And David fled from Nayot in Ramah, and he came and spoke before Yehonatan, 'What have I done? What is my guilt, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?'

And he said to him, 'Far be it! My father will do nothing, great or small, without revealing it to my ear. Why then would my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.'

And David swore again and said, 'Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he said, 'Let Yehonatan know this, lest he be grieved.' But as יהוה lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.'

And Yehonatan said to David, 'Whatever your soul desires, I will do for you.'

And David said to Yehonatan, 'Behold, the new moon is tomorrow, and I will sit with the king to eat. But send me away, and I will hide in the field until the evening of the third day.'

'If your father asks about me at all, say, 'David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem, his city, for the family sacrifice is there for all the clan.''

'If he says, 'It is good,' your servant will be safe. But if he becomes angry, know that evil is determined by him.'

'Show kindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of יהוה with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why then do you bring me to your father?'

And Yehonatan said, 'Far be it from you! If I knew that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, would I not tell you this?'

And David said to Yehonatan, 'Who will tell me, or what will your father answer you harshly?'

And Yehonatan said to David, 'Come, let us go out to the field.' And the two of them went out to the field.

And Yehonatan said to David, 'יהוה, the Elohim of Yisra'el, when I have tested my father about this time tomorrow or the day after, and behold, if it is good for David, and I do not then send to you and reveal it to your ear.'

'May יהוה do so to Yehonatan, and more so, if my father intends evil against you, and I do not reveal it to your ear and send you away, and you go in peace. And may יהוה be with you, as he was with my father.'

'And if I am still alive, will you not show me the kindness of יהוה? And if I die.'

'You shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, not even when יהוה cuts off each enemy of David from the face of the earth.'

And Yehonatan cut a covenant with the house of David, and יהוה will seek it from the hand of David's enemies.

And Yehonatan added to make David swear again, because he loved him, for he loved him as his own soul.

And Yehonatan said to him, 'Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your place will be empty.'

'And on the third day, you shall go down greatly, and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed, and you shall sit by the stone Ezel.'

'And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as if shooting for a target.'

'And behold, I will send the boy, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I say to the boy, 'Behold, the arrows are beyond you, take them,' then come, for it is peace for you and there is nothing. As יהוה lives.'

'But if I say to the youth, 'Behold, the arrows are beyond you, go,' then go, for יהוה has sent you away.'

'And the matter that we spoke, I and you, behold, יהוה is between me and you forever.'

And David hid in the field, and it was the new moon, and the king sat to eat.

And the king sat on his seat, as usual, on the seat by the wall. And Yehonatan stood up, and Avner sat by Sha'ul's side, and David's place was empty.

And Sha'ul said nothing that day, for he thought, 'It is an accident; he is not pure; he is not pure.'

And it came to pass on the day after the new moon, the second day, and David's place was empty. And Sha'ul said to Yehonatan his son, 'Why has the son of Yishai not come to the meal, neither yesterday nor today?'

And Yehonatan answered Sha'ul, 'David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.'

'And he said, 'Please let me go, for we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother commanded me. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me escape and see my brothers.' Therefore he has not come to the king's table.'

And Sha'ul's anger burned against Yehonatan, and he said to him, 'Son of a rebellious, wicked woman! Do I not know that you choose the son of Yishai to your shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?'

'For as long as the son of Yishai lives on the earth, you and your kingdom shall not be established. But now, send and bring him to me, for he is worthy of death.'

And Yehonatan answered Sha'ul his father and said to him, 'Why should he be put to death? What has he done?'

And Sha'ul threw the spear at him to strike him, and Yehonatan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.

And Yehonatan rose from the table in fierce anger, and did not eat bread on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for David, because his father had shamed him.

And it came to pass in the morning, Yehonatan went out to the field at the appointed time for David, and a young boy was with him.

And he said to his boy, 'Run, please find the arrows that I am shooting.' The boy ran, and he shot the arrow to pass beyond him.

And the boy came to the place of the arrow that Yehonatan had shot, and Yehonatan cried after the boy and said, 'Behold, the arrow is beyond you, go.'

And Yehonatan cried after the boy, 'Hurry, quickly, do not stop!' And Yehonatan's boy gathered the arrows and came to his master.

And the boy knew nothing; only Yehonatan and David knew the matter.

And Yehonatan gave his weapons to the boy who was with him and said to him, 'Go, bring them to the city.'

The boy came, and David rose from beside the south, and he fell on his face to the ground, and he bowed three times, and each man kissed his fellow, and each man wept with his fellow, until David grew greatly.

And Yehonatan said to David, 'Go in peace, concerning which we two swore, we in the name of יהוה, saying, יהוה shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'