1 Samuel

¹David fled from Naioth in Ramah and went to Jonathan. 'What have I done?' he asked. 'What is my crime? How have I wronged your father that he wants to kill me?'

²'That could never happen!' Jonathan replied. 'You are not going to die. My father doesn't do anything, great or small, without telling me first. Why would he hide this from me? It's just not so.'

³But David took an oath and said, 'Your father knows very well that you are fond of me, so he has said to himself, I won't tell Jonathan — it would only upset him. I swear to you, as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.'

⁴Jonathan said to David, 'Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it for you.'

⁵David said, 'Look — tomorrow is the New Moon festival, and I'm supposed to sit with the king at the meal. But let me go and hide in the field until the third evening.'

⁶'If your father asks about me, say: David begged my permission to run to Bethlehem, his hometown, because his whole family holds their annual sacrifice there.'

⁷'If he says, Fine, then I'm safe. But if he becomes angry, then you'll know he has decided to harm me.'

⁸'Show your loyalty to me, because you made a covenant before the LORD with me. If I am guilty of anything, kill me yourself — why hand me over to your father?'

⁹'Never!' Jonathan said. 'If I find out that my father has decided to harm you, I will certainly tell you.'

¹⁰David asked, 'Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?'

¹¹'Come,' Jonathan replied, 'let's go out to the field.' So they both went out to the field.

¹²Jonathan said to David, 'I promise before the LORD, the God of Israel, that I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the day after. If he feels good about David, I will send word to let you know.'

¹³'But if my father intends to harm you, may the LORD deal with me severely if I don't warn you and send you off safely. May the LORD be with you, as he was with my father.'

¹⁴'Show me the faithful love the LORD expects, and do not let me die.'

¹⁵'Never stop showing your faithful love to my household, even when the LORD has destroyed every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth.'

¹⁶So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, 'May the LORD judge David's enemies for this.'

¹⁷Jonathan made David reaffirm his oath, because he loved David as he loved his own life.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to David, 'Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. Your absence will be noticed because your seat will be empty.'

¹⁹'The day after tomorrow, go to the place where you hid before, and wait by the stone Ezel.'

²⁰'I will shoot three arrows to the side of the stone as if shooting at a target.'

²¹'Then I will send a boy to find the arrows. If I say to him: The arrows are on this side of you, pick them up — that means you are safe and there is nothing to worry about, as the LORD lives.'

²²'But if I say: The arrows are beyond you — then you must go, because the LORD is sending you away.'

²³'As for the agreement we have made, the LORD is our witness between us forever.'

²⁴So David hid in the field. When the New Moon festival arrived, the king sat down to eat.

²⁵The king took his usual seat against the wall. Jonathan sat across from him, and Abner sat next to Saul. David's place was empty.

²⁶Saul said nothing about it that day, thinking, 'Something must have happened to make him unclean — surely he is unclean.'

²⁷The next day, the second day of the month, David's place was empty again. Saul asked his son Jonathan, 'Why hasn't Jesse's son come to the meal either yesterday or today?'

²⁸Jonathan answered, 'David begged me to let him go to Bethlehem.'

²⁹'He said, Please let me go. My family has a sacrifice in our town, and my brother has ordered me to be there. If you are pleased with me, please let me slip away to see my brothers. That is why he has not come to the king's table.'

³⁰Saul exploded in anger at Jonathan. 'You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do you think I don't know that you have taken the side of Jesse's son? You have brought shame on yourself and on your mother!'

³¹'As long as Jesse's son lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be secure. Now send for him and bring him to me — he must die!'

³²'Why should he be put to death?' Jonathan argued back. 'What has he done?'

³³Saul picked up his spear and hurled it at Jonathan to kill him. Then Jonathan knew for certain that his father was determined to put David to death.

³⁴Jonathan got up from the table in a fury. He ate nothing the second day of the festival because he was grieved for David and indignant that his father had treated him so shamefully.

³⁵The next morning Jonathan went out to the field for his appointment with David, and a young boy went with him.

³⁶He told the boy, 'Run and find the arrows I shoot.' As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷When the boy reached the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, 'The arrow is beyond you, isn't it?'

³⁸Then Jonathan shouted, 'Hurry up! Don't stop!' The boy gathered up the arrows and came back to his master.

³⁹The boy knew nothing of what was going on. Only Jonathan and David understood the significance.

⁴⁰Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him, 'Go, carry them back to the city.'

⁴¹After the boy had gone, David came out from the south side of the stone. He bowed down with his face to the ground three times. Then they embraced and wept together, with David weeping the most.

⁴²Jonathan said to David, 'Go in peace, for we have sworn a lasting oath to each other in the LORD's name, saying, The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine, forever.' Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the city.