²⁴ So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. ²⁵ The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,^[a] and Abner sat by Saul's side, ^(A)but David's place was empty.

²⁶ Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. ^(B)He is not clean; surely he is not clean.”