1David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan, asking, "What have I done? What is my guilt? What is my sin against your father that he is trying to kill me?"
2Jonathan replied, "No, you won't die! Look, my father doesn't do anything important or unimportant without telling me. Why would my father hide this from me? It's not true."
3But David swore again and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found favor with you, and he thought, 'Jonathan must not know this, or he will be upset.' But I swear by the living Yahweh and by your own life, I am only a step away from death."
4Then Jonathan said to David, "Whatever you want, I will do for you."
5David said to Jonathan, "Tomorrow is the New Moon festival, and I am supposed to eat with the king. But please let me go so I can hide in the field until the evening of the third day.
6If your father notices I'm gone, tell him, 'David urgently asked my permission to rush to his hometown, Bethlehem, because his whole family is having their annual sacrifice there.'
7If he says, 'That's fine,' then your servant is safe. But if he gets angry, you will know that he has decided to harm me."
8So please be kind to me, your servant, because you and I have made a pact before Yahweh. But if I have done anything wrong, kill me yourself. Why would you hand me over to your father?
9Jonathan said, "No, absolutely not! If I ever found out that my father had decided to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?"
10Then David asked Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?"
11Jonathan said to David, "Come, let's go out into the field." So they both went out into the field.
12Jonathan said to David, "I swear by Yahweh, the God of Israel, that by this time tomorrow, or the day after, I will find out my father's intentions. If he has good intentions for you, I will certainly send word to you and let you know.
13May Yahweh punish me severely if my father intends to harm you and I don't tell you and send you away so you can escape safely. May Yahweh be with you, just as he has been with my father.
14As long as I am alive, please show me the faithful love of Yahweh so that I don't die.
15And never stop showing kindness to my family, not even when Yahweh has wiped out every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth."
16So Jonathan made a covenant with David's family, saying, "May Yahweh hold David's enemies accountable."
17Jonathan made David swear an oath again because of his deep love for him; he loved him as much as he loved himself.
18Then Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the New Moon festival, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
19After three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid before, and wait by the stone Ezel.
20I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were shooting at a target.
21Then I will send the boy and tell him, 'Go, find the arrows!' If I tell the boy, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; pick them up,' then you can come, because you are safe and there's no danger, as Yahweh lives.
22But if I tell the boy, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then you must go, because Yahweh is sending you away.
23As for the agreement we made, remember that Yahweh is a witness between you and me forever."
24So David hid himself in the field. When the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat.
25The king sat in his usual place, by the wall, and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat beside Saul, but David's place was empty.
26However, Saul didn't say anything that day, because he thought, "Something must have happened to him. He must be ritually unclean; surely he is unclean."
27On the next day, the second day of the New Moon festival, David's place was still empty. Saul asked his son Jonathan, "Why didn't Jesse's son come to eat yesterday or today?"
28Jonathan answered Saul, "David strongly asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem."
29He said, 'Please let me go, because our family is having a sacrifice in the city. My brother told me I had to be there. Now, if you are pleased with me, please let me leave and see my brothers.' That is why he hasn't come to the king's table."
30Then Saul became furious with Jonathan and said to him, "You son of a stubborn, rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have chosen Jesse's son to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?
31As long as Jesse's son lives on earth, you and your kingdom will not be secure. So send for him now and bring him to me, because he must die!"
32Jonathan asked his father Saul, "Why should he die? What has he done?"
33Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to try to hit him. By this, Jonathan realized that his father was determined to kill David.
34So Jonathan got up from the table in a rage and didn't eat any food that second day of the month. He was upset about David because his father had treated him so disgracefully.
35In the morning, Jonathan went out to the field at the arranged time to meet David, and he took a small boy with him.
36He told the boy, "Run and find the arrows I shoot now." As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow past him.
37When the boy reached the place where the arrow Jonathan had shot landed, Jonathan called out to the boy and said, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?"
38Jonathan called out to the boy, "Go quickly! Hurry! Don't stop!" Jonathan's boy gathered the arrows and came back to his master.
39But the boy didn't know what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew about it.
40Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and told him, "Go, take them to the city."
41As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from the south. He fell to the ground on his face and bowed three times. They kissed each other and wept together, but David wept the most.
42Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, because we have both sworn to each other in Yahweh's name, saying, 'Yahweh is a witness between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.'" David got up and left, and Jonathan went into the city.