1
And David ran··away from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan◦, What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before thy father, that he seeks my soul?
2
And he said unto him, Far··be··it; thou shalt· not ·die; behold, my father will do neither a great thing nor a little◦ thing, and will not reveal it to my ear; And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not◦ so.
3
And David yet promised and said, Knowing thy father knows that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he said, Let· not Jonathan◦ ·know this, lest he be··grieved; but nevertheless, as Jehovah lives and as thy soul lives, there is but◦ as a pace between me and death.
4
And Jonathan◦ said to▵ David, Whatever thy soul says, I will do for thee.
5
And David said to▵ Jonathan◦, Behold, tomorrow is new··moon, and sitting, I▵ should sit with the king to eat; but send· me ·away, and I will be hidden in the field until the third evening.
6
If thy father missing shall miss me, then thou shalt say, David asking asked of me to run to Bethlehem, his city; for there is a sacrifice of the days there for all of the family.
7
If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he, being incensed, is incensed, know that the evil has been determined* by him.
8
And thou shalt do mercy on thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee; and if there··be in me iniquity, Thou◦ shalt put· me ·to··death; and why shouldest thou bring me to◦ thy father?
9
And Jonathan◦ said, Far··be··it from thee; for if knowing I knew that evil were determined by my father to come on thee, would I not tell it to thee?
10
And David said to▵ Jonathan◦, Who shall tell me, or what hard thing thy father shall answer thee?
11
And Jonathan◦ said to▵ David, Go and let us Go··out into the field. And the two of them went··out into the field.
12
And Jonathan◦ said to▵ David, O Jehovah, God of Israel, when◦ I have searched··out my father as at this time tomorrow, or the third day, and behold, it be··good to▵ David, then will I not send to▵ thee, and reveal it to thine ear;
13
Jehovah do thus to Jonathan◦ and do thus again; for if it is··good to▵ my father to do evil upon thee, then I will reveal it in thine ear, and send· thee ·away, and thou shalt go◦ in peace; and Jehovah be with thee, as◦ He has been with my father.
14
And thou shalt not only do unto me the mercy of Jehovah while I live, that I may not die,
15
and that thou shalt not cut··off thy mercy from my house even··to eternity; neither when Jehovah has cut··off the enemies of David, a man◦ from on the faces of the ground.
16
And if Jonathan◦ be cut··off from the house of David, then Jehovah shall seek it from the hand of the enemies of David.
17
And Jonathan◦ again promised David by his love for him; for by the love of his soul he loved him.
18
And Jonathan◦ said unto him, Tomorrow is the new··moon; and thou shalt be missed, for thy seat will be missed.
19
And when thou hast stayed··three days, thou shalt go··down very quickly and come to▵ the place where thou didst hide in the day of the deed, and shalt sit beside the stone Ezel.
20
And I◦ shall shoot three arrows toward the side, as though to send them at a target.
21
And behold, I shall send the lad: Go, find the arrows. If saying I say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side from thee, take them; then come, for there is peace to thee, and there is no matter, as Jehovah lives.
22
But if I say thus to the adolescent, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go, for Jehovah has sent· thee ·away.
23
But the word which we have spoken, I◦ and thou◦, behold, Jehovah be between me and thee even··to eternity.
24
And David hid himself in the field; and it was the new··moon, and the king sat··down to▵ eat bread.
25
And the king sat on his seat, as at other times◦, on a seat by the wall◦; and Jonathan◦ arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David was missing from his place.
26
And Saul spoke not anything that◦ day; for he said, By chance he◦ is not▵ clean, that he◦ is not clean.
27
And it was, on the morrow, the second of the new··moon, that David was missing from his place; and Saul said to▵ Jonathan◦ his son, Why comes not the son of Jesse to▵ bread, both◦ yesterday and◦ today?
28
And Jonathan◦ answered Saul, Asking, David asked of me to go to◦ Bethlehem:
29
and he said, Send· me ·away, I pray◦ thee, for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother himself◦ commanded me; and now, if I have··found grace in thine eyes, let me escape, I pray◦ thee, and see my brothers. Therefore he has not come to▵ the table of the king.
30
And Saul’s anger was··fierce against Jonathan◦, and he said unto him, Thou son of the iniquitous revolter, do I not know that thou◦ hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame, and to the shame of thy mother’s nakedness?
31
For all the day that the son of Jesse lives upon the ground, thou◦ shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. And now, send and fetch him to▵ me, for he◦ is a son of death.
32
And Jonathan◦ answered Saul his father, and said unto▵ him, Wherefore shall· he ·be··put··to··death? What has he done?
33
And Saul threw the spear at him to smite him; and Jonathan◦ knew that it◦ was determined by his father to··put· David ·to··death.
34
And Jonathan◦ arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate not bread the second day of the new··moon; for he was grieved for◦ David, for his father had humiliated him.
35
And it was, in the morning, that Jonathan◦ went··out into the field, at the time··appointed by David, and a small lad with him.
36
And he said unto his lad, Run, find now◦ the arrows which I▵ shoot. The lad ran and he◦ shot an arrow to pass··by him.
37
And the lad came to◦ the place of the arrow which Jonathan◦ had shot; and Jonathan◦ called after the lad and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
38
And Jonathan◦ called after the lad, Hasten, hurry, stand not still. And the lad of Jonathan◦ collected the arrows and came to▵ his lord.
39
And the lad knew not anything; only▵ Jonathan◦ and David knew the matter.
40
And Jonathan◦ gave his arms to▵ his lad who was with him, and said unto him, Go bring them to the city.
41
The lad went··in; and David arose from beside the south and fell with his face◦ to▫ the earth, and bowed· himself ·down three times◦; and they kissed, a man◦ with◦ his companion, and they wept, a man◦ with◦ his companion, until David became··greatly overwhelmed.
42
21:1 And Jonathan◦ said to David, Go in the peace which we have promised, the two of us◦ in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed even··to eternity.
