1
And David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? What
is my iniquity or what
is my sin before thy father that he seeks my life?
2
And he said unto him, No, in no wise; thou shalt not die. Behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me, and why should my father hide this thing from me? It
shall not
be so.
3
And David swore moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knows that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he
saith in himself, Let Jonathan not know this lest he be grieved; but truly
as the LORD lives and
as thy soul lives,
there is but a step between me and death.
4
Then Jonathan said unto David, Whatever thy soul saith, I will do
it for thee.
5
And David replied unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow
is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at food, but thou shalt let me go and hide myself in the field until the evening of the third day.
6
If thy father at all misses me, then say, David earnestly asked
leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem, his city, for all those of his lineage have an anniversary sacrifice.
7
If he should say,
It is well; thy slave shall have peace; but if he is very wroth,
then be sure that the evil is determined in him.
8
Therefore, thou shalt deal in mercy with thy slave, for thou hast brought thy slave into a covenant of the LORD with thee; notwithstanding, if there is iniquity in me, slay me thyself, for why should thou bring me to thy father?
9
And 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 I not be obliged to show it to thee?
10
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? Or what
if thy father answers thee roughly?
11
And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And both of them went out into the field.