Jonathan Helps David Escape
1 David escaped from Prophets Village. Then he ran to see Jonathan and asked, “Why does your father Saul want to kill me? What have I done wrong?”
2 “My father can't be trying to kill you! He never does anything without telling me about it. Why would he hide this from me? It can't be true!”
3 “Jonathan, I swear it's true! But your father knows how much you like me, and he didn't want to break your heart. That's why he didn't tell you. I swear by the living Lord and by your own life that I'm only one step ahead of death.”
4 Then Jonathan said, “Tell me what to do, and I'll do it.”
5 David answered:
Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, and I'm supposed to eat dinner with your father. But instead, I'll hide in a field until the evening of the next day. 6 If Saul wonders where I am, tell him, “David asked me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem, so he could take part in a sacrifice his family makes there every year.”
7 If your father says it's all right, then I'm safe. But if he gets angry, you'll know he wants to harm me. 8 Be kind to me. After all, it was your idea to promise the Lord that we would always be loyal friends. If I've done anything wrong, kill me yourself, but don't hand me over to your father.
9 “Don't worry,” Jonathan said. “If I find out that my father wants to kill you, I'll certainly let you know.”
10 “How will you do that?” David asked.
11 “Let's go out to this field, and I'll tell you,” Jonathan answered.
When they got there, 12 Jonathan said:
I swear by the Lord God of Israel, that two days from now I'll know what my father is planning. Of course I'll let you know if he's friendly toward you. 13 But if he wants to harm you, I promise to tell you and help you escape. And I ask the Lord to punish me severely if I don't keep my promise.
I pray that the Lord will bless you, just as he used to bless my father. 14-15 Someday the Lord will wipe out all of your enemies. Then if I'm still alive, please be as kind to me as the Lord has been. But if I'm dead, be kind to my family.
16 Jonathan and David made an agreement that even David's descendants would have to keep. Then Jonathan said, “I pray that the Lord will take revenge on your descendants if they break our promise.”
17 Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself, so he asked David to promise once more that he would be a loyal friend. 18 After this Jonathan said:
Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, and people will wonder where you are, because your place at the table will be empty. 19 By the day after tomorrow, everyone will think you've been gone a long time. Then go to the place where you hid before and stay beside Going-Away Rock. 20 I'll shoot three arrows at a target off to the side of the rock, 21 and send my servant to find the arrows.
You'll know if it's safe to come out by what I tell him. If it is safe, I swear by the living Lord that I'll say, “The arrows are on this side of you! Pick them up!” 22 But if it isn't safe, I'll say to the boy, “The arrows are farther away!” This will mean that the Lord wants you to leave, and you must go. 23 But he will always watch us to make sure that we keep the promise we made to each other.
24 So David hid there in the field.
During the New Moon Festival, Saul sat down to eat 25 by the wall, just as he always did. Jonathan sat across from him, and Abner sat next to him. But David's place was empty. 26 Saul didn't say anything that day, because he was thinking, “Something must have happened to make David unfit to be at the Festival. Yes, something must have happened.”
27 The day after the New Moon Festival, when David's place was still empty, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn't that son of Jesse come to eat with us? He wasn't here yesterday, and he still isn't here today!”
28-29 Jonathan answered, “The reason David hasn't come to eat with you is that he begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Please let me go. My family is offering a sacrifice, and my brother told me I have to be there. Do me this favor and let me slip away to see my brothers.’ ”
30 Saul was furious with Jonathan and yelled, “You're no son of mine, you traitor! I know you've chosen to be loyal to that son of Jesse. You should be ashamed of yourself! And your own mother should be ashamed that you were ever born. 31 You'll never be safe, and your kingdom will be in danger as long as that son of Jesse is alive. Turn him over to me now! He deserves to die!”
32 “Why do you want to kill David?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”
33 Saul threw his spear at Jonathan and tried to kill him. Then Jonathan was sure that his father really did want to kill David. 34 Jonathan was angry and hurt that his father had insulted David so terribly. He got up, left the table, and didn't eat anything all that day.
35 In the morning, Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a servant boy along 36 and told him, “When I shoot the arrows, you run and find them for me.”
The boy started running, and Jonathan shot an arrow so that it would go beyond him. 37 When the boy got near the place where the arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted, “Isn't the arrow on past you?” 38 Jonathan shouted to him again, “Hurry up! Don't stop!”
The boy picked up the arrows and brought them back to Jonathan, 39 but he had no idea about what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him, “Take these back into town.”
41 After the boy had gone, David got up from beside the mound and bowed very low three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and cried, but David cried louder. 42 Jonathan said, “Take care of yourself. And remember, we each have asked the Lord to watch and make sure that we and our descendants keep our promise forever.”
David left and Jonathan went back to town.
Jonathan Helps David
1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and went to Jonathan. “What have I done?” he asked. “What crime have I committed? What wrong have I done to your father to make him want to kill me?”
2 Jonathan answered, “God forbid that you should die! My father tells me everything he does, important or not, and he would not hide this from me. It just isn't so!”
3 But David answered, “Your father knows very well how much you like me, and he has decided not to let you know what he plans to do, because you would be deeply hurt. I swear to you by the living Lord that I am only a step away from death!”
4 Jonathan said, “I'll do anything you want.”
5 “Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,” David replied, “and I am supposed to eat with the king. But if it's all right with you, I will go and hide in the fields until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6 If your father notices that I am not at the table, tell him that I begged your permission to hurry home to Bethlehem, since it's the time for the annual sacrifice there for my whole family. 7 If he says, ‘All right,’ I will be safe; but if he becomes angry, you will know that he is determined to harm me. 8 Please do me this favor, and keep the sacred promise you made to me. But if I'm guilty, kill me yourself! Why take me to your father to be killed?”
9 “Don't even think such a thing!” Jonathan answered. “If I knew for sure that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?”
10 David then asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you angrily?”
11 “Let's go out to the fields,” Jonathan answered. So they went, 12 and Jonathan said to David, “May the Lord God of Israel be our witness! At this time tomorrow and on the following day I will question my father. If his attitude toward you is good, I will send you word. 13 If he intends to harm you, may the Lord strike me dead if I don't let you know about it and get you safely away. May the Lord be with you as he was with my father! 14 And if I remain alive, please keep your sacred promise and be loyal to me; but if I die, 15 show the same kind of loyalty to my family forever. And when the Lord has completely destroyed all your enemies, 16 may our promise to each other still be unbroken. If it is broken, the Lord will punish you.”
17 Once again Jonathan made David promise to love him, for Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Since tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, your absence will be noticed if you aren't at the meal. 19 The day after tomorrow your absence will be noticed even more; so go to the place where you hid yourself the other time, and hide behind the pile of stones there. 20 I will then shoot three arrows at it, as though it were a target. 21 Then I will tell my servant to go and find them. And if I tell him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them,’ that means that you are safe and can come out. I swear by the living Lord that you will be in no danger. 22 But if I tell him, ‘The arrows are on the other side of you,’ then leave, because the Lord is sending you away. 23 As for the promise we have made to each other, the Lord will make sure that we will keep it forever.”
24 So David hid in the fields. At the New Moon Festival, King Saul came to the meal 25 and sat in his usual place by the wall. Abner sat next to him, and Jonathan sat across the table from him. David's place was empty, 26 but Saul said nothing that day, because he thought, “Something has happened to him, and he is not ritually pure.” 27 On the following day, the day after the New Moon Festival, David's place was still empty, and Saul asked Jonathan, “Why didn't David come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered, “He begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. 29 ‘Please let me go,’ he said, ‘because our family is celebrating the sacrificial feast in town, and my brother ordered me to be there. So then, if you are my friend, let me go and see my relatives.’ That is why he isn't in his place at your table.”
30 Saul became furious with Jonathan and said to him, “How rebellious and faithless your mother was! Now I know you are taking sides with David and are disgracing yourself and that mother of yours! 31 Don't you realize that as long as David is alive, you will never be king of this country? Now go and bring him here—he must die!”
32 “Why should he die?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
33 At that, Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, and Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. 34 Jonathan got up from the table in a rage and ate nothing that day—the second day of the New Moon Festival. He was deeply distressed about David, because Saul had insulted him. 35 The following morning Jonathan went to the fields to meet David, as they had agreed. He took a young boy with him 36 and said to him, “Run and find the arrows I'm going to shoot.” The boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy reached the place where the arrow had fallen, Jonathan shouted to him, “The arrow is farther on! 38 Don't just stand there! Hurry up!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master, 39 not knowing what it all meant; only Jonathan and David knew. 40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him to take them back to town.
41 After the boy had left, David got up from behind the pile of stones, fell on his knees and bowed with his face to the ground three times. Both he and Jonathan were crying as they kissed each other; David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “God be with you. The Lord will make sure that you and I, and your descendants and mine, will forever keep the sacred promise we have made to each other.” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.