NSB(i)
3 He asked them: »What can I do for you? What shall I give you to make peace with you so that you will bless what belongs to Jehovah?«
4 The Gibeonites responded: »Our quarrel with Saul and his family cannot be settled with silver or gold. We do not want to kill any Israelite.« What do you want me to do?« David asked.
5 They answered: »Saul wanted to destroy us and leave none of us alive anywhere in Israel.
6 »Hand over seven of his male descendants. We will hang them before Jehovah at Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, Jehovah’s chosen king.« The king responded: »I will hand them over to you.«
7 David made a promise to Jonathan with Jehovah as his witness. He spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul.
8 Saul and Rizpah the daughter of Aiah had two sons named Armoni and Mephibosheth. Saul’s daughter Merab had five sons whose father was Adriel the son of Barzillai from Meholah. David took Rizpah’s two sons and Merab’s five sons.
9 He turned them over to the Gibeonites. They hanged all seven of them on the mountain near the place where Jehovah was worshiped. This happened right at the beginning of the barley harvest.
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah spread some sackcloth on a nearby rock. She would not let the birds land on the bodies during the day. She kept the wild animals away at night. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until it started to rain.
11 [The Philistines killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa and hung their bodies in the town square at Beth-Shan. The people of Jabesh in Gilead secretly took the bodies away.] David found out what Saul’s wife Rizpah did. So he went to the leaders of Jabesh to get the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan.
12 David took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. They had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shean, where the Philistines hung them the day they killed Saul at Gilboa.
13 David brought the bones of Saul and Jonathan. His men also gathered the bones of those who had been executed.
14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin, at Zela, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. They did everything the king ordered. After that God answered the prayers for the land.