1 Samuel 20

¹And David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, "What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?"

²And he said to him: 'Far be it! You shall not die. Look, my father does nothing, great or small, without uncovering my ear. And why would my father hide this thing from me? This is not so.'

³And David swore again and said, "Your father knows full well that I have found favor in your eyes." And he said, "Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death."

⁴And Jonathan said to David: 'Whatever your soul desires, I will do for you.'

⁵And David said to Jonathan: 'Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit with the king to eat; but let me go, and I will hide in the field until the third evening.'

⁶If your father misses me at all, then you shall say, 'David earnestly asked permission from me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.'

⁷If he says thus, 'Good,' your servant is at peace. But if he is very angry, know that the evil is determined from him.

⁸And you must show loyalty to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, you yourself put me to death; and why should you bring me to your father?

⁹And Jonathan said: 'Far be it from you! For if I come to know that harm from my father is determined to come upon you, I would indeed tell you.'

¹⁰And David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me, or what will your father answer you harshly?"

¹¹And Jonathan said to David, "Come, let us go out to the field." And they both went out to the field.

¹²And Jonathan said to David: 'The LORD, the God of Israel — when I sound out my father about this time tomorrow or the day after, and if it goes well for David, shall I not then send to you and uncover your ear?'

¹³May the LORD do so to Jonathan, and more also, if my father intends harm against you — I will inform you and send you away, so that you may go in peace. And may the LORD be with you as he has been with my father.

¹⁴And may you not fail to show me the loyal love of the LORD while I am still alive, so that I may not die.

¹⁵And you shall not cut off your loyal love from my house forever, even when the LORD cuts off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth.

¹⁶And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying: 'May the LORD require it from the hand of David's enemies.'

¹⁷And Jonathan again made David swear, because of his love for him, for he loved him with the love of his own soul.

¹⁸And Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty."

¹⁹And on the third day you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the incident, and you shall stay beside the stone Ezel.

²⁰And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target.

²¹And look, I will send the lad: 'Go, find the arrows.' If I say to the lad, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you — bring them,' then come, for it is safe for you and there is nothing to fear, as the LORD lives.

²²But if I say thus to the lad, 'Behold, the arrows are beyond you, go!' — for the LORD has sent you away.

²³And as for the matter that we have spoken, I and you, behold, the LORD is between me and you forever.

²⁴And David hid in the field. And the new moon came, and the king sat down at the food to eat.

²⁵And the king sat on his seat as before, on the seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat at the side of Saul; and David's place was empty.

²⁶And Saul did not say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, "It is an accident; he is not clean, for he is not clean."

²⁷And it came to pass on the second day of the new moon that the place of David was empty; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, 'Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?'

²⁸And Jonathan answered Saul, "David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem."

²⁹He said, 'Let me go, please, for we have a family sacrifice in our city, and my brother has commanded me; and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me slip away and see my brothers.' For that reason he has not come to the table of the king.

³⁰Then the anger of Saul burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse, to your own shame and to the nakedness of your mother?"

³¹For all the days that the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. And now, send and bring him to me, for he is a son of death."

³²And Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, 'Why should he be put to death? What has he done?'

³³And Saul hurled the spear at him to strike him; and Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.

³⁴And Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved over David, because his father had humiliated him.

³⁵And in the morning Jonathan went out to the field at the time appointed with David, and a small lad was with him.

³⁶And he said to his lad, 'Run, find now the arrows that I am shooting.' The lad ran, and he shot the arrow past him.

³⁷When the lad came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the lad and said, 'Is not the arrow beyond you?'

³⁸And Jonathan called after the lad, 'Make haste, hurry, do not stand still!' And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrow and the arrows, and he came to his master.

³⁹Now the lad did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the lad who was with him, and he said to him, 'Go, bring them to the city.'

⁴¹As the lad came, David arose from beside the south side, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times; and they kissed each other and wept with each other, until David wept the more.

⁴²Then he arose and went, and Jonathan entered the city.