1 Samuel 20

1Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came before Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my guilt, and what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?”

2He said to him, “Far from it! You will not die. Look, my father does nothing, great or small, without revealing it to me. So why would my father hide this matter from me? It is not so.”

3But David swore again and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know this, lest he be grieved.’ But as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, there is only a step between me and death.”

4Then Jonathan said to David, “What does your soul say? I will do it for you.”

5David said to Jonathan, “Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am supposed to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.”

6If your father surely notices me, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem, his city, because the yearly sacrifice is there for the whole family.’

7If he says, ‘Good,’ there will be peace for your servant; but if he becomes very angry, know that evil has been determined by him.

8So show kindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant into the covenant of Yahweh with yourself. But if there is guilt in me, put me to death yourself; why should you bring me to your father?

9Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew for certain that evil had been determined by my father to come upon you, would I not tell you?”

10Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me? Or what if your father answers you harshly?”

11Then Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out into the field.

12And Jonathan said to David, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, when I sound out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, and behold, if it is favorable toward David, shall I not then send to you and uncover your ear?"

13May Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, if my father intends evil against you and I do not disclose it to you and send you away, so that you may go in peace. And may Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father.

14And if I am still alive, will you not show me Yahweh’s covenant faithfulness, so that I may not die?

15And you shall not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, not even when Yahweh cuts off David’s enemies, every one of them, from the face of the earth.

16So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, and the LORD sought it from the hand of David’s enemies.

17And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as his own soul.

18Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.”

19On the third day, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on the day of the deed, and remain beside the stone Ezel.

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

21And look, I will send the young man, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I plainly say to the young man, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of you; take them and come,’ then there is peace for you and no danger, as Yahweh lives.

22But if I say this to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for Yahweh has sent you away.

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

24So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat the meal.

25The king sat in his seat, as at other times, by the wall; and Jonathan rose, and Abner sat beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.

26But Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened; he is not clean—surely he is not clean.”

27And it happened on the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty. So Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

28Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.”

29He said, ‘Please let me go, because we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother himself has commanded me. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me escape and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.

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

31For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. So now, send and bring him to me, for he is a son of death.

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

33Then Saul hurled the spear at him to strike him, and Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.

34Then Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger, and he ate no food on the second day of the month, because he was grieved over David, because his father had humiliated him.

35In the morning, Jonathan went out to the field for the appointed meeting with David, and a young boy was with him.

36He said to his young man, “Run, please, find the arrows that I am shooting.” The young man ran, and he shot the arrow beyond him.

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

38And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stop!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master.

39But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

40Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the young man who was with him and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.”

41When the boy had come, David rose from beside the south side and fell with his face to the ground and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and wept with one another, until David wept the more.

42Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring forever.’”