Beginning
18 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul[a] of Jonathan became bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved David as he loved his own soul.[b] 2 Saul took David into his service that day and would not let him go back to his father’s house anymore. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because Jonathan loved David as his own soul. 4 Jonathan took off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David, as well as his other gear, including his sword, his bow, and his belt.
5 David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he was successful. So Saul put him in charge of a group of soldiers. All the people approved, as did Saul’s officials.
6 As the army was coming back from battle, when David was returning from striking down the Philistine, women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful music, with hand drums, and with noisemakers.[c] 7 The women sang to each other as they played:
Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.
8 Saul became furious, because he resented this statement. He said, “They have credited David with tens of thousands, but to me they have credited only thousands. What more can be given to him but the kingship?” 9 So Saul eyed David suspiciously from that day on.
10 On the next day, an evil spirit from God overcame Saul, and in a frenzy he prophesied inside the house. David had a lyre in his hand. He was playing as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. 11 He hurled the spear, because he thought, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped from his presence twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul sent David away from his court and made him a commander over a unit of a thousand. So David led the army out to battle and back again. 14 David was successful in everything he did, and the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw that David was so successful, he was even more afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them out to battle and back again.
17 Saul said to David, “Look, here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife. Just be a strong warrior for me, and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “It won’t be my hand against him, but it will be the hand of the Philistines against him.”
18 David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is the status of my father’s clan in Israel, that I would be able to become the son-in-law of the king?”
19 When the time came that Saul’s daughter Merab was supposed to have been given to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholah as his wife.
20 Michal, Saul’s other daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about it, this situation pleased him. 21 Saul said, “I will give her to him, so that she will be a snare for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.”
So Saul said to David, “Today you have another opportunity to become my son-in-law.”
22 Saul commanded his officials to speak with David privately and to say, “Look, the king is delighted with you, and all his officials love you, so you should become the king’s son-in-law.” 23 Saul’s officials spoke those words to David’s ears.
But David said, “Does it seem to you to be a trivial thing for me to be the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and not highly regarded?”
24 Then Saul’s officials told him what David had said.
25 So Saul said, “Tell David that the king desires no price for the bride except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, for revenge against the king’s enemies.” Saul intended to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
26 When Saul’s officials told David these words, David was very pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the deadline, 27 David got up and went out with his men and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins and counted them out for the king, so that he could become the king’s son-in-law.
Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife. 28 Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that Michal, his daughter, loved David. 29 So Saul was even more afraid of David, and he was hostile to David all the time.
30 The commanders of the Philistines were regularly going out for battle, and as often as they went out, David was more successful than all the other officers of Saul. So his name was highly regarded.
19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials that they should kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan had great admiration and respect for David. 2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul wants to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Settle down in a hiding place and conceal yourself. 3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you. I will see what the situation is, and I will tell you.”
4 Jonathan spoke favorably about David to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and his actions have served you very well. 5 He took his life into his hands when he struck the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and you celebrated. Why then would you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?”
6 Saul listened to the advice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.”
7 So Jonathan called David and told him about all those things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served in his presence as he had before.
8 Later, war broke out again. David went out and fought against the Philistines and inflicted a severe defeat on them, and they fled from him.
9 An evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing the lyre. 10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David evaded Saul’s attempt, and Saul’s spear stuck in the wall. That night David fled and successfully escaped.
11 Saul sent messengers to watch David’s house and to kill him in the morning, but David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not do something to save your life tonight, by tomorrow you will be put to death.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window. He took off, got away, and escaped. 13 Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed. She put something made of goat hair on its head and covered the statue with clothing. 14 When Saul sent messengers to capture David, she said, “He is sick.”
15 So Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him to me on the bed, so I can kill him.” 16 When the messengers came in, they saw that the idol was in the bed with the goat hair on 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 have to kill you?’”
18 So David ran away and successfully escaped.
David’s Flight From Saul
David came to Samuel at Ramah and told him about everything that Saul had done to him. So he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. 19 Saul was told, “Look, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”
20 Saul sent messengers to seize David, but when they saw an assembly[d] of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. 21 When Saul was told about it, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied.
22 Then Saul himself went to Ramah and came to the large cistern at Seku. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
Someone told him, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.”
23 So Saul headed for Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God came on him also, and he walked along prophesying, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He also stripped off his clothing and prophesied in the presence of Samuel. He fell down and lay there naked all that day and all that night. Therefore it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? Am I guilty of something? What is my sin against your father that makes him seek my life?”
2 Jonathan said to him, “A curse on me if that happens.[e] You will not die. Look, my father does nothing whether important or unimportant without telling me about it. Why would my father hide this from me? It is not so.”
3 But David took an oath and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, so he might say, ‘Do not let Jonathan know about this, or he will be very upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives, and as surely as your soul lives, there is only a step between me and death.”
4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Ask me for whatever you really want, and I will do it for you.”
5 David said to Jonathan, “Listen, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am expected to dine with the king, but let me go so that I can hide in the countryside until the evening of the third day. 6 If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urged me to excuse him so that he could run to Bethlehem, his hometown, because it is the annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’ 7 If he says, ‘That is fine,’ your servant will be at peace. But if it really displeases him, then you will know that he is planning evil. 8 You must show kindness to your servant, because you have made a covenant in the name of the Lord with me, your servant. But if I am guilty of anything, kill me yourself. Why should you bring me to your father?”
9 Jonathan said, “A curse on me if that occurs, because if I knew that my father was planning to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”
10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father gives you a harsh response?”
11 Jonathan said to David, “Come, let’s go out into the field.” So the two of them went out into the field. 12 Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel! About this time tomorrow or the day after, when I have tested my father to see if he is favorably inclined toward David, I will send word to you so that you hear about it. 13 May the Lord punish Jonathan severely and double it,[f] if my father is planning to harm you and I do not disclose it to you and send you on your way, so that you may go in peace. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 You must show the mercy of the Lord to me, not only while I am still alive, so that I do not die, 15 but you also must not cut off your mercy from my house forever—no, not even when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord demand an accounting from David’s enemies.” 17 Then Jonathan had David repeat the oath, because of the love that he had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18 Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day,[g] go down quickly to the place where you hid on the previous occasion and stay by the stone named Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows off to the side of it, as if I were shooting at a target. 21 I will send the boy out and say, ‘Go and find the arrows!’ If I yell to the boy, ‘Hey! The arrows are closer this way. Come and pick them up,’ then you can come to me, because you are safe and, as the Lord lives, there is no danger. 22 But if I yell to the boy, ‘Hey! The arrows are farther out,’ then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away. 23 Concerning this matter that you and I have spoken about, the Lord stands as a witness between you and me[h] forever.”
24 So David hid in the countryside. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. 25 The king sat at his usual seat next to the wall. Jonathan was across from him,[i] and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless, Saul did not say anything that day, since he thought, “Something has happened to him to make him ceremonially unclean. That’s what it is—he must be unclean.”
27 On the day after the new moon, the second day of the month, David’s place was still empty. So Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David begged me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city. My brother has ordered me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please excuse me so I can go and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverted, unfaithful woman! Don’t I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?[j] 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, you will not be established, nor will your kingship. So send for him and bring him to me, because he must surely die!”
32 Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?”
33 Saul threw his spear at him to hit him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger, and he ate no food on the second day of the month, for he grieved for David, because his father had treated David so shamefully.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field at the time he had set with David. He took a young servant boy with him. 36 He said to his boy, “Run out and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy reached the area where Jonathan’s arrow had landed, Jonathan yelled to the boy, “Isn’t the arrow farther out from you?” 38 Jonathan shouted to the boy, “Go faster! Hurry up! Don’t be slow!” Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrows and came back to his master. 39 The boy did not know anything about what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40 Jonathan gave his equipment to his boy and told him, “Go on ahead. Carry these things into the city.”
41 As soon as the boy was gone, David got up from the south side of the mound.[k] He fell down with his face to the ground and bowed three times. They kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more. 42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have both sworn in the Lord’s name. May the Lord stand between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.” David got up and left, and Jonathan went back into the city.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.