1 Samuel 20

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David consults Jonathan

And David went in flight from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my crime and my sin against your father that he is attempting to take my life? And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?
And he said to him, Far be the thought: you will not be put to death: see, my father does nothing, great or small, without giving me word of it: would he keep this secret from me? It is not so. And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.
But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death. And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.
Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you. Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.
And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening. And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.
And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year. If thy father 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.
If he says, It is well, your servant will be at peace: but if he is angry, then it will be clear to you that he has an evil purpose in mind against me. If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him.
So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father? Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it? And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?
Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer? Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?

Jonathan's agreement with David

And Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go out into the country. And the two of them went out together into the open country. And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news? And Jonathan said unto 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 unto thee, and show it thee;
May the Lord's punishment be on Jonathan, if it is my father's pleasure to do you evil and I do not give you word of it 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. The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death! And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:
And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David's haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth. But also thou shalt not cut off 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.
And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies.
And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat. Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.
And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there. 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.
And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark. And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.
And I will send my boy to have a look for the arrow. And if I say to him, See, the arrow is on this side of you; take it up! then you may come; for there is peace for you and no evil, by the living Lord. And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto 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.
But if I say to the boy, See, the arrow has gone past you: then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away. But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away.
As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever. And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever.

Saul, missing David, makes an attempt to kill Jonathan

So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast. So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.
And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat. 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.
But Saul said nothing that day, for his thought was, Something has taken place making him unclean; it is clear that he is not clean. Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.
And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today? And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?
And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem, And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
Saying, Our family is making an offering in the town, and my brothers have given me orders to be there: so now, if I have grace in your eyes, let me go away and see my brothers. This is why he has not come to the king's table. 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 thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king's table.
Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother? Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?
For while the son of Jesse is living on the earth, your position is unsafe and your kingdom is in danger. So make him come here to me, for it is certainly right for him to be put to death. For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? What has he done? And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father's purpose was to put David to death. And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
So Jonathan got up from the table, burning with wrath, and took no part in the feast the second day of the month, being full of grief for David because his father had put shame on him. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

Jonathan takes leave of David

Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him. 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.
And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him. And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you? And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
And Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan's boy got the arrow and came back to his master. And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it. But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
And Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Take these and go back to the town. And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David's grief was the greater. And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:42)
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for we two have taken an oath, in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed for ever. Then David went away, and Jonathan went into the town.		 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
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