[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?" [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." [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." [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." [5] So King David had him brought from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar. [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." [7] David said to him, "Don't be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. I will give back to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will be a regular guest at my table." [8] Then Mephibosheth bowed and said, "Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?" [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. [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.) [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. [12] Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All the members of Ziba's household were Mephibosheth's servants. [13] Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem, for he was a regular guest at the king's table. But both his feet were crippled.
