1 Samuel 19; 1 Samuel 20; 1 Samuel 21; Luke 11:29-54

1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all of the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan liked David very much.

2 So Jonathan warned him, "My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be very careful tomorrow morning. Find a place to hide and stay there.

3 My father and I will come and stand in the field where you are hiding. I'll speak to him about you. Then I'll tell you what I find out."

4 Jonathan told his father Saul some good things about David. He said to him, "Please don't do anything to harm David. He hasn't done anything to harm you. And what he's done has helped you a lot.

5 He put his own life in danger when he killed Goliath. The LORD used him to win a great battle for the whole nation of Israel. When you saw it, you were glad. So why would you do anything to harm a man like David? He isn't guilty of doing anything to harm you. Why would you want to kill him without any reason?"

6 Saul paid attention to Jonathan. He took an oath and made a promise. He said, "You can be sure that the LORD lives. And you can be just as sure that David will not be put to death."

7 So Jonathan sent for David and told him everything he and Saul had said. Then he brought David to Saul. David served Saul as he had done before.

8 Once more war broke out. So David went out and fought against the Philistines. He struck them down with so much force that they ran away from him.

9 But an evil spirit that was sent by the LORD came on Saul. It happened as he was sitting in his house and holding his spear. While David was playing the harp,

10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But David got away from him just as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David escaped.

11 Saul sent some men to watch David's house. He told them to kill David the next morning. But David's wife Michal warned him. She said, "You must run for your life tonight. If you don't, tomorrow you will be killed."

12 So Michal helped David escape through a window. He ran and got away.

13 Then Michal got a statue of a god. She laid it on David's bed. She covered it with clothes. And she put some goat hair at the place where David's head would have been.

14 Saul sent the men to capture David. But Michal told them, "He's sick."

15 Then Saul sent the men back to see David. He told them, "Bring him up here to me in his bed. Then I'll kill him."

16 But when the men entered, they found nothing but the statue in the bed. Some goat hair was at the place where David's head would have been.

17 Saul said to Michal, "Why did you trick me like this? Why did you help my enemy escape?" Michal told him, "He said to me, 'Help me get away. If you don't, I'll kill you.' "

18 After David had run away and escaped, he went to Samuel at Ramah. He told him everything Saul had done to him. Then David and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.

19 Saul was told, "David is in Naioth at Ramah."

20 So Saul sent some men to capture him. When they got there, they saw a group of prophets who were prophesying. Samuel was standing there as their leader. Then the Spirit of God came on Saul's men. So they also began to prophesy.

21 Saul was told about it. So he sent some more men. They began to prophesy too. Saul sent some men a third time. And they also began to prophesy.

22 Finally, Saul decided to go to Ramah himself. He went to the large well at Secu. He asked some people, "Where are Samuel and David?" "Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said.

23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God even came on him. He walked along and prophesied until he came to Naioth.

24 There he took off his royal robes. Then he prophesied in front of Samuel. He lay there without his robes on all that day and night. That's why people say, "Is Saul also one of the prophets?"

1 David was in Naioth at Ramah. He ran away from there to where Jonathan was. He asked him, "What have I done? What crime have I committed? I haven't done anything to harm your father. So why is he trying to kill me?"

2 "That will never happen!" Jonathan replied. "You aren't going to die! My father doesn't do anything at all without telling me. So why would he hide that from me? He isn't going to kill you!"

3 But David took an oath. Then he said, "Your father knows very well that you are pleased with me. He has said to himself, 'I don't want Jonathan to know I'm planning to kill David. If he finds out, he'll be very sad.' But I'm very close to being killed. And that's just as sure as the LORD and you are alive."

4 Jonathan said to David, "I'll do anything you want me to do for you."

5 So David said, "Tomorrow is the time for the New Moon Feast. I'm supposed to eat with the king. But let me go and hide in the field. I'll stay there until the evening of the day after tomorrow.

6 Your father might miss me. If he does, then tell him, 'David begged me to let him hurry home to Bethlehem. A yearly sacrifice is being offered there for his whole family group.'

7 Your father might say, 'That's all right.' If he does, it will mean I'm safe. But he might become very angry. If he does, you can be sure he's made up his mind to harm me.

8 "Please be kind to me. You have made a covenant with me in the sight of the Lord. If I'm guilty, kill me yourself! Don't hand me over to your father!"

9 "I would never do that!" Jonathan said. "Suppose I had even the smallest clue that my father had made up his mind to harm you. Then I would tell you."

10 David asked, "Who will tell me if your father answers you in a mean way?"

11 "Come on," Jonathan said. "Let's go out to the field." So they went there together.

12 Then Jonathan spoke to David. He said, "I promise you that I'll find out what my father is planning to do. I'll find out by this time the day after tomorrow. The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness. Suppose my father feels kind toward you. Then I'll send you a message and let you know.

13 But suppose he wants to harm you. And I don't let you know about it. I don't help you get away safely. Then may the LORD punish me greatly. May he be with you, just as he has been with my father.

14 "But always be kind to me, just as the LORD is. Be kind to me as long as I live. Then I won't be killed.

15 And never stop being kind to my family. Don't stop even when the LORD has cut off every one of your enemies from the face of the earth."

16 So Jonathan made a covenant with David and his family. He said, "May the LORD make David's enemies accountable for what they've done."

17 Jonathan had David take an oath again because he loved him. In fact, Jonathan loved David just as he loved himself.

18 Then Jonathan said to David, "Tomorrow is the time for the New Moon Feast. You will be missed, because your seat at the table will be empty.

19 Go to the place where you hid when all of this trouble began. Go there the day after tomorrow, when evening is approaching. There's a stone out there called Ezel.

20 Wait by it. "I'll shoot three arrows to one side of the stone. I'll pretend I'm practicing my shooting.

21 Then I'll send a boy out there. I'll tell him, 'Go and find the arrows.' Suppose I say to him, 'The arrows are on this side of you. Bring them here.' Then come. That will mean you are safe. You won't be in any danger. And that's just as sure as the LORD is alive.

22 But suppose I tell the boy, 'The arrows are far beyond you.' Then go. That will mean the LORD is sending you away.

23 "And remember what we talked about. Remember that the LORD is a witness between you and me forever."

24 So David hid in the field. When the time for the New Moon Feast came, the king sat down to eat.

25 He sat in his usual place by the wall. Jonathan sat across from him. Abner sat next to Saul. But David's place was empty.

26 Saul didn't say anything that day. He said to himself, "Something must have happened to David to make him 'unclean.' That must be why he isn't here."

27 But the next day, David's place was empty again. It was the second day of the month. Finally, Saul spoke to his son Jonathan. He said, "Why hasn't the son of Jesse come to the meal? He hasn't been here yesterday or today."

28 Jonathan replied, "David begged me to let him go to Bethlehem.

29 He said, 'Let me go. Our family is offering a sacrifice in the town. My brother has ordered me to be there. Are you pleased with me? If you are, let me go and see my brothers.' That's why he hasn't come to eat at your table."

30 Saul burned with anger against Jonathan. He said to him, "You are an evil son. You have refused to obey me. I know that you are on the side of Jesse's son. You should be ashamed of that. And your mother should be ashamed of having a son like you.

31 You will never be king as long as Jesse's son lives on this earth. And you will never have a kingdom either. So send for the son of Jesse. Bring him to me. He must die!"

32 "Why do you want to put him to death?" Jonathan asked his father. "What has he done?"

33 But Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father wanted to kill David.

34 So Jonathan got up from the table. He was burning with anger. On that second day of the month, he refused to eat. He was very sad that his father was treating David so badly.

35 The next morning Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a young boy with him.

36 He said to the boy, "Run and find the arrows I shoot." As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow far beyond him.

37 The boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen. Then Jonathan shouted to him, "The arrow went far beyond you, didn't it?"

38 He continued, "Hurry up! Run fast! Don't stop!" The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

39 The boy didn't know what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew.

40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told him, "Go back to town. Take the weapons with you."

41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone. He bowed down in front of Jonathan with his face to the ground. He did it three times. Then they kissed each other and cried. But David cried more than Jonathan did.

42 Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace. In the name of the LORD we have taken an oath. We've promised to be friends. We've said, 'The LORD is a witness between you and me. He's a witness between your children and my children forever.' " Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

1 David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech trembled with fear when he met him. He asked David, "Why are you alone? Why isn't anyone with you?"

2 David answered the priest Ahimelech, "The king gave me a special job to do. He said to me, 'I don't want anyone to know what I'm sending you to do. So don't say anything about it.' I've told my men to meet me at a certain place.

3 Do you have anything for us to eat? Give me five loaves of bread, or anything else you can find."

4 But the priest answered David, "I don't have any bread that isn't holy. I only have some holy bread here. But it's for men who haven't made love to women recently."

5 David replied, "Well, we haven't made love to women recently. That's the way it is every time I lead my men out to battle. We keep ourselves holy even when we do jobs that aren't holy. And that's even more true today."

6 So the priest gave him the holy bread. It was the only bread he had. It had been removed from the table that was in front of the Lord. On the same day, hot bread had been put in its place.

7 One of Saul's servants was there that day. He had been made to stay at the holy tent for a while. He was Doeg from Edom. He was Saul's chief shepherd.

8 David asked Ahimelech, "Don't you have a spear or sword here? I haven't brought my sword or any other weapon. That's because the king's business had to be done right away."

9 The priest replied, "The sword of Goliath, the Philistine, is here. You killed him in the Valley of Elah. His sword is wrapped in a cloth. It's behind the sacred linen apron. If you want it, take it. It's the only sword here." David said, "There isn't any sword like it. Give it to me."

10 That day David ran away from Saul. He went to Achish, the king of Gath.

11 But the servants of Achish spoke to him. They said, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one the Israelites sing about when they dance? They sing, " 'Saul has killed thousands of men. David has killed tens of thousands.' "

12 David paid close attention to what the servants were saying. He became very much afraid of what Achish, the king of Gath, might do.

13 So he pretended to be out of his mind when he was with them. As long as he was in Gath, he acted like someone who was crazy. He made marks on the doors of the city gate. He let spit run down his beard.

14 Achish said to his servants, "Just look at the man! He's out of his mind! Why are you bringing him to me?

15 Don't I have enough crazy people around me already? So why do you have to bring this fellow here? Just look at how he's carrying on in front of me! Why do you have to bring this man into my house?"

29 As the crowds grew larger, Jesus spoke to them. "The people of today are evil," he said. "They ask for a miraculous sign from God. But none will be given except the sign of Jonah.

30 He was a sign from God to the people of Nineveh. In the same way, the Son of Man will be a sign from God to the people of today.

31 "The Queen of the South will stand up on judgment day with the men now living. And she will prove that they are guilty. She came from very far away to listen to Solomon's wisdom. And now one who is more important than Solomon is here.

32 "The men of Nineveh will stand up on judgment day with the people now living. And the Ninevites will prove that those people are guilty. The men of Nineveh turned away from their sins when Jonah preached to them. And now one who is more important than Jonah is here.

33 "No one lights a lamp and hides it. No one puts it under a bowl. Instead, people put a lamp on its stand. Then those who come in can see the light.

34 "Your eye is like a lamp for your body. Suppose your eyes are good. Then your whole body also is full of light. But suppose your eyes are bad. Then your body also is full of darkness.

35 So make sure that the light inside you is not darkness.

36 "Suppose your whole body is full of light. And suppose no part of it is dark. Then your body will be completely lit up. It will be as when the light of a lamp shines on you."

37 Jesus finished speaking. Then a Pharisee invited him to eat with him. So Jesus went in and took his place at the table.

38 But the Pharisee noticed that Jesus did not wash before the meal. He was surprised.

39 Then the Lord spoke to him. "You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish," he said. "But inside you are full of greed and evil.

40 You foolish people! Didn't the one who made the outside make the inside also?

41 Give to poor people what is inside the dish. Then everything will be clean for you.

42 "How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of your garden plants, such as mint and rue. But you have forgotten to be fair and to love God. You should have practiced the last things without failing to do the first.

43 "How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the most important seats in the synagogues. You love having people greet you in the market places.

44 "How terrible for you! You are like graves that are not marked. People walk over them without knowing it."

45 An authority on the law spoke to Jesus. He said, "Teacher, when you say things like that, you say bad things about us too."

46 Jesus replied, "How terrible for you authorities on the law! You put such heavy loads on people that they can hardly carry them. But you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

47 "How terrible for you! You build tombs for the prophets. It was your people of long ago who killed them.

48 So you give witness that you agree with what your people did long ago. They killed the prophets, and now you build the prophets' tombs.

49 "So God in his wisdom said, 'I will send prophets and apostles to them. They will kill some. And they will try to hurt others.'

50 So the people of today will be punished. They will pay for all the prophets' blood spilled since the world began.

51 I mean from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the temple. Yes, I tell you, the people of today will be punished for all these things.

52 "How terrible for you authorities on the law! You have taken away the key to the door of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered. And you have stood in the way of those who were entering."

53 When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law strongly opposed him. They threw a lot of questions at him.

54 They set traps for him. They wanted to catch him in something he might say.