¹ And 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 thy father, that he seeketh my life?

² And he said to him, Far be it from thee; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it to me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so .¹

1. shew...: Heb. uncover mine ear

³ And David swore moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he should be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

⁴ Then said Jonathan to David, Whatever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.¹²

1. Whatsoever...: or, Say what is thy mind and I will do, etc
2. desireth: Heb. speaketh, or, thinketh

⁵ And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the table: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at evening.

⁶ If thy father shall at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.¹

1. sacrifice: or, feast

⁷ If he shall say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he shall be very angry, then be sure that evil is determined by him.

⁸ Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: however, if there is in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?

⁹ And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil is determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?

¹⁰ Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father shall answer thee roughly?

¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.

¹² And Jonathan said to David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not to thee, and show it thee;¹²

1. sounded: Heb. searched
2. shew...: Heb. uncover thine ear

¹³ The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it shall please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it to thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.¹

1. shew...: Heb. uncover thine ear

¹⁴ And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the LORD, that I may not die:

¹⁵ But also thou shalt not withdraw thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.

¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies.¹

1. made: Heb. cut

¹⁷ And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.¹

1. because...: or, by his love toward him

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.¹

1. empty: Heb. missed

¹⁹ And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.¹²³

1. quickly: or, diligently: Heb. greatly
2. when the...: Heb. in the day of the business
3. Ezel: or, that sheweth the way

²⁰ And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.

²¹ And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth.¹

1. no hurt: Heb. not any thing

²² But if I say thus to the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away.

²³ And as to the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever.

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

²⁵ And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty.

²⁶ Nevertheless Saul spoke not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.

²⁷ And it came to pass on the next day, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why cometh not the son of Jesse to eat, neither yesterday, nor to day?

²⁸ And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:

²⁹ And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there : and now, if I have found favour in thy eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not to the king’s table.

³⁰ Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thy own shame, and to the shame of thy mother’s nakedness?¹

1. Thou...: or, Thou perverse rebel: Heb. Son of perverse rebellion

³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.¹

1. shall...: Heb. is the son of death

³² And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why shall he be slain? what hath he done?

³³ And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to slay David.

³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

³⁵ And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.

³⁶ And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.¹

1. beyond...: Heb. to pass over him

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