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David and Mephibosheth

(A)One day David asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul's family? If there is, I would like to show him kindness for Jonathan's sake.”

There was a servant of Saul's family named Ziba, and he was told to go to David. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked.

“At your service, sir,” he answered.

(B)The king asked him, “Is there anyone left of Saul's family to whom I can show loyalty and kindness, as I promised God I would?”

Ziba answered, “There is still one of Jonathan's sons. He is crippled.”

“Where is he?” the king asked.

“At the home of Machir son of Ammiel in Lodebar,” Ziba answered. So King David sent for him.

When Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, arrived, he bowed down before David in respect. David said, “Mephibosheth,” and he answered, “At your service, sir.”

“Don't be afraid,” David replied. “I will be kind to you for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will give you back all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always be welcome at my table.”

Mephibosheth bowed again and said, “I am no better than a dead dog, sir! Why should you be so good to me?”

Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said, “I am giving Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You, your sons, and your servants will farm the land for your master Saul's family and bring in the harvest, to provide food for them. But Mephibosheth himself will always be a guest at my table.” (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

11 Ziba answered, “I will do everything Your Majesty commands.”

So Mephibosheth ate at the king's[a] table, just like one of the king's sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. All the members of Ziba's family became servants of Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem, eating all his meals at the king's table.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 9:11 One ancient translation the king's; Hebrew my.

David and Ziba

16 (A)When David had gone a little beyond the top of the hill, he was suddenly met by Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, who had with him a couple of donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred bunches of fresh fruit, and a leather bag full of wine. King David asked him, “What are you going to do with all that?”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for Your Majesty's family to ride, the bread and the fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is for them to drink when they get tired in the wilderness.”

(B)“Where is Mephibosheth, the grandson of your master Saul?” the king asked him.

“He is staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba answered, “because he is convinced that the Israelites will now restore to him the kingdom of his grandfather Saul.”

The king said to Ziba, “Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is yours.”

“I am your servant,” Ziba replied. “May I always please Your Majesty!”

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