12
Then Jonathan said to David: "The Lord God of Israel is witness! When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you,
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may the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the Lord be with you as He has been with my father.
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And you shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die;
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but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth."
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So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "Let the Lord require it at the hand of David's enemies."
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Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
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Then Jonathan said to David, "Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
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And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel.
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Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target;
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and there I will send a lad, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I expressly say to him, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come'--then, as the Lord lives, there is safety for you and no harm.
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But if I say thus to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you'--go your way, for the Lord has sent you away.
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And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the Lord be between you and me forever."
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Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast.
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Now 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, but David's place was empty.
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Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, "Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean."
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And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?"
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So Jonathan answered Saul, "David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem.
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And he said, 'Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.' Therefore he has not come to the king's table."
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Then Saul's anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?
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For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die."
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And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, "Why should he be killed? What has he done?"