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

1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officers to kill David. But Saul's son Jonathan was very fond of David,

2 so he reported to David, "My father Saul is trying to kill you. Please be careful tomorrow morning. Go into hiding, and stay out of sight.

3 I'll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you'll be. I'll speak with my father about you. If I find out anything, I'll tell you."

4 So Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. "You should not commit a sin against your servant David," he said. "He hasn't sinned against you. Instead, he has done some very fine things for you:

5 He risked his life and killed the Philistine Goliath, and the LORD gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you rejoiced. Why then should you sin by shedding David's innocent blood for no reason?"

6 Saul listened to Jonathan, and he promised, "I solemnly swear, as the LORD lives, he will not be killed."

7 Jonathan told David all of this. Then Jonathan took David to Saul. So David was returned to his former status in Saul's court.

8 When war broke out again, David went to fight the Philistines. He defeated them so decisively that they fled from him.

9 Then an evil spirit from the LORD came over Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. David was strumming a tune.

10 Saul tried to nail David to the wall with his spear. But David dodged it, and Saul's spear struck the wall. David fled, escaping [from Saul] that night.

11 Saul sent messengers to watch David's house and kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, advised him, "If you don't save yourself tonight, you'll be dead tomorrow!"

12 So Michal lowered David through a window, and he ran away to escape.

13 Then Michal took some idols, laid them in the bed, put a goat-hair blanket at its head, and covered the idols with a garment.

14 When Saul sent messengers to get David, Michal said, "He's sick."

15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David themselves. Saul told them, "Bring him here to me in his bed so that I can kill him."

16 The messengers came, and there in the bed were the idols with the goat-hair blanket at its head.

17 Saul asked Michal, "Why did you betray me by sending my enemy away so that he could escape?" Michal answered, "He told me, 'Let me go! Why should I kill you?'"

18 David escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah. He told Samuel everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to the pastures and lived there.

19 When it was reported to Saul that David was in the pastures at Ramah,

20 Saul sent messengers to get David. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying with Samuel serving as their leader, God's Spirit came over Saul's messengers so that they also prophesied.

21 When they told Saul [about this], he sent other messengers, but they also prophesied. Saul even sent a third group of messengers, but they also prophesied.

22 Then he went to Ramah himself. He went as far as the big cistern in Secu and asked [the people], "Where are Samuel and David?" He was told, "Over there in the pastures at Ramah."

23 As he went toward the pastures at Ramah, God's Spirit came over him too. He continued his journey, prophesying until he came to the pastures at Ramah.

24 He even took off his clothes as he prophesied in front of Samuel and lay there naked all day and all night. This is where the saying, "Is Saul one of the prophets?" came from.

1 David fled from the pastures at Ramah, came to Jonathan, and asked, "What have I done? What crime am I guilty of? What sin have I committed against your father that he's trying to kill me?"

2 Jonathan answered, "That's unthinkable! You're not going to die! My father does nothing without telling me, whether it's important or not. Why should my father hide this from me? It's just not that way."

3 But David took an oath, saying, "Your father certainly knows that you support me, so he said [to himself], 'Jonathan must not know about this. It will bring him distress.' But I solemnly swear, as the LORD and you live, I'm only one step away from death."

4 Jonathan said to David, "I'll do whatever you say."

5 David replied, "Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, when I should sit and eat at the king's [table]. But let me go and hide in the countryside for two more nights.

6 If your father really misses me, tell him, 'David repeatedly begged me to let him run to Bethlehem, his hometown, because his relatives are offering the annual sacrifice there.'

7 If he says, 'Good!' then I will be safe. But if he gets really angry, then you'll know for sure that he has decided to harm me.

8 Now, be kind to me. After all, you forced me into an agreement with the LORD. If I have committed any crime, kill me yourself. Why bother taking me to your father?"

9 Jonathan answered, "That's unthinkable! If I knew for sure that my father had decided to harm you, I would have told you about it."

10 Then David asked, "Who will tell me whether or not your father gives you a harsh answer?"

11 Jonathan said, "Let's go out into the country." So they went out into the country.

12 "As the LORD God of Israel [is my witness]," Jonathan continued, "I'll find out in the next two or three days how my father feels about you. If he does feel kindly toward you, then I will send someone to tell you.

13 If my father plans to harm you and I fail to tell you and send you away safely, may the LORD harm me even more. May the LORD be with you as he used to be with my father.

14 But as long as I live, [promise me that you will] show me kindness because of the LORD. And even when I die,

15 never stop being kind to my family. The Lord will wipe each of David's enemies off the face of the earth.

16 At that time, if Jonathan's name is cut off from David's family, then may the LORD punish David's house."

17 Once again Jonathan swore an oath to David because of his love for David. He loved David as much as [he loved] himself.

18 "Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival," Jonathan told him, "and you will be missed when your seat is empty.

19 The day after tomorrow you will be missed even more. So go to the place where you hid on that other occasion, and stay by the rock.

20 I will shoot three arrows from beside it toward a target.

21 Then I will send out a boy and say, 'Go, find the arrows.' Now, if I tell the boy, 'Look, the arrows are next to you; get them,' then come [back with me]. You will be safe, and there will be no trouble. I swear it, as the LORD lives.

22 But if I tell the boy, 'The arrows are next to you,' then go, because the LORD has sent you away.

23 We have made a promise to each other, and the LORD is [a witness] between you and me forever."

24 So David hid in the countryside. When the New Moon Festival came, King Saul sat down to eat the festival meal.

25 He sat in his usual seat by the wall, while Jonathan stood. Abner sat beside Saul, but David's place was empty.

26 Saul didn't say anything that day, thinking, "Something has happened to him so that he's unclean. He must be unclean."

27 But on the second day of the month, David's place was still empty. Saul asked his son Jonathan, "Why hasn't Jesse's son come to the meal either yesterday or today?"

28 Jonathan answered Saul, "David repeatedly begged me [to let him go] to Bethlehem.

29 David said to me 'Please let me go. Our relatives will offer a sacrifice in the city, and my brother ordered me to be there. If you will permit it, please let me go to see my brothers.' This is why he hasn't come to your banquet."

30 Then Saul got angry with Jonathan. "Son of a crooked and rebellious woman!" he called Jonathan. "I know you've sided with Jesse's son. You have no shame. [You act] as if you are your mother's son but not mine.

31 As long as Jesse's son lives on earth, neither you nor your right to be king is secure. Now, send some men to bring him to me. He's a dead man!"

32 Jonathan asked his father, "Why should he be killed? What has he done?"

33 Saul raised his spear to strike him. Then Jonathan knew his father was determined to kill David.

34 Jonathan got up from the table very angry and ate nothing that second day of the month. He was worried sick about David because Jonathan had been humiliated by his own father.

35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the country to the place he and David had agreed on. Jonathan had a young boy with him.

36 "Run," he told the boy, "please find the arrows I shoot." The boy ran, and Jonathan shot the arrow over him.

37 When the boy reached the place where Jonathan's arrow [had landed], Jonathan called after him, "The arrows are next to you!"

38 Jonathan added, "Quick! Hurry up! Don't stand there!" Jonathan's young servant gathered the arrows and came to his master.

39 The boy had no idea what was going on, but Jonathan and David understood.

40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told the boy, "Take them back into town."

41 When the boy had left, David came out from the south side [of the rock] and quickly bowed down three times with his face touching the ground. Then they kissed each other and cried together, but David cried the loudest.

42 "Go in peace!" Jonathan told David. "We have both taken an oath in the LORD's name, saying, 'The LORD will be [a witness] between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.'" So David left, and Jonathan went into the city.

1 David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was trembling as he went to meet David. "Why are you alone?" he asked David. "Why is no one with you?"

2 "The king ordered me to do something," David answered the priest Ahimelech, "and he told me, 'No one must know anything about this mission I'm sending you on and about the orders I've given you. I've stationed my young men at a certain place.'"

3 [David added,] "Now, what do you have [to eat]? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find."

4 "I don't have any ordinary bread," the chief priest answered David. "But there is holy bread for the young men if they haven't had sexual intercourse [today]."

5 David answered the priest, "Of course women have been kept away from us as usual when we go [on a mission]. The young men's bodies are kept holy even on ordinary campaigns. How much more then will their bodies be holy today?"

6 So the priest gave him holy [bread] because he only had the bread of the presence which had been taken from the LORD's presence and replaced with warm bread that day.

7 That same day one of Saul's servants who was obligated to stay in the LORD's presence was there. His name was Doeg. A foreman for Saul's shepherds, he was from Edom.

8 David asked Ahimelech, "Don't you have a spear or a sword here? I didn't take either my spear or any other weapon because the king's business was urgent."

9 The chief priest answered, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Elah Valley, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the priestly ephod. If you want to take it, take it. There's no other weapon here." David said, "There's none like it. Let me have the sword."

10 That day David left. He was [still] fleeing from Saul when he came to King Achish of Gath.

11 Achish's officers asked, "Isn't this David, the king of [his] country? He's the one they used to sing about in the dances: 'Saul has defeated thousands but David tens of thousands.'"

12 When David realized what they had said, he was terrified of King Achish of Gath.

13 So he changed his behavior [when he was] in their presence and acted insane [as long as he was] under their authority. He scribbled on the doors of the city gate and let his spit run down his beard.

14 Achish said to his officers, "Look at him! Don't you see [that he's] insane? Why bring him to me?

15 Do I have such a shortage of lunatics that you bring this man so that he can show me he is insane? Does this man have to come into my house?"

29 As the people were gathering around him, Jesus said, "The people living today are evil. They look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will get is the sign of Jonah.

30 Just as Jonah became a miraculous sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a miraculous sign to the people living today.

31 The queen from the south will stand up at the time of judgment with the men who live today. She will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom. But look, someone greater than Solomon is here!

32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the time of judgment with the people living today. Since the men of Nineveh turned to God and changed the way they thought and acted when Jonah spoke his message, they will condemn the people living today. But look, someone greater than Jonah is here!

33 "No one lights a lamp and hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand so that those who come in will see its light.

34 "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is unclouded, your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is evil, your body is full of darkness.

35 So be careful that the light in you isn't darkness.

36 If your whole body is full of light and not darkness, it will be as bright as a lamp shining on you."

37 After Jesus spoke, a Pharisee invited him to have lunch at his house. So Jesus accepted the invitation.

38 The Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus didn't wash before the meal.

39 The Lord said to him, "You Pharisees clean the outside of cups and dishes. But inside you are full of greed and evil.

40 You fools! Didn't the one who made the outside make the inside too?

41 Give what is inside as a gift to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.

42 "How horrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give [God] one-tenth of your mint, spices, and every garden herb. But you have ignored justice and the love of God. You should have done these things without ignoring the others.

43 "How horrible it will be for you Pharisees! You love to sit in the front seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplaces.

44 How horrible it will be for you! You are like unmarked graves. People walk on them without knowing what they are."

45 One of the experts in Moses' Teachings said to him, "Teacher, when you talk this way, you insult us too."

46 Jesus said, "How horrible it will be for you experts in Moses' Teachings! You burden people with loads that are hard to carry. But you won't lift a finger to carry any of these loads.

47 "How horrible it will be for you! You build the monuments for the prophets. But it was your ancestors who murdered them.

48 So you are witnesses and approve of what your ancestors did. They murdered the prophets for whom you build monuments.

49 That's why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles. They will murder some of those prophets and apostles and persecute others.'

50 So the people living now will be charged with the murder of every prophet since the world was made.

51 This includes the murders from Abel to Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the temple. Yes, I can guarantee this truth: The people living today will be held responsible for this.

52 "How horrible it will be for you experts in Moses' Teachings! You have taken away the key that unlocks knowledge. You haven't gained entrance into [knowledge] yourselves, and you've kept out those who wanted to enter."

53 When Jesus left, the scribes and the Pharisees held a terrible grudge against him. They questioned him about many things

54 and watched him closely to trap him in something he might say.