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David's Kindness to Mephibosheth

¹ And David said, "Is there still anyone left of the house (family) of Saul ^(C1)to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"² There was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, so they called him to David. And the king said to him, "Are you ^(C1)Ziba?" He said, "I am your servant."³ And the king said, "Is there no longer anyone left of the house (family) of Saul to whom I may show the ^(C1)goodness and graciousness of God?" Ziba replied to the king, "There is still a son of ^(C2)Jonathan, one whose feet are crippled." ^(VR1)4 So the king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba replied to the king, "He is ^(C1)in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar."⁵ Then King David sent word and had him brought from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar.^6 (C1)Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and ^(C2)fell face down and lay himself down in respect. David said, "Mephibosheth." And he answered, "Here is your servant!"⁷ David said to him, "Do not be afraid, for ^(C1)I will certainly show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and ^(C2)will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul; and ^(C3)you shall always eat at my table."⁸ Again Mephibosheth lay himself face down and said, "What is your servant, that you would be concerned for ^(C1)a dead dog like me?"

⁹ Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "I have given your master's grandson ^(C1)everything that belonged to Saul and to all his house (family).¹⁰ "You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce, so that your master's grandson may have food to eat; but ^(C1)Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, ^(C2)shall always eat at my table." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, "^(C1)Your servant will do according to everything that my lord the king commands." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table as one of the king's sons.¹² Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house were servants to Mephibosheth.¹³ So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^(C1)he always ate at the king's table. And ^(C2)he was lame in both feet.