1And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan’s face, What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life? 2And Jonathan said to him, Let it not be! You shall not die! Behold, my father will do nothing either great or small but that he will disclose it in my ear. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so! 3And David swore and said, Your father has perceived to know that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But surely, as Jehovah lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death. 4And Jonathan said to David, Whatever your soul desires, I will do it for you. 5And David said to Jonathan, Behold tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should remain to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third evening. 6If your father notices and misses me, then answer, David has asked for himself a leave of absence that he might run to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. 7If he says thus: Good, your servant will be safe. But if he burns with fury, then know that evil is determined by him. 8Therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Jehovah with you. However, if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father? 9And Jonathan said, Let it not be! For if I perceived to know that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you? 10Then David said to Jonathan, Who will tell me? Or what if your father answers you harshly? 11And Jonathan said to David, Come, and let us go out into the field. So both of them went out into the field. 12And Jonathan said to David: Jehovah the God of Israel is witness! When I have searched out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and there is good toward David, and I have not disclosed it in your ear, 13may Jehovah do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will disclose it in your ear and send you away, that you may go in peace. And Jehovah be with you as He was with my father. 14And you shall not only show me the kindness of Jehovah while I still live, that I not die; 15but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not even when Jehovah has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. 16So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let Jehovah require it at the hand of David’s enemies. 17And Jonathan again caused David to swear, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 18Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel. 20And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target; 21and there I will send a lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I answer to say to him, Behold, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come; then, as Jehovah lives, there is peace for you and nothing else. 22But if I say thus to the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond you; go your way, for Jehovah has sent you away. 23And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, behold Jehovah is between you and me forever. 24So David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat food. 25Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, Something has happened to him; he is not clean, surely he is not clean. 27And 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 the meal, either yesterday or today? 28And Jonathan answered Saul, David has asked for himself a leave of absence to go to Bethlehem. 29And he said, Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and thus my brother has commanded me. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers. Therefore he has not come to the king’s table. 30Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of perverse rebellion! 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? 31For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he is a son of death. 32And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he be killed? What has he done? 33And Saul threw a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David. 34So Jonathan rose up from the table in burning anger, and ate no food the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for David, because his father had shamed him. 35And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy was with him. 36And he said to the boy, Now run, find the arrows which I am shooting. As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37When the boy had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, Is not the arrow beyond you? 38And Jonathan called out after the boy, Make haste, hurry, do not delay! So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came back to his master. 39But the boy did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. 40And Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city. 41And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose up from a place on the south side, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. 42And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, May Jehovah be between you and me, and between your seed and my seed, forever. So he rose up and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.