1 Samuel 20:12-31

English Standard Version

¹² And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness!^[a] When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? ¹³ But should it please my father to do you harm, ^(A)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. ^(B)May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. ¹⁴ If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die; ^15 (C)and do not cut off^[b] your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” ¹⁶ And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ^(D)“May^[c] the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies.” ¹⁷ And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, ^(E)for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to him, ^(F)“Tomorrow is the new moon, and ^(G)you will be missed, because ^(H)your seat will be empty. ¹⁹ On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.^{[d] 20} And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. ²¹ 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, ^(I)as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. ²² But if I say to the youth, ^(J)‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. ^23 (K)And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, ^(L)the Lord is between you and me forever.”

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,^[e] and Abner sat by Saul's side, ^(M)but David's place was empty.

²⁶ Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. ^(N)He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” ²⁷ But on ^(O)the second day, the day after the new moon, ^(P)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?” ²⁸ Jonathan answered Saul, ^(Q)“David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ 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.”

³⁰ 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? ³¹ 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.”