¹ And David fled from Naioth, in Ramah,—and came in, and said before Jonathan—What have I done? What is my transgression, and what my sin, before thy father, that he seeketh my life?

² And he said unto him—Far be it! thou shalt not die. Lo! my father doeth nothing, great or small, without unveiling mine ear,—wherefore, then, should my father hide from me, this thing? There is, nothing, in this.

³ But David sware yet further, and said—Thy father, doth know, that I have found favour in thine eyes, therefore saith he,—Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he grieve; but, indeed, by the life of Yahweh, and by the life of thine own soul, surely there is but as it were a step betwixt me and death!

⁴ And Jonathan said unto David,—Whatsoever thy soul shall desire, I will do for thee.

⁵ And David said unto Jonathan—Lo! the new moon, is to-morrow, and, I, must not sit with the king, to eat,—let me go then, and hide myself in the field, until the evening.

⁶ If thy father, enquire, for me, then shalt thou say—David, did ask leave, of me, to run to Bethlehem, his own city, for, a yearly sacrifice, [is to be held] there for all the family.

⁷ If, thus, he say—It is well,—thy servant shall have, peace,—but, if it, anger, him, know that harm hath been determined by him.

⁸ Thus shalt thou do a lovingkindness for thy servant, for, into a covenant of Yahweh, hast thou brought thy servant, with thee,—But, if there is in me transgression, put me to death, thyself, for, unto thy father, wherefore shouldst thou bring me in?

⁹ And Jonathan said—Far be it from thee! but, if I, get to know, that harm is determined by my father, to bring it upon thee, is not, that, the thing that I will tell thee?

¹⁰ Then said David unto Jonathan, Who shall tell me,—if thy father answer thee aught that is, harsh?

¹¹ And Jonathan said unto David, Come! and let us go out into the field. And they two went out into the field.

¹² Then said Jonathan unto David—Witness [be] Yahweh God of Israel, that I will sound my father about this time to-morrow or the third day, and lo! if there he good towards David, will I not, then, send unto thee, and unveil thine ear?

¹³ So, let Yahweh do unto Jonathan, and, so, let him add—when harm against thee seemeth good unto my father, then will I unveil thine ear, and let thee go, and thou shall depart in peace,—then Yahweh be with thee, as he hath been with my father.

¹⁴ And, not only while I yet live, shalt thou deal with me in the lovingkindness of Yahweh, that I die not:

¹⁵ but thou shalt not cut off thy lovingkindness from my house, unto times age-abiding,—no! not when Yahweh hath cut off the enemies of David, every one from off the face of the ground.

¹⁶ Thus Jonathan solemnised a covenant with the house of David [saying],—So let Yahweh require it, at the hand of the enemies of David.

¹⁷ And again Jonathan sware unto David, by his love to him,—for, as he loved his own soul, so loved he him.

¹⁸ Then said Jonathan unto him—To-morrow, is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed, for thy seat will be empty;

¹⁹ and, when thou hast tarried three days, thou shalt come down quickly and enter the place, where thou didst hide thyself on the day of the deed, and shall remain by the side of this mound.

²⁰ And, as for me—three arrows to the side, will I shoot,—as though I shot at a mark.

²¹ And lo! I will send the boy [saying], Go, find the arrow! If I, say, to the boy—Lo! the arrows, are on this side of thee—take them, then come, for there is peace for thee, and no cause [for fear], by the life of Yahweh.

²² But, if, thus, I say to the youth, Lo! the arrows are beyond thee, depart, for Yahweh hath sent thee away.

²³ But, as touching the matter whereof we spake—I and thou, lo! Yahweh, be betwixt me and thee, unto times age-abiding.

²⁴ So David hid himself in the field—and, when the new moon had come, the king sat down to eat, food,

²⁵ yea the king sat down on his seat, as at other times, by the seat against the wall, and, when Jonathan arose, Abner seated himself by the side of Saul,—but David’s place was empty.

²⁶ Saul, however, spake nothing that day,—for he said to himself—It is, an accident, he is, not clean, because he hath not been cleansed.

²⁷ And it came to pass, on the morrow, the second of the month, that David’s place was empty,—and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore hath not the son of Jesse come in, either yesterday or to-day, to meat?

²⁸ And Jonathan answered Saul,—David, asked leave, of me, [to go] as far as Bethlehem;

²⁹ and said—Let me go, I pray thee, for, a family sacrifice, have we in the city, and my brethren have commanded me, now, therefore, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me slip away, I pray thee, that I may see my brethren. For this cause, hath he not come in unto the table of the king.

³⁰ Then was Saul’s anger kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of rebellious perversity! do I not know that thou art, confederate, with the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and to the confusion of the shame of thy mother?

³¹ For, as long as, the son of Jesse, liveth on the ground, thou wilt not be established, thou nor thy kingdom, Now, therefore, send and fetch him unto me, for, doomed to death, is he!

³² And Jonathan responded to Saul his father,—and said unto him—Wherefore must he be put to death, What hath he done?

³³ And Saul hurled his spear at him, to smite him. So Jonathan knew that it was, determined, of his father, to put David to death.

³⁴ Jonathan therefore rose up from the table, in a glow of anger,—and did eat no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had reviled him.

³⁵ And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went forth into the field, to the place appointed with David,—a little lad, being with him.

³⁶ And he said to his lad—Run, find, I pray thee, the arrows which I am about to shoot. The boy, ran, but, he, shot the arrow beyond him.

³⁷ And, when the lad came as far as the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow, beyond, thee?

³⁸ And Jonathan cried after the lad, Haste thee—be quick, do not stay! so Jonathan’s lad picked up the arrows and brought [them] unto his master.