19 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David.

² But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David; and Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father seeketh to kill thee. Now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place and hide thyself.

³ And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father about thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee.”

⁴ And Jonathan spoke well of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, “Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he hath not sinned against thee and because his works have been toward thee very good.

⁵ For he put his life in his hands and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Why then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?”

⁶ And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan; and Saul swore, “As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.”

⁷ And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.

⁸ And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter, and they fled from him.

⁹ And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand. And David played music with his hand.

¹⁰ And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹ Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house to watch him and to slay him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain.”

¹² So Michal let David down through a window; and he went and fled, and escaped.

¹³ And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for its head, and covered it with a cloth.

¹⁴ And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵ And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.”

¹⁶ And when the messengers had come in, behold, there was an image in the bed with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster.

¹⁷ And Saul said unto Michal, “Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said unto me, ‘Let me go: Why should I kill thee?’”

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.

¹⁹ And it was told Saul, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

²⁰ And Saul sent messengers to take David; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

²¹ And when it was told to Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.

²² Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu; and he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”

²³ And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴ And he stripped off his clothes also and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

20 And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is mine iniquity? And what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?”

² And he said unto him, “God forbid! Thou shalt not die. Behold, my father will do nothing either great or small but that he will show it to me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.”

³ And David swore moreover and said, “Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he saith, ‘Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.”

⁴ Then said Jonathan unto David, “Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.”

⁵ And David said unto Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at evening.

⁶ If thy father at all miss me, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me, that he might run to Bethlehem, his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’

⁷ If he say thus, ‘It is well,’ thy servant shall have peace; but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him.

⁸ Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant, for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee. Notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?”

⁹ And Jonathan said, “Far be it from thee; for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it to thee?”

¹⁰ Then said David to Jonathan, “Who shall tell me? Or what if thy father answer thee roughly?”

¹¹ And Jonathan said unto David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” And they went out both of them into the field.

¹² And Jonathan said unto David, “By the Lord the God of Israel, when I have sounded out my father about tomorrow any time, or the third day, and behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee and show it to thee,

¹³ the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it to thee and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and the Lord be with thee, as He hath been with my father.

¹⁴ And thou shalt not only show me the kindness of the Lord while yet I live, that I die not,

¹⁵ but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever — no, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the Lord even require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”

¹⁷ And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and thou shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty.

¹⁹ And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.

²⁰ And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.

²¹ And behold, I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say unto the lad, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee; take them,’ then come thou, for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as the Lord liveth.

²² But if I say thus unto the young man, ‘Behold, the arrows are beyond thee,’ go thy way; for the Lord hath sent thee away.

²³ And concerning the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be witness between thee and me for ever.”

²⁴ So David hid himself in the field; and when the new moon had come, the king sat down to eat meat.

²⁵ And the king sat upon his seat as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty.

²⁶ Nevertheless Saul spoke not any thing that day, for he thought, “Something hath befallen him. He is not clean, surely he is not clean.”

²⁷ And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said unto Jonathan his son, “Why cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday nor today?”

²⁸ And Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.”

²⁹ And he said, ‘Let me go, I pray thee, for our family hath a sacrifice in the city, and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren.’ Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table.”

³⁰ Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, “Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness?

³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.”

³² And Jonathan answered Saul his father and said unto him, “Why shall he be slain? What hath he done?”

³³ And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him, whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to slay David.

³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no meat the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

³⁵ And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.

³⁶ And he said unto his lad, “Run, find now the arrows which I shoot.” And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷ And when the lad had come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad and said, “Is not the arrow beyond thee?”

³⁸ And Jonathan cried after the lad, “Make speed, haste, stay not.” And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows and came to his master.

³⁹ But the lad knew not anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

⁴⁰ And Jonathan gave his weapons unto his lad and said unto him, “Go, carry them to the city.”

⁴¹ And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground and bowed himself three times; and they kissed one another and wept one with another, but David more.

⁴² And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever.’” And he arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.