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Saul Resents David
Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
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Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
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And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.
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Saul Persecutes David
Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David.
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So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide.
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Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you.
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So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.”
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Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.
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Jonathan’s Loyalty to David
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
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So Jonathan said to him, “By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!”
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Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘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.”
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So Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you.”
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And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening.
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But Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?”
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Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me, or what if your father answers you roughly?”
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And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out into the field.
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Then Jonathan said to David: “The Lord God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you,
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may the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the Lord be with you as He has been with my father.
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So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the Lord require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”
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Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
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Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
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Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.
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And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”
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So Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem.
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Then Saul’s anger was aroused 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?