1 Samuel 19–20

DAVID DELIVERED FROM SAUL

19Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David.^ac But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much,^{ad 2}so he told him, “My father, Saul, intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning and hide in a secret place and stay there. ³I’ll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and talk to him about you. When I see what he says, I’ll tell you.”^ae

⁴Jonathan spoke well of David to his father, Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David.^af He hasn’t sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you. ⁵He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine,^a and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel.^b You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”^c

⁶Saul listened to Jonathan’s advice and swore an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.” ⁷So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he did before.^d

⁸When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such great force that they fled from him.

⁹Now an evil spirit sent from the Lord^e came on Saul as he was sitting in his palace holding a spear.^f David was playing the lyre,^{g 10}and Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear.^h As the spear struck the wall, David eluded Saul, ran away, and escaped that night. ¹¹Saul sent agents to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning.ⁱ But his wife Michal^j warned David, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow!” ¹²So she lowered David from the window, and he fled and escaped.^{k 13}Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. ¹⁴When Saul sent agents to seize David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”^l

¹⁵Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.” ¹⁶When the agents arrived, to their surprise, the household idol was on the bed with some goat hair on its head.

¹⁷Saul asked Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!”

She answered him, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”

¹⁸So David fled and escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah^m and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel left and stayed at Naioth.ⁿ

¹⁹When it was reported to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, ²⁰he sent agents to seize David.^o However, when they saw the group of prophets prophesying^p with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s agents, and they also started prophesying. ²¹When they reported to Saul, he sent other agents, and they also began prophesying.^q So Saul tried again and sent a third group of agents, and even they began prophesying. ²²Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the large cistern at Secu and asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

“At Naioth in Ramah,” someone said.

²³So he went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God also came on him,^r and as he walked along, he prophesied until he entered Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴Saul then removed his clothes and also prophesied before Samuel; he collapsed and lay naked^s all that day and all that night. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”^t

JONATHAN PROTECTS DAVID

20David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done?^u What did I do wrong? How have I sinned against your father so that he wants to take my life?”

²Jonathan said to him, “No, you won’t die. Listen, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This can’t be true.”

³But David said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor with you. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.’ ” David also swore, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”^v

⁴Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

⁵So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon,^w and I’m supposed to sit down and eat with the king.^x Instead, let me go, and I’ll hide in the countryside for the next two nights.^{Ay 6}If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to go quickly to his hometown, Bethlehem,^z for an annual sacrifice^aa there involving the whole clan.’ ⁷If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions. ⁸Deal kindly with^B your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the Lord.^ab If I have done anything wrong,^ac then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?”

⁹“No!” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

¹⁰So David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹He answered David, “Come on, let’s go out to the countryside.” So both of them went out to the countryside. ¹²“By the Lord, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you? ¹³If my father intends to bring evil on you, may the Lord punish Jonathan and do so severely^a if I do not tell you and send you away so you may leave safely. May the Lord be with you,^b just as he was with my father. ¹⁴If I continue to live, show me kindness from the Lord, but if I die, ¹⁵don’t ever withdraw your kindness from my household—not even when the Lord cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”^{c 16}Then Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David,^d saying, “May the Lord hold David’s enemies accountable.”^{De 17}Jonathan once again swore to David^E in his love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.^f

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the New Moon;^g you’ll be missed because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹The following day hurry down and go to the place where you hid on the day this incident began and stay beside the rock Ezel. ²⁰I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target. ²¹Then I will send a servant and say, ‘Go and find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to the servant, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you—get them,’ then come, because as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem. ²²But if I say this to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you!’^h then go, for the Lord is sending you away. ²³As for the matter you and I have spoken about,ⁱ the Lord will be a witness^A between you and me forever.”^{j 24}So David hid in the countryside.

At the New Moon, the king sat down to eat the meal. ²⁵He sat at his usual place on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat facing him^B and Abner took his place beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.^{k 26}Saul did not say anything that day because he thought, “Something unexpected has happened; he must be ceremonially unclean—yes, that’s it, he is unclean.”^l

²⁷However, the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

²⁸Jonathan answered, “David asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem.^{m 29}He said, ‘Please let me go because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go so I can see my brothers.’ That’s why he didn’t come to the king’s table.”

³⁰Then Saul became angry with Jonathan and shouted, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you are siding with Jesse’s son to your own shame and to the disgrace of your mother?^{C 31}Every day Jesse’s son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me—he must die!”ⁿ

³²Jonathan answered his father back, “Why is he to be killed? What has he done?”^o

³³Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him,^p so he knew that his father was determined to kill David.^{q 34}He got up from the table fiercely angry and did not eat any food that second day of the New Moon, for he was grieved because of his father’s shameful behavior toward David.

³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the countryside for the appointed meeting with David. A young servant was with him. ³⁶He said to the servant, “Run and find the arrows I’m shooting.”^r As the servant ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷He came to the location of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, but Jonathan called to him and said, “The arrow is beyond you, isn’t it?”^{s 38}Then Jonathan called to him, “Hurry up and don’t stop!” Jonathan’s servant picked up the arrow and returned to his master. ³⁹He did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. ⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

⁴¹When the servant had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell facedown to the ground, and paid homage three times.^t Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.^u

⁴²Jonathan then said to David, “Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of the Lord when we said, ‘The Lord will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.’ ”^v Then David left, and Jonathan went into the city.