2 Samuel
Chapter 9
1 David asked, “Is there anyone still alive from Saul’s family, so I can be kind to them for Jonathan’s sake?”
2 Saul’s household had a servant named Ziba. When they brought him to David, the king asked, “Are you Ziba?” He replied, “I am your servant.”
3 The king asked, “Is there no one left from Saul’s family to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba told the king, “Jonathan has a son who cannot walk.”
4 The king asked him, “Where is he?” Ziba answered the king, “Look, he’s at the house of Machir, Ammiel’s son, in Lodebar.”
5 Then King David sent for him and brought him from Machir’s house, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar.
6 When Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson, came to David, he bowed down to show respect. David called out, “Mephibosheth!” And he replied, “Here I am, your servant!”
7 David told him, “Don’t be afraid. I will definitely be kind to you because of your father Jonathan. I will give back to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”
8 He bowed and said, “What is your servant, that you would notice a worthless dog like me?”
9 The king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given your master’s son everything that belonged to Saul and his family.”
10 You, your sons, and your workers must farm the land for him, and you must bring in the crops so that your master’s son will have food to eat; but Mephibosheth, your master’s son, will always eat bread at my table. Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty workers.
11 Ziba told the king, “I will do everything you, the king, have told me to do.” The king said about Mephibosheth, “He will eat at my table like one of my sons.”
12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Micha. Everyone living in Ziba’s house served Mephibosheth.
13 Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king’s table, and he could not walk well with either of his feet.