1 Samuel 20:7-30

English Standard Version

⁷ If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that ^(A)harm is determined by him. ⁸ Therefore deal kindly with your servant, ^(B)for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. ^(C)But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” ⁹ And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that ^(D)it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” ¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” ¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.

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, ^(E)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. ^(F)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 (G)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, ^(H)“May^[c] the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies.” ¹⁷ And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, ^(I)for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to him, ^(J)“Tomorrow is the new moon, and ^(K)you will be missed, because ^(L)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, ^(M)as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. ²² But if I say to the youth, ^(N)‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. ^23 (O)And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, ^(P)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, ^(Q)but David's place was empty.

²⁶ Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. ^(R)He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” ²⁷ But on ^(S)the second day, the day after the new moon, ^(T)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, ^(U)“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?