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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?”
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?”
“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!”
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.”
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!”
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.”
“Tell me what I can do to help you,” Jonathan exclaimed.
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
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.
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.
If your father asks where I am, tell him I asked permission to go home to Bethlehem for an annual family sacrifice.
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 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.
If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him.
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!”
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?”
“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.”
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?”
Then David asked, “How will I know whether or not your father is angry?”
Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?”
“Come out to the field with me,” Jonathan replied. And they went out there together.
And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
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 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.
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.
And may you treat me with the faithful love of the LORD as long as I live. But if I die,
If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not 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 reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Then Jonathan said, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. You will be missed when your place at the table is empty.
Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
I will come out and shoot three arrows to the side of the stone pile as though I were shooting at a target.
And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.
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.
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.
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.
But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away.
And may the LORD make us keep our promises to each other, for he has witnessed them.”
And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever.”
So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon festival began, the king sat down to eat.
So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
Saul didn’t say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, “Something must have made David ceremonially unclean.”
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.”
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?”
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?”
Jonathan replied, “David earnestly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem.
Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.
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.”
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.”
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?
As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!”
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.”
“But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?”
Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?”
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.
But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.
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.
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.
The next morning, as agreed, Jonathan went out into the field and took a young boy with him to gather his arrows.
In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy.
“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 he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
When the boy had almost reached the arrow, Jonathan shouted, “The arrow is still ahead of you.
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?”
Hurry, hurry, don’t wait.” So the boy quickly gathered up the arrows and ran back to his master.
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.
He, of course, suspected nothing; only Jonathan and David understood the signal.
But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him to take them back to town.
And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.”