Samuel & King Saul

and thou hast done kindness, to thy servant, for into a covenant of Jehovah thou hast brought thy servant with thee; --and if there is in me iniquity, put thou me to death; and unto thy father, why is this--thou dost bring me in?'

And Jonathan saith, `Far be it from thee! for I certainly do not know that the evil hath been determined by my father to come upon thee, and I do not declare it to thee.'

And David saith unto Jonathan, `Who doth declare to me? or what if thy father doth answer thee sharply?'

And Jonathan saith unto David, `Come, and we go out into the field;' and they go out both of them into the field.

And Jonathan saith unto David, `Jehovah, God of Israel--when I search my father, about this time to-morrow or the third day , and lo, good is towards David, and I do not then send unto thee, and have uncovered thine ear--

thus doth Jehovah do to Jonathan, and thus doth He add; when the evil concerning thee is good to my father, then I have uncovered thine ear, and sent thee away, and thou hast gone in peace, and Jehovah is with thee, as he was with my father;

and not only while I am alive dost thou do with me the kindness of Jehovah, and I die not,

but thou dost not cut off thy kindness from my house unto the age, nor in Jehovah's cutting off the enemies of David, each one from off the face of the ground.'

And Jonathan covenanteth with the house of David, and Jehovah hath sought it from the hand of the enemies of David;

and Jonathan addeth to cause David to swear, because he loveth him, for with the love of his own soul he hath loved him.

And Jonathan saith to him, `To-morrow is new moon, and thou hast been looked after, for thy seat is looked after;

and on the third day thou dost certainly come down, and hast come in unto the place where thou wast hidden in the day of the work, and hast remained near the stone Ezel.

`And I shoot three of the arrows at the side, sending out for myself at a mark;

and lo, I send the youth: Go, find the arrows. If I at all say to the youth, Lo, the arrows are on this side of thee--take them, --then come thou, for peace is for thee, and there is nothing; Jehovah liveth.

And if thus I say to the young man, Lo, the arrows are beyond thee, --go, for Jehovah hath sent thee away;

as to the thing which we have spoken, I and thou, lo, Jehovah is between me and thee--unto the age.'

And David is hidden in the field, and it is the new moon, and the king sitteth down by the food to eat,

and the king sitteth on his seat, as time by time, on a seat by the wall, and Jonathan riseth, and Abner sitteth at the side of Saul, and David's place is looked after.

And Saul hath not spoken anything on that day, for he said, `It is an accident; he is not clean--surely not clean.'

And it cometh to pass on the second morrow of the new moon, that David's place is looked after, and Saul saith unto Jonathan his son, `Wherefore hath the son of Jesse not come in, either yesterday or to-day, unto the food?'

And Jonathan answereth Saul, `David hath been earnestly asked of me unto Beth-Lehem,

and he saith, Send me away, I pray thee, for a family sacrifice we have in the city, and my brother himself hath given command to me, and now, if I have found grace in thine eyes, let me go away, I pray thee, and see my brethren; therefore he hath not come unto the table of the king.'

And the anger of Saul burneth against Jonathan, and he saith to him, `Son of a perverse rebellious woman! have I not known that thou art fixing on the son of Jesse to thy shame, and to the shame of the nakedness of thy mother?

for all the days that the son of Jesse liveth on the ground thou art not established, thou and thy kingdom; and now, send and bring him unto me, for he is a son of death.'

And Jonathan answereth Saul his father, and saith unto him, `Why is he put to death? what hath he done?'