Jonathan Helps David

1Then David fled from Naioth, which is in Ramah, and he went and said before Jonathan: “What have I done? What is my iniquity, or what is my sin, against your father, so that he would seek my life?” 2And he said to him: “May this not be! You shall not die. For my father will not do anything, great or small, without first revealing it to me. Therefore, has my father concealed this word solely from me? By no means shall this be!” 3And he swore again to David. And David said: “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and so he will say, ‘Let Jonathan not know this, lest he be saddened.’ So truly, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, there is only one step (if I may say it) separating me from death.” 4And Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your soul will tell me, I will do for you.” 5Then David said to Jonathan: “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am accustomed to sit in a seat beside the king to eat. Therefore, permit me that I may be hidden in the field, until the evening of the third day. 6If your father, looking around, will seek me, you shall respond to him: ‘David asked me if he may hurry to Bethlehem, his own city. For there are solemn sacrifices in that place for all of his tribe together.’ 7If he will say, ‘It is well,’ then your servant will have peace. But if he will be angry, know that his malice has reached its height. 8Therefore, show mercy to your servant. For you have brought me, your servant, into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is any iniquity in me, you may kill me, and you shall not lead me in to your father.” 9And Jonathan said: “May this be far from you. For certainly, if I ever realized that any wickedness was determined by my father against you, I would not be able to do anything other than report it to you.”

Jonathan and David Renew Their Covenant

10And David responded to Jonathan, “Who will repeat it to me, if your father may perhaps answer you harshly about me?”

11And Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” And when they both had gone out into the field,

12Jonathan said before David: “O Lord, God of Israel, if I will discover a decision by my father, tomorrow, or the day after, and if there will be anything good concerning David, and yet I do not immediately send to you and make it known to you, 13may the Lord do these things to Jonathan, and may he add these other things. But if my father will have persevered in malice against you, I will reveal it to your ear, and I will send you away, so that you may go in peace, and so that the Lord may be with you, just as he was with my father. 14And if I live, you shall show the mercy of the Lord to me. Yet truly, if I die, 15you shall not take away your mercy from my house, even forever, when the Lord will have rooted out the enemies of David, each and every one of them, from the earth. May he take Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it from the hands of the enemies of David.” 16Therefore, Jonathan formed a covenant with the house of David. And the Lord required it from the hands of the enemies of David. 17And Jonathan continued to swear to David, because he loved him. For he loved him like his own soul.

18And Jonathan said to him: “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be sought. 19For your seat will be empty until the day after tomorrow. Therefore, you shall descend quickly, and you shall go to the place where you are to be hidden, on a day when it is lawful to work, and you shall remain beside the stone that is called Ezel. 20And I will shoot three arrows near it, and I will cast them as if I were practicing for myself toward a mark. 21Also, I will send a boy, saying to him, ‘Go and bring the arrows to me.’ 22If I will say to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are before you, take them up,’ you shall approach before me, because there is peace for you, and there is nothing evil, as the Lord lives. But if I will have spoken to the boy in this way, ‘Behold, the arrows are away from you,’ then you shall go away in peace, for the Lord has released you. 23Now about the word that you and I have spoken, may the Lord be between you and me, even forever.”

24Therefore, David was hidden in the field. And the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread. 25And when the king had sat down on his chair, (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat beside Saul, and David’s place appeared empty. 26And Saul did not say anything on that day. For he was thinking that perhaps something happened to him, so that he was not clean, or not purified. 27And when the second day after the new moon had begun to dawn, David’s place again appeared empty. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not arrived to eat, neither yesterday, nor today?” 28And Jonathan responded to Saul, “He petitioned me earnestly that he might go to Bethlehem, 29and he said: ‘Permit me. For there is a solemn sacrifice in the city. One of my brothers has summoned me. Now therefore, if I have found favor in your eyes, I will go quickly, and I will see my brothers.’ For this reason, he has not come to the table of the king.”

Saul Seeks to Kill Jonathan

30Then Saul, becoming angry against Jonathan, said to him: “You son of a woman wantonly seizing a man! Could I be ignorant that you love the son of Jesse, to your own shame, and to the shame of your disgraceful mother? 31For all the days that the son of Jesse moves upon earth, neither you, nor your kingdom, will be secure. And so, send and bring him to me, here and now. For he is a son of death.” 32Then Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said: “Why should he die? What has he done?” 33And Saul picked up a lance, so that he might strike him. And Jonathan understood that it had been decided by his father that David be put to death. 34Therefore, Jonathan rose up from the table in a rage of anger. And he did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was saddened over David, because his father had confounded him.

35And when the morning had begun to dawn, Jonathan went into the field according to the agreement with David, and a young boy was with him. 36And he said to his boy, “Go, and bring to me the arrows that I shoot.” And when the boy had run, he shot another arrow away from the boy. 37And so, the boy went to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot. And Jonathan cried out, from behind the back of boy, and said: “Behold, the arrow is there, farther away from you.” 38And Jonathan cried out again, from behind the back of the boy, saying, “Go quickly! Do not stand still!” Then Jonathan’s boy collected the arrows, and he brought them to his lord. 39And he did not understand at all what was happening. For only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy, and he said to him, “Go, and carry them into the city.” 41And when the boy had gone away, David rose up from his place, which turned toward the south, and falling prone on the ground, he reverenced three times. And kissing one another, they wept together, but David more so. 42Then Jonathan said to David: “Go in peace. And let us both keep all that we have ever sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, even forever.’ ” And David rose up and went away. But Jonathan entered into the city.