1. During David's reign there was a severe famine which lasted for three full years. So David consulted the Lord about it, and the Lord said, “Saul and his family are guilty of murder; he put the people of Gibeon to death.”
2. (The people of Gibeon were not Israelites; they were a small group of Amorites whom the Israelites had promised to protect, but Saul had tried to destroy them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
3. So David summoned the people of Gibeon and said to them, “What can I do for you? I want to make up for the wrong that was done to you, so that you will bless the Lord's people.”
4. They answered, “Our quarrel with Saul and his family can't be settled with silver or gold, nor do we want to kill any Israelite.”“What, then, do you think I should do for you?” David asked.
5. They answered, “Saul wanted to destroy us and leave none of us alive anywhere in Israel.
6. So hand over seven of his male descendants, and we will hang them before the Lord at Gibeah, the town of Saul, the Lord's chosen king.”“I will hand them over,” the king answered.
7. But because of the sacred promise that he and Jonathan had made to each other, David spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul.