2 Samuel 21:1-3

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

David Avenges the Gibeonites

21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gib′eonites to death.” ² So the king called the Gib′eonites.^[a] Now the Gib′eonites were not of the people of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to slay them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. ³ And David said to the Gib′eonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make expiation, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”