Chronological Plan

¹Now it came about, when he had finished speaking to Saul, that Jonathan committed himself to David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.

²And Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father’s house.

³Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

⁴Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his military gear, including his sword, his bow, and his belt.

⁵And David went into battle wherever Saul sent him, and always achieved success; so Saul put him in charge of the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

⁶Now it happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with other musical instruments.

⁷The women sang as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.”

⁸Then Saul became very angry, for this lyric displeased him; and he said, “They have given David credit for ten thousands, but to me they have given credit for only thousands! Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”

⁹And Saul eyed David with suspicion from that day on.

¹⁰Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul’s hand.

¹¹Then Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David escaped from his presence, twice.

¹²Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him but had left Saul.

¹³So Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

¹⁴David was successful in all his ways, for the LORD was with him.

¹⁵When Saul saw that he was very successful, he was afraid of him.

¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he would go out to battle and return before them.

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the LORD’S battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸But David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who is my family, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?”

¹⁹So it came about at the time that Merab, Saul’s daughter, was to be given to David, that she was given instead to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

²⁰Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they informed Saul, the thing was pleasing to him.

²¹For Saul thought, “I will give her to him so that she may become a trap for him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David, “For a second time you may become my son-in-law, today.”

²²Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in secret, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

²³So Saul’s servants spoke these words to David. But David said, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am only a poor man and insignificant?”

²⁴Then Saul’s servants reported to him, saying, “These are the words David spoke.”

²⁵Saul then said, “This is what you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul plotted to have David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

²⁶When his servants told David these words, it pleased David to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the time had expired,

²⁷David set out and went, he and his men, and fatally struck two hundred men among the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they presented all two hundred of them to the king, so that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife.

²⁸When Saul saw and realized that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him,

²⁹then Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰Then the commanders of the Philistines went to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David was more successful than all the servants of Saul. So his name was held in high esteem.

¹Now Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to put David to death. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.

²So Jonathan informed David, saying, “My father Saul is seeking to put you to death. Now then, please be on your guard in the morning, and stay in a hiding place and conceal yourself.

³And as for me, I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are hiding, and I will speak with my father about you; and whatever I find out, I will tell you.”

⁴Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “May the king not sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you.

⁵For he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great victory for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?”

⁶Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, “As the LORD lives, David shall not be put to death.”

⁷Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

⁸When there was war again, David went out and fought the Philistines and defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled from him.

⁹Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand.

¹⁰And Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, informed him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death!”

¹²So Michal let David down through a window, and he went and fled, and escaped.

¹³And Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothing.

¹⁴When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed, so that I may put him to death.”

¹⁶When the messengers entered, behold, the household idol was on the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair at its head.

¹⁷So Saul said to Michal, “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I put you to death?’ ”

¹⁸So David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah; and he informed him of everything that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.

¹⁹But it was reported to Saul, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

²⁰Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied.

²¹When Saul was informed of this, he sent other messengers, but they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, yet they prophesied.

²²Then he went to Ramah himself and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”

²³So he proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; but the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and he came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?”

²He said to him, “Far from it, you shall not die! Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without informing me. So why would my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!”

³Yet David vowed again, saying, “Your father is well aware that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Jonathan is not to know this, otherwise he will be worried.’ But indeed as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is just a step between me and death.”

⁴Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

⁵So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am obligated to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.

⁶If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly requested leave of me to run to Bethlehem, his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’

⁷If he says, ‘That is good,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, be aware that he has decided on evil.

⁸So deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if I am guilty of wrongdoing, kill me yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?”

⁹Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I in fact learn that my father has decided to inflict harm on you, would I not inform you?”

¹⁰Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will inform me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let’s go out to the field.” So both of them went out to the field.

¹²Then Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward you, shall I not then send word to you and inform you?

¹³If it pleases my father to do you harm, may the LORD do so to me and more so, if I fail to inform you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. And may the LORD be with you as He has been with my father.

¹⁴And if I am still alive, will you not show me the faithfulness of the LORD, so that I do not die?

¹⁵And you shall never cut off your loyalty to my house, not even when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD demand it from the hands of David’s enemies.”

¹⁷And Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed since your seat will be empty.

¹⁹When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain beside the stone Ezel.

²⁰And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target.

²¹Then behold, I will send the boy, telling him, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come, because it is safe for you and there is nothing to harm you, as the LORD lives.

²²But if I say to the youth, ‘Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, because the LORD has sent you away.

²³As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.”

²⁴So David hid himself in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.

²⁵Now the king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up and Abner sat down by Saul’s side; but David’s place was empty.

²⁶Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, because he thought, “It must have been an accident; he is not clean, undoubtedly he is not clean.”

²⁷But it came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty again; so Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”

²⁸And Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly requested leave of me to go to Bethlehem.

²⁹He said, ‘Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has ordered me to attend. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

³⁰Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?

³¹For, as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now then, send men and bring him to me, for he is doomed to die!”

³²But Jonathan replied to his father Saul and said to him, “Why must he be put to death? What has he done?”

³³Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike and kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death.

³⁴Then Jonathan got up from the table in the heat of anger, and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, because he was worried about David since his father had insulted him.

³⁵Now it came about in the morning that Jonathan went out to the field at the time agreed upon with David, and a little boy was with him.

³⁶He said to his boy, “Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot.” The boy ran, and he shot an arrow past him.

³⁷When the boy reached the location of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is the arrow not beyond you?”

³⁸Then Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” And Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came to his master.

³⁹But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter.

⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.”

⁴¹When the boy was gone, David got up from the south side, then he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, until David wept immeasurably.

⁴²Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in safety, since we have sworn to each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’ ” So David set out and went on his way, while Jonathan went into the city.