David Protected from Saul

19 Now Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. ² So he told David, “Saul my father is seeking to kill you. Now then, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. ³ As for me, I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you, and if I learn anything, then I will tell you.” ⁴ Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “May the king not sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you. ⁵ For he took his life in his hand and killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then would you sin against innocent blood by killing David without a cause?” ⁶ Saul listened to Jonathan and swore [an oath], “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” ⁷ So Jonathan called David and told him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was ^[a]in his presence [serving him] as previously.

⁸ Then there was war again, and David went out and fought with the Philistines and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled before him. ⁹ Then an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. ¹⁰ Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence, so that Saul only stuck the spear into the wall. Then David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹ Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch for him, so that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹² So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled and escaped. ¹³ And Michal took the ^[b]household idol and laid it on the bed, put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴ And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” ¹⁵ Then Saul sent the messengers [again] to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed [if necessary], so that I may kill him.” ¹⁶ When the messengers came in, there was the ^[c]household idol on the bed with a quilt of goats’ hair at its head. ¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him everything that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. ¹⁹ Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ Then Saul sent messengers to take David; but when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came on the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. ²¹ When Saul was informed, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again, the third time, and they prophesied as well. ²² Then Saul went to Ramah himself and came to the great well that is in Secu; and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And he was told, “They are at Naioth [with the prophets] in Ramah.” ²³ So he went on to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him too, and he went along continually prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ He also took off his [royal] robes [and armor] and prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and night. So they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”^(A)

David and Jonathan’s Covenant

20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah and he came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my ^[d]guilt? What is my sin before (against) your father, that he is seeking my life?” ² Jonathan said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing ^[e]important or insignificant without telling me. So why would he hide this thing from me? It is not so!” ³ But David vowed again, saying “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be worried.’ But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death.” ⁴ Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” ⁵ David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon [observance], and I should sit at the table to eat [the sacrificial meal] with the king; but let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. ⁶ If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem, his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the entire family.’ ⁷ If he says, ‘All right,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, then be certain that he has decided on evil. ⁸ Therefore show kindness to your servant, because you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is iniquity (guilt) in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father [to be killed]?” ⁹ Jonathan said, “Far be it from [happening to] you! In fact, if I indeed learn that my father has decided to harm you, would I not tell you about it?” ¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” ¹¹ Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field [to talk].” So they went out to the field.

¹² Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward ^[f]you, shall I not then send word to you and make it known to you? ¹³ But if it pleases my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more if I do not let you know about it and send you away, so that you may go in ^[g]safety. And ^[h]may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. ¹⁴ If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness and faithfulness of the Lord, ^[i]so that I will not die? ¹⁵ You shall never cut off your lovingkindness and faithfulness from my house, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” ¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the ^[j]house of David. [^[k]He added,] “May ^[l]the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies. [that is, hold them accountable for any harm they inflict on David].” ¹⁷ Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, for Jonathan loved him as himself.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon [festival], and you will be missed because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹ When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself ^[m]on that eventful day [when my father tried to kill you], and shall stay by the stone Ezel. ²⁰ I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a target. ²¹ And I will send a boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come [back to my father’s table]; for it is ^[n]safe for you and there is ^[o]no danger, as the Lord lives. ²² But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. ²³ As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever [making sure that we each keep our word].”

²⁴ So David hid in the field; and when the New Moon [festival] came, the king sat down to eat food. ²⁵ The king sat on his seat as on previous occasions, on his seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up, and Abner [his commander] sat down by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. ²⁶ Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “It is an incident [of some kind] and ^[p]he is not [ceremonially] clean—surely he is unclean.” ²⁷ But on the next day, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was empty [again]; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” ²⁸ Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ He said, ‘Please let me go because our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

Saul Is Angry with Jonathan

³⁰ Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a ^[q]wayward, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse [over me] to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? ³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you [as heir to the throne] nor your kingdom will be established. So now, send [someone] and bring him to me, for he ^[r]must die.” ³² Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why must he be put to death? What has he done?” ³³ Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down, so Jonathan knew [without any doubt] that his father had decided to put David to death. ³⁴ Then Jonathan stood up from the table in the heat of anger, and ate no food on that second day of the new moon (month), for he grieved and worried about David because his father had dishonored him.

³⁵ In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the meeting with David, and a young boy was with him. ³⁶ And he said to his boy, “Run, please find the arrows which I am about to shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow past him. ³⁷ When the boy came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called to him, “Is the arrow not beyond you?” ³⁸ And Jonathan called out after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came back to his master. ³⁹ But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. ⁴⁰ Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.” ⁴¹ As soon as the boy was gone, David got up from the south side [beside the mound of stones] and fell on his face to the ground [in submission and respect], and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more. ⁴² Jonathan told David, “Go ^[s]in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours forever.’” ^[t]Then he stood and left, while Jonathan went into the city.

David Takes Consecrated Bread

21 Then David went to ^[u]Nob to ^[v]Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling [in fear] to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” ² David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has told me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter for which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you. I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ ³ Now what [food] do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” ⁴ The priest answered David, “There is no ordinary (unconsecrated) bread on hand, but there is ^[w]consecrated bread; [you may have it] if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” ⁵ David answered the priest, “Be assured that ^[x]women have been kept from us in these three days since I set out, and the ^[y]bodies of the young men were consecrated (ceremonially clean), although it was an ordinary (unconsecrated) journey; so how much more will their vessels be holy today?” ⁶ So the priest gave him the consecrated bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the ^[z]Presence which was removed from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.

⁷ Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

⁸ David said to Ahimelech, “Do you not have a sword or spear here on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my [other] weapons with me, because the king’s business was urgent.” ⁹ Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, do so. For there is no other here except for it.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”

¹⁰ Then David arose and fled from Saul that day, and went to Achish king of ^[aa]Gath. ¹¹ The servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing in praise of this one as they danced, saying,

¹² David took these words to heart and was greatly afraid of Achish king of Gath. ¹³ So [fearing for his life] he changed his behavior in their sight, and acted insanely in their hands, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see that the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Do I lack madmen, that you bring this one to behave like a madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”

The Sign of Jonah

²⁹ Now as the crowds were increasing [in number], He began to say, “This [present] generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign (attesting miracle), but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet].^{(A) 30} For just as ^[a]Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man also be [a sign] to this generation.^{(B) 31} The Queen of the South (the kingdom of Sheba) will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and look, something greater than Solomon is here.^{(C) 32} The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and look, something greater than Jonah is here.^(D)

³³ “No one lights a lamp and then puts it in a cellar nor under a basket [hiding the light], but [instead it is put] on the lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.^{(E) 34} The eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive, focused on God], your whole body also is full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts]. But when it is bad [spiritually blind], your body also is full of darkness [devoid of God’s word]. ³⁵ Be careful, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness. ³⁶ So if your whole body is illuminated, with no dark part, it will be entirely bright [with light], as when the lamp gives you light with its bright rays.”

Woes upon the Pharisees

³⁷ Now after Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him. He went in [the Pharisee’s home] and reclined at the table [without ceremonially washing His hands]. ³⁸ The Pharisee noticed this and was surprised that Jesus did not first ceremonially wash before the meal. ³⁹ But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But give that which is within as charity [that is, acts of mercy and compassion, not as a public display, but as an expression of your faithfulness to God], and then indeed all things are clean for you.

⁴² “But woe (judgment is coming) to you Pharisees, because you [self-righteously] ^[b]tithe mint and ^[c]rue and every [little] garden herb [tending to all the minutiae], and yet disregard and neglect justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done, without neglecting the others.^{(F) 43} Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the ^[d]best seats in the synagogues and to be respectfully greeted in the market places. ⁴⁴ Woe to you! For you are like graves which are unmarked, and people walk over them without being aware of it [and are ceremonially unclean].”

⁴⁵ One of the lawyers [an expert in the Mosaic Law] answered Him, “Teacher, by saying this, You insult us too!” ⁴⁶ But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well, because you weigh men down with burdens [man-made rules, unreasonable requirements] which are hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers [to lighten the load]. ⁴⁷ Woe to you! For you repair or build ^[e]tombs for the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. ⁴⁸ So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers, because they [actually] killed them, and you repair or build their tombs. ⁴⁹ For this reason also the wisdom of God said [in the Scriptures], ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will put to death and some they will persecute, ⁵⁰ so that charges may be brought against this generation [holding them responsible] for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah [the priest], who was murdered between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, charges will be brought against this generation.’^{(G) 52} Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key to knowledge (scriptural truth). You yourselves did not enter, and you held back those who were entering [by your flawed interpretation of God’s word and your man-made tradition].”^(H)

⁵³ When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile [toward Him] and to interrogate Him on many subjects, ⁵⁴ plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.