Old/New Testament
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[a] 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.[b] 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,[c] 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,[d] 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[e] 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,[f] 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?[g] 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.[h] 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.
David and the Priests
21 David came to Ahimelek the priest at Nob. When he came to meet David, Ahimelek was trembling with fear, and he said to David, “Why are you alone? Why isn’t there anyone with you?”[i]
2 David said to Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about where I am sending you or about your orders.’ I have instructed the young men to wait for me at a certain place. 3 So what do you have on hand? Please give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is available.”
4 The priest answered David, “I do not have any ordinary bread, but there is holy[j] bread—I can give it to you[k] only if your young men have kept themselves away from women.”[l]
5 David answered the priest, “Yes indeed, women have been kept away from us just as they have been on previous occasions. Whenever I go out on a mission, the bodies[m] of the young men are kept holy even if it is only an ordinary journey. How much more then shall their bodies be holy today?”
6 So the priest gave him holy bread, because there was no bread there except for the Bread of the Presence which had been removed from the presence of the Lord and replaced with hot bread.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was present that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite. He was in charge of Saul’s shepherds.
8 David said to Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or sword on hand here? I didn’t bring my sword or my gear with me, because the king’s mission was so urgent.”
9 The priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the place where the special vest is kept. If you would like to take that, take it, because there is nothing else here.”
David said, “There is no other like that one. Give it to me.”
David Among the Philistines
10 David quickly fled from Saul that day and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 The officials of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Didn’t they dance and sing songs about him, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”
12 David took those words to heart, so he was very afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 He changed his behavior in their presence and pretended to be insane while he was in their hands. He scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spit run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, can’t you see that the man is insane? Why have you brought him to me? 15 Don’t I have enough madmen? Did you have to bring this madman into my presence? Should I keep this man in my house?”
29 As the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It is seeking a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look, one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But look, one greater than Jonah is here.
A Lamp and a Lampstand
33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a hidden place or under a basket, but on a stand so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is good, your whole body is full of light. But when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore, see to it that the light that is in you is not darkness. 36 So if your whole body is full of light, without any dark part, it will be completely full of light, as when a lamp shines on you with bright light.”
Woes and Warnings
37 After Jesus spoke, a Pharisee invited him to have a meal with him. He went in and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first wash[a] before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 Fools! Didn’t the one who made the outside also make the inside? 41 But give those things that are inside as a gift to the poor, and see, everything will be clean for you. 42 But woe to you Pharisees, because you give a tenth of mint and rue and every herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have done these things without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.”
45 One of the legal experts answered him, “Teacher, by saying these things you are insulting us too.”
46 But Jesus said, “Woe to you legal experts too, because you load people down with burdens too difficult to carry, and you yourselves do not touch these burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you because you build monuments for the prophets, but your fathers killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and agree with what your fathers did, because they killed them, and you build their monuments. 49 For this reason the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles. Some of them they will kill and persecute, 50 so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. 52 Woe to you legal experts, because you took away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were trying to enter.”
53 When he went away from there, the experts in the law and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to question him closely about many things. 54 They were plotting against him to trap him in something he said.[b]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.