1. THERE WAS a three-year famine in the days of David, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. The Lord replied, It is on account of Saul and his bloody house, for he put to death the Gibeonites.
2. So the king called the Gibeonites–now the Gibeonites were not Israelites but of the remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah had sought to slay the Gibeonites–
3. So David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? How can I make atonement that you may bless the Lord's inheritance?
4. The Gibeonites said to him, We will accept no silver or gold of Saul or of his house; neither for us shall you kill any man in Israel. David said, I will do for you what you say.
5. They said to the king, The man who consumed us and planned to prevent us from remaining in any territory of Israel,