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¹ AND David fled from Jonath, which is in Ramtha, and came and said to Jonathan, What have I done? And what is my offence? And what is my crime before your father that he seeks my life?² And Jonathan said to him, God forbid; you shall not die; behold, my father does nothing either great or small which he does not reveal to me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.³ And David swore moreover, and said, It is because your father knows that I have found favor in your eyes; therefore he has said. Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved; but truly as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.⁴ Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever you desire, I will do for you.⁵ And David said to Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit in the presence of your father to eat; but let me go that I may hide myself in the field until the third day at evening.⁶ If your father should miss me, then say to him. David earnestly asked leave of me that he might go to Beth-lehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.⁷ If he says thus, It is well; then your servant shall have peace; but if he is displeased, then be sure that evil is determined by him.⁸ Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you; but if there is folly in me, slay me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?

⁹ And Jonathan said, God forbid; for if I knew of a certainty that evil were determined by my father to come upon you, then I would come to you and tell you.¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, Who shall report to me, if your father answers you roughly?¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, Come, and let us go out into the field. So they both went out into the field.¹² And Jonathan said to David. The LORD God of Israel be a witness that I will sound my father about this time tomorrow, the third hour; and behold, if he feels good toward you, then I will send to you, and disclose it to you;¹³ The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan; but if it please my father to do you harm, then I will disclose it to you, and send you away that you may go in peace; and the LORD be with you as he has been with my father.¹⁴ And if only you will show me the kindness of God while I live, before I die;¹⁵ And also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house for ever, when the LORD destroys the enemies of David from the face of the earth;¹⁶ So Jonathans house shall flourish with the house of David; and may the LORD take vengeance on Davids enemies.¹⁷ And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to him. Tomorrow is the new moon; and you shall be missed, because your seat will be empty.¹⁹ And when at the third hour you will be wanted very much, then you shall come tomorrow to the place where you hid yourself, and you shall sit down beside the same stone.²⁰ And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.²¹ And. behold, I will send a lad to go to gather up the arrows. And if I should say to the lad, The arrows are on this side of you, take them and come; then you will know and see that there is peace to you, there is no danger, as the LORD liveth.²² But if I say thus to the lad, Behold, the arrows are beyond you; then go your way; for the LORD has sent you away.²³ And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.

²⁴ So David hid himself in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to dine.²⁵ And the king sat upon his seat by the wall as at other times; and Jonathan went and sat upon a seat, and Abner sat by Sauls side, but Davids place was empty.²⁶ Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day; for he thought, Something has happened to him, or perhaps he is unclean, or perhaps he has not purified himself.²⁷ And it came to pass on the morrow, the second day of the new moon, Davids place was still empty; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse come to eat, either yesterday or today?²⁸ And Jonathan answered and said to Saul his father, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem;²⁹ And he said, Let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother has commanded me to be there; and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers. That is the reason he has not come to the kings table.³⁰ Then Sauls anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, O you rebellious son, do I not know that you are delighted in the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mothers nakedness?³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Therefore, now I will send and have him brought to me, for he shall surely die.³² And Jonathan answered and said to Saul his father, Why should he be put to death? What has he done?³³ And Saul lifted up a javelin to smite him; whereby Jonathan knew that his father was determined to slay David.³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did not eat food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had determined evil against him.

³⁵ And it came to pass in the morning, Jonathan went out into the field to meet David, and a little lad was with him.³⁶ And he said to his lad, Run, gather up the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.³⁷ And when the lad came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called after the lad and said, Behold, the arrow is beyond you.³⁸ And Jonathan called again after the lad, saying, Make haste, quick, stay not. And Jonathans lad gathered up the arrows and brought them to his master.³⁹ But the lad knew not anything; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.⁴⁰ And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city.⁴¹ And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose from beside the stone and came to Jonathan and fell on his face to the ground and bowed himself three times; and they kissed each other, and wept over each other; but David wept more.⁴² Then Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, inasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever. Then Jonathan arose and went into the city.