1 Samuel 19–20

19And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. ²But Jonathan Saul’s son ^adelighted 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: ³And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee. ⁴And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king ^bsin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: ⁵For he did ^cput his life in his hand, and ^dslew the Philistine, and ^ethe Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against ^finnocent blood, to slay David without a cause? ⁶And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As ^gthe Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. ⁷And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, ^has ^†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. ⁹And ⁱthe evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David ^jplayed with his hand. ¹⁰And 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. ^11kSaul 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 to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.

¹²So Michal ^llet David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. ¹³And Michal took an ^†image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. ¹⁴And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. ¹⁵And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. ¹⁶And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster. ¹⁷And 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; ^mwhy should I kill thee?

¹⁸So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to ⁿRamah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. ¹⁹And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in ⁿRamah. ²⁰And Saul sent messengers to take David: ^oand 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 ^pprophesied. ²¹And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. ²²Then 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 be at Naioth in ⁿRamah. ²³And he went thither to Naioth in ⁿRamah: and ^qthe Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in ⁿRamah. ²⁴And he stripped off his clothes also, and ^rprophesied before Samuel in like manner, and ^†lay down ^snaked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, ^tIs Saul also among the prophets?

20And David fled from Naioth in ^aRamah, 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? ²And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will ^†shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. ³And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that ^bI have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as ^cthe Lord liveth, and as ^dthy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. ⁴Then said Jonathan unto David, ^||Whatsoever thy soul ^†desireth, I will even do it for thee. ⁵And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the ^enew moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that ^fI may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. ⁶If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run ^gto Beth-lehem his city: for there is a ^hyearly ^||sacrifice there for all the family. ⁷If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that ⁱevil is determined by him. ⁸Therefore thou shalt ^jdeal kindly with thy servant; for ^kthou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee: notwithstanding, ^lif there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? ⁹And 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 thee? ¹⁰Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? ¹¹And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. ¹²And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Israel, when I have ^†sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and ^†shew it thee; ^13mThe Lord do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will ^†shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and ⁿthe Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father. ¹⁴And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not: ¹⁵But also ^othou 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. ¹⁶So Jonathan ^†made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ^pLet the Lord even require it at the hand of David’s enemies. ¹⁷And Jonathan caused David to swear again, ^||because he loved him: ^qfor he loved him as he loved his own soul. ¹⁸Then Jonathan said to David, ^rTo morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be ^†empty. ¹⁹And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down ^||quickly, and come to ^sthe place where thou didst hide thyself ^†when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone ^||Ezel. ²⁰And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a ^tmark. ²¹And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out 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; ^uas the Lord liveth. ²²But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the Lord hath sent thee away. ²³And as touching ^vthe matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.

²⁴So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. ²⁵And 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. ²⁶Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, ^whe is not clean; surely he is not clean. ²⁷And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second ^xday of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? ²⁸And Jonathan answered Saul, ^yDavid earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem: ²⁹And 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 favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table. ³⁰Then 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? ³¹For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he ^†shall surely die. ³²And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, ^zWherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? ³³And Saul ^acast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that ^bit was determined of his father to slay David. ³⁴So Jonathan arose from the table ^cin fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

³⁵And 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. ³⁶And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow ^†beyond him. ³⁷And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow ^dbeyond thee? ³⁸And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. ³⁹But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. ⁴⁰And Jonathan gave his ^†artillery unto ^†his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. ⁴¹And as soon as the lad was…