1 And Dawiḏ fled from Nawith in Ramah, and went and said to Yahonathan, “What have I done? What is my wickedness, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?’’
2 And Yahonathan said to him, “Far be it! You are not going to die! See, my father does no big matter nor small matter without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this matter from me? It is not so!”
3 But Dawiḏ swore again, and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favour in your eyes, and he says, ‘Do not let Yahonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 lives and as your being lives, there is but a step between me and death.”
4 And Yahonathan said to Dawiḏ, “Whatever your desire is, I do it for you.”
5 And Dawiḏ said to Yahonathan, “See, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I ought to sit with the sovereign to eat. But let me go, and I shall hide in the field until the third day at evening.
6 “If your father misses me at all, then you shall say, ‘Dawiḏ earnestly asked my permission to run over to Bĕyth Leḥem, his city, for a yearly slaughtering is made there for all the clan.’
7 “If he says thus, ‘It is well,’ your servant is safe. But if he is very displeased, then know that he has resolved to do evil.
8 “And you shall show kindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 with you. And if there is wickedness in me, put me to death yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”
9 And Yahonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew with certainty that my father has resolved that evil is to come upon you, then would I not make it known to you?”
10 And Dawiḏ said to Yahonathan, “Who would make it known to me, or what if your father answers you sharply?”
11 And Yahonathan said to Dawiḏ, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” And they both went out into the field.
12 And Yahonathan said to Dawiḏ, “𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 Elohim of Yisra’ĕl! When I search out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and see if there is good toward Dawiḏ, and I do not send to you or disclose it to you,
13 so let 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 do so and much more to Yahonathan. And if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I shall disclose it to you and send you away, and you shall go in peace. And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 be with you as He has been with my father.
14 “But show me the kindness of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, not only while I still live, so that I do not die,
15 and do not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 has cut off every one of the enemies of Dawiḏ from the face of the earth.”
16 And Yahonathan made a covenant with the house of Dawiḏ: “𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 shall require it at the hand of the enemies of Dawiḏ.”
17 And Yahonathan again made Dawiḏ swear, because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved his own being.
18 So Yahonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you shall be missed, because your seat shall be empty.
19 “And on the third day, go down quickly and you shall come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed, and shall remain by the stone of Ezel.
20 “And let me shoot three arrows to the side of it as though shooting at a target,
21 and see, I shall send the youth, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them and come,’ then, as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 lives, there is safety for you and no concern.
22 “But if I say thus to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ go your way, for 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 has sent you away.
23 “And as for the word which you and I have spoken of, see, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 is between you and me forever.”
24 And Dawiḏ hid in the field. And when the New Moon came, the sovereign sat down by the food to eat.
25 And the sovereign sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall, with Yahonathan standing, and Aḇnĕr sitting by Sha’ul’s side, but the place of Dawiḏ was empty.
26 But Sha’ul did not speak anything that day, for he thought, “It is an accident; he is not clean, for he has not been cleansed.”
27 And it came to be the next day, the second of the month, that Dawiḏ’s place was empty. And Sha’ul said to Yahonathan his son, “Why has the son of Yishai not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”
28 And Yahonathan answered Sha’ul, “Dawiḏ earnestly asked for leave to Bĕyth Leḥem.
29 “And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our clan has a slaughtering in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favour in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the sovereign’s table.”
30 Then the displeasure of Sha’ul burned against Yahonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Yishai to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?
31 “For as long as the son of Yishai lives on the earth, you shall not be established, you and your reign. And now, send and bring him to me, for he is a son of death.”
32 And Yahonathan answered Sha’ul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?”
33 At that, Sha’ul hurled a spear at him to smite him. Then Yahonathan knew that his father had resolved to put Dawiḏ to death.
34 And Yahonathan rose up from the table in the heat of displeasure, and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for Dawiḏ, because his father put him to shame.
35 And it came to be, in the morning, that Yahonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with Dawiḏ, and a small youth was with him.
36 And he said to the youth, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the youth ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37 And when the youth came to the place where the arrow was which Yahonathan had shot, Yahonathan called out after the youth and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?”
38 And Yahonathan shouted after the youth, “Make haste, hurry, do not stand still!” And Yahonathan’s youth picked up the arrows and came to his master.
39 But the youth knew not a speck. Only Yahonathan and Dawiḏ knew of the matter.
40 Then Yahonathan gave his weapons to the youth and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.
41 And as soon as the youth had gone, Dawiḏ rose up from the south side, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another. And they wept together, but Dawiḏ more so.
42 And Yahonathan said to Dawiḏ, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the Name of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 saying, ‘𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 is between you and me, and between your seed and my seed, forever.’ ” Then he arose and left, and Yahonathan went into the city.