when David was told what Rizpah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12He 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 public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, after killing Saul in Gilboa; 13And he gathered the bones of Saul and Jonathan, together with those of the seven who were hanged. 14And the king ordered that they bury the bones of Saul with them all in the sepulcher (tomb) of Kish, his father, in the country of Benjamin in Zelah; and after they had done all that the king commanded, God answered their prayers on behalf of the land.

15Then, once again, the Philistines waged war with Israel; and David, and his men went down, and fought against the Philistines; and David became exhausted. 16And Ishbi-benob, one of the sons of Rapha, the giant whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze (7.5 pounds), and was armed with a new sword, cornered David and was about to kill him. 17But Abishai, son of Zeruiah, came to his aid, and struck and killed the Philistine. Then the men of David declared, “Never again shall you go out to battle with us, and risk the light of Israel being quenched.”

18And after this, there was another a battle with the Philistines at Gob. At that time, Sibbecai, the Hushathite, killed Saph, one of the sons of the giant.

19And after that, there was yet another a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan, son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, killed the brother of Goliath, the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

20And in still another battle at Gath, there was a son of a giant - a huge man with six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four digits in all. 21And when he defied Israel, Jonathan, son of Shimei, David’ brother, killed him.

22These four giants were born to Rapha, the giant in Gath, and were killed by David, or his warriors.