18
Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow
is the new moon, and thou shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty.
19
And
when thou hast stayed three days,
then thou shalt go down quickly and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself on the day of the work and shalt remain by the stone Ezel;
20
and I will shoot three arrows on the side
thereof as though I shot at a mark.
21
And, behold, I will send a lad,
saying, Go, find 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 unto thee and no hurt,
as the LORD lives.
22
But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows
are beyond thee, then go away, for the LORD has sent thee away.
23
And
as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, let the LORD
be between thee and me for ever.
24
So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon was come, the king sat down to eat bread.
25
And 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.
26
Nevertheless, Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, Something has befallen him, he is not clean; surely he
is not clean.
27
And it came to pass on the next day,
which was the second
day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty, and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Why did not the son of Jesse come to food, neither yesterday nor today?
28
And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked
leave of me
to go to Bethlehem.