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1 And David fled from Navath in Rama, and comes into the presence of Jonathan; and he said, What have I done, and what is my fault, and wherein have I sinned before thy father, that he seeks my life? 2 And Jonathan said to him, Far be it from thee: thou shalt not die: behold, my father will not do any thing great or small *without discovering it to me; and why should my father hide this matter from me? this thing is not so. 3 And David answered Jonathan, and said, Thy father knows surely that I have found grace in thy sight, and he said, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he refuse his consent: but as the Lord lives and thy soul lives, as I said, the space is filled up between me and death. 4 And Jonathan said to David, What does thy soul desire, and what shall I do for thee?
5 And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is the new moon, and I shall not on any account sit down to eat, but thou shalt let me go, and I will hide in the plain till the evening. 6 And if thy father do in anywise †enquire for me, then shalt thou say, David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethleem his city, for there is there a ‡yearly sacrifice for all the family. 7 If he shall say thus, Well,— §all is safe for thy servant: but if he shall answer harshly to thee, know that evil is determined by him. 8 And thou shalt deal mercifully with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thyself: and if there is iniquity in thy servant, slay me thyself; but why dost thou thus bring me to thy father?
9 And Jonathan said, That be far from thee: for if I surely know that evil is determined by my father to come upon thee, although it should not be against thy cities, I will tell thee. 10 And David said to Jonathan, Who can tell me if thy father should answer roughly? 11 And Jonathan said to David, Go, and abide in the field. And they went out both into the field.
12 And Jonathan said to David, The Lord God of Israel knows that I will sound my father as I have an opportunity, **three several times, and, behold, if good should be determined concerning David, and I do not send to thee to the field, 13 God do so to Jonathan and more also: as I shall also report the evil to thee, and make it known to thee, and I will let thee go; and thou shalt depart in peace, and the Lord shall be with thee, as he was with my father. 14 And if indeed ††I continue to live, then shalt thou deal mercifully with me; and if I indeed die, 15 thou shalt not withdraw thy mercy from my house for ever: and ‡‡if thou doest not, when the Lord cuts off the enemies of David each from the face of the earth, 16 should it happen that the name of Jonathan be discovered by the house of David, then let the Lord seek out the enemies of David. 17 And Jonathan swore yet again to David, because he loved the soul of him that loved him.
18 And Jonathan said, To-morrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be enquired for, because thy seat will be observed as vacant. 19 And thou shalt §§stay three days, and watch an opportunity, and shalt come to thy place where thou mayest hide thyself in the day of thy business, and thou shalt wait by that ***ergab. 20 And I will shoot †††three arrows, aiming them at ‡‡‡a mark. 21 And behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go find me the arrow. 22 If I should expressly say to the lad, The arrow is here, and on this side of thee, take it; then come, for it is well with thee, and there is no reason for fear, as the Lord lives: but if I should say thus to the young man, The arrow is on that side of thee, and beyond; go, for the Lord hath sent thee away. 23 And as for the word which thou and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is witness between me and thee for ever.
24 So David hides himself in the field, and the new §§§month arrives, and the king comes to the table to eat. 25 And he sat upon his seat as *in former times, even on his seat by the wall, and he went before Jonathan; and Abenner sat on one side of Saul, and the place of David was empty. 26 And Saul said nothing on that day, for he said, It seems to have fallen out that he is not clean, because he has not purified himself.
27 And it came to pass on the morrow, on the second day of the month, that the place of David was empty; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jessæ attended both yesterday and to-day at the table? 28 And Jonathan answered Saul, and said to him, David asked leave of me to go as far as Bethleem his city; 29 and he said, Let me go, I pray thee, for we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brethren have †sent for me; and now, if I have found grace in thine eyes, I will even go over and see my brethren: therefore he is not present at the table of the king.
30 And Saul was exceedingly angry with Jonathan, and said to him, Thou son of ‡traitorous damsels! for do I not know that thou art an accomplice with the son of Jessæ to thy shame, and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness? 31 For §so long as the son of Jessæ lives upon the earth, thy kingdom shall not be established: now then send and take the young man, for he **shall surely die. 32 And Jonathan answered Saul, Why ††is he to die? what has he done? 33 And Saul lifted up his spear against Jonathan to slay him: so Jonathan knew that this evil was determined on by his father to slay David. 34 And Jonathan sprang up from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second day of the month, for he grieved bitterly for David, because his father determined on mischief against him.
35 And morning came, and Jonathan went out to the field, as he appointed to do for a signal to David, and a little boy was with him. 36 And he said to the boy, Run, find me the arrows which I shoot: and the boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow, and sent it beyond him. 37 And the boy came to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan shot; and Jonathan cried out after the lad, and said, The arrow is on that side of thee and beyond thee. 38 And Jonathan cried out after his boy, saying, Make all speed, and stay not. And Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and brought the arrows to his master. 39 And the boy knew nothing, only Jonathan and David knew. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to his boy, Go, enter into the city.
41 And when the lad went in, then David arose from the ‡‡argab, and fell upon his face, and did obeisance to him three times, and they kissed each other, and wept for each other, for a great while. 42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, and as we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord shall be witness between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever—even so let it be.
* 20:2 Gr. and will not uncover my ear. † 20:6 Or, notice me as present or absent. ‡ 20:6 Gr. sacrifice of days. Hebraism. § 20:7 Gr. peace to thy servant. ** 20:12 Heb. השליח the third day. †† 20:14 Gr. I yet being alive. ‡‡ 20:15 Gr. The meaning of the Heb. is here greatly obscured. §§ 20:19 Gr. act thrice. *** 20:19 A corruption of the Heb. ezel. ††† 20:20 Gr. with. ‡‡‡ 20:20 The Heb. has been turned into a proper name. §§§ 20:24 Or, moon. * 20:25 Gr. once and once. † 20:29 Gr. given a charge for me. ‡ 20:30 Lit. deserting in a military sense. § 20:31 Gr. all the days that. ** 20:31 Gr. is a son of death. †† 20:32 Gr. does he die. ‡‡ 20:41 Gr. See v. 19.