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Jonathan Warns David
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
Jonathan Helps David
David now fled from Naioth in Ramah and found Jonathan. “What have I done?” he exclaimed. “What is my crime? How have I offended your father that he is so determined to kill me?”
David now fled from Naioth in Ramah and found Jonathan. “What have I done?” he exclaimed. “What is my crime? How have I offended your father that he is so determined to kill me?”
And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.”
“That’s not true!” Jonathan protested. “You’re not going to die. He always tells me everything he’s going to do, even the little things. I know my father wouldn’t hide something like this from me. It just isn’t so!”
But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”
Then David took an oath before Jonathan and said, “Your father knows perfectly well about our friendship, so he has said to himself, ‘I won’t tell Jonathan — why should I hurt him?’ But I swear to you that I am only a step away from death! I swear it by the LORD and by your own soul!”
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
“Tell me what I can do to help you,” Jonathan exclaimed.
David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening.
David replied, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. I’ve always eaten with the king on this occasion, but tomorrow I’ll hide in the field and stay there until the evening of the third day.
If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’
If your father asks where I am, tell him I asked permission to go home to Bethlehem for an annual family sacrifice.
If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him.
If he says, ‘Fine!’ you will know all is well. But if he is angry and loses his temper, you will know he is determined to kill me.
Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”
Show me this loyalty as my sworn friend — for we made a solemn pact before the LORD — or kill me yourself if I have sinned against your father. But please don’t betray me to him!”
And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?”
“Never!” Jonathan exclaimed. “You know that if I had the slightest notion my father was planning to kill you, I would tell you at once.”
Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?”
Then David asked, “How will I know whether or not your father is angry?”
And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
“Come out to the field with me,” Jonathan replied. And they went out there together.
Then Jonathan told David, “I promise by the LORD, the God of Israel, that by this time tomorrow, or the next day at the latest, I will talk to my father and let you know at once how he feels about you. If he speaks favorably about you, I will let you know.
But should it please my father to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.
But if he is angry and wants you killed, may the LORD strike me and even kill me if I don’t warn you so you can escape and live. May the LORD be with you as he used to be with my father.
If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die;
And may you treat me with the faithful love of the LORD as long as I live. But if I die,
treat my family with this faithful love, even when the LORD destroys all your enemies from the face of the earth.”
And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
Then Jonathan said, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. You will be missed when your place at the table is empty.
And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.
I will come out and shoot three arrows to the side of the stone pile as though I were shooting at a target.
And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger.
Then I will send a boy to bring the arrows back. If you hear me tell him, ‘They’re on this side,’ then you will know, as surely as the LORD lives, that all is well, and there is no trouble.
But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away.
But if I tell him, ‘Go farther — the arrows are still ahead of you,’ then it will mean that you must leave immediately, for the LORD is sending you away.
And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever.”
And may the LORD make us keep our promises to each other, for he has witnessed them.”
So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon festival began, the king sat down to eat.
Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.”
Saul didn’t say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, “Something must have made David ceremonially unclean.”
But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
But when David’s place was empty again the next day, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse been here for the meal either yesterday or today?”
Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.
Jonathan replied, “David earnestly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem.
He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
He said, ‘Please let me go, for we are having a family sacrifice. My brother demanded that I be there. So please let me get away to see my brothers.’ That’s why he isn’t here at the king’s table.”
Then Saul’s anger was kindled 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?
For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”
As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!”
Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?”
“But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?”
But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.
Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.
And Jonathan rose 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 disgraced him.
Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and refused to eat on that second day of the festival, for he was crushed by his father’s shameful behavior toward David.
In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy.
The next morning, as agreed, Jonathan went out into the field and took a young boy with him to gather his arrows.
And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
“Start running,” he told the boy, “so you can find the arrows as I shoot them.” So the boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.
And when 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?”
When the boy had almost reached the arrow, Jonathan shouted, “The arrow is still ahead of you.
And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master.
Hurry, hurry, don’t wait.” So the boy quickly gathered up the arrows and ran back to his master.
But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
He, of course, suspected nothing; only Jonathan and David understood the signal.
And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.”
Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him to take them back to town.