Saul Seeks to Kill David

19¹ And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David. ² But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill thee; and now, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secret place and hide thyself; ³ and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and will speak of thee with my father: and see what it is, and tell thee. ⁴ And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against thee; for also what he did was very advantageous to thee; ⁵ for he put his life in hand, and smote the Philistine, and Jehovah wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou didst see [it], and didst rejoice; why then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, in slaying David without cause? ⁶ And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, [As] Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death! ⁷ Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan declared to him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as previously.

⁸ And there was war again; and David went forth and fought with the Philistines, and smote them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him. ⁹ And an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul. And he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David played with his hand. ¹⁰ And Saul sought to smite David and the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the spear into the wall. And David fled, and escaped that night.

¹¹ And Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning; and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be put to death. ¹² And Michal let David down through a window; and he went, and fled and escaped. ¹³ And Michal took the image, and laid it in the bed, and put the net of goats' [hair] at its head, and covered it with the coverlet. ¹⁴ And Saul sent messengers to take David, and she said, He is sick. ¹⁵ And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may put him to death. ¹⁶ And the messengers came in, and behold, the image was in the bed, and the net of goats' [hair] at its head. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I slay thee?

¹⁸ And David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. ¹⁹ And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth by Ramah. ²⁰ Then Saul sent messengers to take David; and they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as president over them; and the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. ²¹ And it was told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. ²² Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Sechu; and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, at Naioth by Ramah. ²³ And he went thither to Naioth by Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth by Ramah. ²⁴ And he himself also stripped off his clothes, and prophesied, himself also, before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

The Friendship of David and Jonathan

20¹ And David fled from Naioth by Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity, and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeks my life? ² And he said to him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, and not apprise me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. ³ And David swore again and again, and said, Thy father certainly knows that I have found favour in thy sight: and he has thought, Jonathan shall not know this, lest he be grieved; but truly [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. ⁴ And Jonathan said to David, What thy soul may say, I will even do it for thee. ⁵ And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. ⁶ If thy father should actually miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. ⁷ If he say thus, It is well,—thy servant shall have peace; but if he be very wroth, be sure that evil is determined by him. ⁸ Deal kindly then with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee; but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?

⁹ And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for, if I knew with certainty that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, would I not tell it thee? ¹⁰ Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? ¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, Come and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. ¹² And Jonathan said to David, Jehovah, God of Israel, when I sound my father about this time to-morrow, [or] the next day, and behold, there be good toward David, and I then send not to thee, and apprise thee of it, ¹³ Jehovah do so and much more to Jonathan. Should it please my father [to do] thee evil, then I will apprise thee of it, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and Jehovah be with thee, as he has been with my father. ¹⁴ And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of Jehovah, that I die not, ¹⁵ but thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever, no, not when Jehovah cuts off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth. ¹⁶ And Jonathan made [a covenant] with the house of David, [saying,] Let Jehovah even require [it] at the hand of David's enemies! ¹⁷ And Jonathan caused David to swear again, by the love he had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. ¹⁸ And Jonathan said to him, To-morrow is the new moon; and thou wilt be missed, for thy seat will be empty; ¹⁹ but on the third day thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself on the day of the business, and abide by the stone Ezel. ²⁰ And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. ²¹ And behold, I will send the lad, [saying,] Go, find the arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come, for there is peace for thee, and it is nothing; [as] Jehovah liveth. ²² But if I say thus to the youth: Behold, the arrows are beyond thee,—go thy way; for Jehovah sends thee away. ²³ And as to the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Jehovah is between me and thee for ever.

²⁴ And David hid himself in the field; and it was the new moon, and the king sat at table to eat. ²⁵ And the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty. ²⁶ And Saul said nothing that day; for he thought, Something has befallen [him], that he is not clean: surely he is not clean. ²⁷ And it came to pass the next day after the new moon, the second [day of the month], as David's place was empty, that Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse come to table, neither yesterday nor to-day? ²⁸ And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me [to go] to Bethlehem, ²⁹ and said, Let me go, I pray thee; for we have a family sacrifice in the city; and my brother himself has commanded me [to be there]; and now, if I have found favour in thy sight, let me go away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. He has therefore not come to the king's table. ³⁰ And Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness? ³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. And now send and fetch him to me, for he must die. ³² And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he be put to death? what has he done? ³³ Then Saul cast the spear at him to smite him; and Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death. ³⁴ And Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no meat the second day of the new moon; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

³⁵ And it came to pass in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field, to the place agreed on with David, and a little lad with him. ³⁶ And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. The lad ran, and he shot the arrow beyond him. ³⁷ And when the lad came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad and said, Is not the arrow away beyond thee? ³⁸ And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not! And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. ³⁹ And the lad knew nothing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. ⁴⁰ And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city. ⁴¹ The lad went, and David arose from the side of the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times; and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. ⁴² And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have both of us sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever! And he arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.

David Flees from Saul

21¹ And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech trembled at meeting David, and said to him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? ² And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has commanded me a business, and has said to me, Let no man know anything of the business whereon I send thee, and what I have commanded thee; and I have directed the young men to such and such a place. ³ And now what is under thy hand? give me five loaves in my hand, or what may be found. ⁴ And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. ⁵ And David answered the priest and said to him, Yes indeed, women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the [bread] is in a manner common, and the more so, because to-day [new] is hallowed in the vessels. ⁶ And the priest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no bread there but the shew-loaves that were taken from before Jehovah, to put on hot bread in the day when they were taken away. ⁷ (Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg, the Edomite, chief of the shepherds that [belonged] to Saul.) ⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, for the king's business was urgent. ⁹ And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of terebinths, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt take that, take it; for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that: give it me.

¹⁰ And David arose, and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has smitten his thousands, and David his ten thousands? ¹² And David took to heart these words, and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard. ¹⁴ And Achish said to his servants, Behold, ye see the man is mad: why did ye bring him to me? ¹⁵ have I lack of madmen, that ye have brought this one to rave in my presence? shall this [man] come into my house?

An Evil Generation Seeks a Sign

²⁹ But as the crowds thronged together, he began to say, This generation is a wicked generation: it seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it but the sign of Jonas. ³⁰ For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, thus shall also the Son of man be to this generation. ³¹ A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, more than Solomon is here. ³² Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, more than Jonas is here.

The Light of the Body

³³ But no one having lit a lamp sets it in secret, nor under the corn-measure, but on the lamp-stand, that they who enter in may see the light. ³⁴ The lamp of the body is thine eye: when thine eye is simple, thy whole body also is light; but when it is wicked, thy body also is dark. ³⁵ See therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. ³⁶ If therefore thy whole body [is] light, not having any part dark, it shall be all light as when the lamp lights thee with its brightness.

Jesus Denounces the Pharisees and Lawyers

³⁷ But as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him that he would dine with him; and entering in he placed himself at table. ³⁸ But the Pharisee seeing [it] wondered that he had not first washed before dinner. ³⁹ But the Lord said to him, Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inward [parts] are full of plunder and wickedness. ⁴⁰ Fools, has not he who has made the outside made the inside also? ⁴¹ But rather give alms of what ye have, and behold, all things are clean to you. ⁴² But woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb, and pass by the judgment and the love of God: these ye ought to have done, and not have left those aside. ⁴³ Woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye love the first seat in the synagogues and salutations in the market-places. ⁴⁴ Woe unto you, for ye are as the sepulchres which appear not, and the men walking over them do not know [it]. ⁴⁵ And one of the doctors of the law answering says to him, Teacher, in saying these things thou insultest us also. ⁴⁶ And he said, To you also woe, doctors of the law, for ye lay upon men burdens heavy to bear, and yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ⁴⁷ Woe unto you, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸ Ye bear witness then, and consent to the works of your fathers; for they killed them, and ye build [their sepulchres]. ⁴⁹ For this reason also the wisdom of God has said, I will send to them prophets and apostles, and of these shall they kill and drive out by persecution, ⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets which has been poured out from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the house; yea, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. ⁵² Woe unto you, the doctors of the law, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; yourselves have not entered in, and those who were entering in ye have hindered. ⁵³ And as he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him urgently, and to make him speak of many things; ⁵⁴ watching him, [and seeking] to catch something out of his mouth, [that they might accuse him].