NETtext - II Samuel - 9

9:1  Then David asked, "Is anyone still left from the family of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?"

9:2  Now there was a servant from Saul's house named Ziba, so he was summoned to David. The king asked him, "Are you Ziba?" He replied, "At your service."

9:3  The king asked, "Is there not someone left from Saul's family, that I may extend God's kindness to him?" Ziba said to the king, "One of Jonathan's sons is left; both of his feet are crippled."

9:4  The king asked him, "Where is he?" Ziba told the king, "He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.

9:5  So King David had him brought from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.

9:6  When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. David said, "Mephibosheth?" He replied, "Yes, at your service."

9:7  David said to him, "Don't be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table."

9:8  Then Mephibosheth bowed and said, "Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?"

9:9  Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's attendant, and said to him, "Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master's grandson.

9:10  You will cultivate the land for him - you and your sons and your servants. You will bring its produce and it will be food for your master's grandson to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, will be a regular guest at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

9:11  Ziba said to the king, "Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do." So Mephibosheth was a regular guest at David's table, just as though he were one of the king's sons.

9:12  Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All the members of Ziba's household were Mephibosheth's servants.

9:13  Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem, for he was a regular guest at the king's table. But both his feet were crippled.