⁸ Mephibosheth^(A) bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog^(B) like me?”

¹² Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth.^(A)

David and Ziba

16 When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba,^(A) the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.^(B)

² The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh^(C) those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

³ The king then asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?”^(D)

Ziba^(E) said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather’s kingdom.’”

⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth^(F) is now yours.”

“I humbly bow,” Ziba said. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.”

²⁴ Mephibosheth,^(A) Saul’s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.

⁷ The king spared Mephibosheth^(A) son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath^(B) before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. ⁸ But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah,^(C) whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,^[a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.^(D)