2 Samuel 9
Open in the reader1Then Beloved asked, “Is there anyone left from the house of Asked-For to whom I can show kindness for the sake of He-Who-Is-Has-Given?”
2And there was a servant of the house of Asked-For named Ziba. They summoned him to Beloved, and the king inquired, “Are you Ziba?” “I am your servant,” he replied.
3So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of the house of Asked-For to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still He-Who-Is-Has-Given son, who is lame in both feet.”
4“Where is he?” replied the king. And Ziba said, “Indeed, he is in No-Pasture at the house of Salesman son of My-Kinsman-Is-God.”
5So King Beloved had him brought from the house of Salesman son of My-Kinsman-Is-God in No-Pasture.
6And when Shame-Dispeller son of He-Who-Is-Has-Given, the son of Asked-For, came to Beloved, he fell facedown in reverence. Then Beloved said, “Shame-Dispeller!” “I am your servant,” he replied.
7“Do not be afraid,” said Beloved, “for surely I will show you kindness for the sake of your father He-Who-Is-Has-Given. I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Asked-For, and you will always eat at my table.”
8Shame-Dispeller bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog like me?”
9Then the king summoned Asked-For’s servant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Asked-For and to all his house.
10You and your sons and servants are to work the ground for him and bring in the harvest, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat. But Shame-Dispeller, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11And Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all that my lord the king has commanded.” So Shame-Dispeller ate at Beloved’s table like one of the king’s own sons.
12And Shame-Dispeller had a young son named Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is, and all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Shame-Dispeller.
13So Shame-Dispeller lived in Foundation-of-Peace, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was lame in both feet.