David and Jonathan’s Plan
1David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my guilt? What sin have I committed against your father, that he is trying to take my life?” 2“Never!” Jonathan said to him. “You will not die. My father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. Why would my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3But David swore again and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has thought, ‘Jonathan must not know this, or he will be grieved.’ But as surely as Yahweh lives and as you yourself live, there is only a step between me and death.” 4Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want, I will do for you.” 5David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am supposed to sit and eat with the king. But let me go and hide in the countryside until evening of the third day. 6If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for his whole clan.’ 7If he says, ‘Good’ — then your servant is safe. But if he becomes angry, know that he has decided to harm me. 8So deal kindly with your servant, since you have brought your servant into a covenant with you before Yahweh. But if I am guilty, kill me yourself — why bring me to your father?” 9“Never!” Jonathan said. “If I knew for certain that my father had decided to harm you, would I not tell you?” 10David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11Jonathan said to David, “Come, let’s go out into the field.” So the two of them went out into the field. 12Jonathan said to David, “By Yahweh, the God of Israel — I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow, or the third day. If he is favorable toward David, will I not send word to you and tell you? 13But if my father intends to harm you, may Yahweh do this to Jonathan and even more, if I do not tell you and send you safely away. May Yahweh be with you as he has been with my father. 14If I am still alive, deal with me in the loyal love of Yahweh, so that I do not die. 15And do not ever cut off your loyal love from my house, even when Yahweh cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.” 16So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May Yahweh call David’s enemies to account.” 17And Jonathan made David swear again, because he loved him — for he loved him as he loved himself.
The Sign of the Arrows
18Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty. 19On the third day, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day this trouble began, and stay beside the stone Ezel. 20I will shoot three arrows to the side, as if I were shooting at a target. 21Then I will send a young boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you — pick them up,’ then you may come out, for it is safe for you, and there is no danger, as surely as Yahweh lives. 22But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for Yahweh has sent you away. 23As for the matter you and I spoke about, remember that Yahweh stands between you and me forever.” 24So David hid himself in the countryside. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat. 25The king sat in his usual seat by the wall, and Jonathan sat opposite while Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him — he must be unclean, surely he is unclean.” 27But on the day after the new moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty. Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse 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, for our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has ordered me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me slip away and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
Saul Turns Against Jonathan
30Saul’s anger flared up against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a rebellious, defiant woman! Do I not know that you have sided with the son of Jesse, to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be secure. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must die.” 32Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should he die? What has he done?” 33Then Saul hurled his javelin at him to kill him, and Jonathan knew that his father had decided to kill David. 34Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger, and ate nothing that second day of the month, for he grieved for David — his father had shamed him. 35In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David, and a young boy was with him. 36He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I am shooting.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37When the boy reached the spot where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” 38Then Jonathan called out after the boy, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and brought it back to his master. 39The boy knew nothing about it — only Jonathan and David knew what was happening. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said to him, “Go, take them back to town.” 41As soon as the boy had gone, David got up from beside the mound and bowed down before Jonathan three times, face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together, until David wept even more. 42Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn friendship in the name of Yahweh, saying, ‘Yahweh will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’”
