Saul Seeks to Kill David

19¹ And Saul speaketh unto Jonathan his son, and unto all his servants, to put David to death, ² and Jonathan son of Saul delighted exceedingly in David, and Jonathan declareth to David, saying, 'Saul my father is seeking to put thee to death, and, now, take heed, I pray thee, in the morning, and thou hast abode in a secret place, and been hidden, ³ and I—I go out, and have stood by the side of my father in the field where thou 'art', and I speak of thee unto my father, and have seen what 'is coming', and have declared to thee.' ⁴ And Jonathan speaketh good of David unto Saul his father, and saith unto him, 'Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works for thee 'are' very good; ⁵ yea, he putteth his life in his hand, and smiteth the Philistine, and Jehovah worketh a great salvation for all Israel; thou hast seen, and dost rejoice, and why dost thou sin against innocent blood, to put David to death for nought?' ⁶ And Saul hearkeneth to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul sweareth, 'Jehovah liveth—he doth not die.' ⁷ And Jonathan calleth for David, and Jonathan declareth to him all these words, and Jonathan bringeth in David unto Saul, and he is before him as heretofore.

⁸ And there addeth to be war, and David goeth out and fighteth against the Philistines, and smiteth among them—a great smiting, and they flee from his face. ⁹ And a spirit of sadness 'from' Jehovah is unto Saul, and he is sitting in his house, and his javelin in his hand, and David is playing with the hand, ¹⁰ and Saul seeketh to smite with the javelin through David, and through the wall, and he freeth himself from the presence of Saul, and he smiteth the javelin through the wall; and David hath fled and escapeth during that night.

¹¹ And Saul sendeth messengers unto the house of David to watch him, and to put him to death in the morning; and Michal his wife declareth to David, saying, 'If thou art not delivering thy life to-night—tomorrow thou art put to death.' ¹² And Michal causeth David to go down through the window, and he goeth on, and fleeth, and escapeth; ¹³ and Michal taketh the teraphim, and layeth on the bed, and the mattress of goats' 'hair' she hath put 'for' his pillows, and covereth with a garment. ¹⁴ And Saul sendeth messengers to take David, and she saith, 'He 'is' sick.' ¹⁵ And Saul sendeth the messengers to see David, saying, 'Bring him up in the bed unto me,'—to put him to death. ¹⁶ And the messengers come in, and lo, the teraphim 'are' on the bed, and the mattress of goats' 'hair', 'for' his pillows. ¹⁷ And Saul saith unto Michal, 'Why thus hast thou deceived me—that thou dost send away mine enemy, and he is escaped?' and Michal saith unto Saul, 'He said unto me, Send me away: why do I put thee to death?'

¹⁸ And David hath fled, and is escaped, and cometh in unto Samuel to Ramath, and declareth to him all that Saul hath done to him, and he goeth, he and Samuel, and they dwell in Naioth. ¹⁹ And it is declared to Saul, saying, 'Lo, David 'is' in Naioth in Ramah.' ²⁰ And Saul sendeth messengers to take David, and they see the assembly of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing, set over them, and the Spirit of God is on Saul's messengers, and they prophesy—they also. ²¹ And they declare 'it' to Saul, and he sendeth other messengers, and they prophesy—they also; and Saul addeth and sendeth messengers a third time, and they prophesy—they also. ²² And he goeth—he also—to Ramath, and cometh in unto the great well which 'is' in Sechu, and asketh, and saith, 'Where 'are' Samuel and David?' and 'one' saith, 'Lo, in Naioth in Ramah.' ²³ And he goeth thither—unto Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of God is upon him—him also; and he goeth, going on, and he prophesyeth till his coming in to Naioth in Ramah, ²⁴ and he strippeth off—he also—his garments, and prophesieth—he also—before Samuel, and falleth down naked all that day and all the night; therefore they say, 'Is Saul also among the prophets?'

The Friendship of David and Jonathan

20¹ And David fleeth from Naioth in Ramah, and cometh, and saith before Jonathan, 'What have I done? what 'is' mine iniquity? and what my sin before thy father, that he is seeking my life?' ² And he saith to him, 'Far be it! thou dost not die; lo, my father doth not do anything great or small and doth not uncover mine ear; and wherefore doth my father hide from me this thing? this 'thing' is not.' ³ And David sweareth again, and saith, 'Thy father hath certainly known that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved; and yet, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, but—as a step between me and death.' ⁴ And Jonathan saith to David, 'What doth thy soul say?—and I do it for thee.' ⁵ And David saith unto Jonathan, 'Lo, the new moon 'is' to-morrow; and I do certainly sit with the king to eat; and thou hast sent me away, and I have been hidden in a field till the third evening; ⁶ if thy father at all look after me, and thou hast said, David asked earnestly of me to run to Beth-Lehem his city, for a sacrifice of the days 'is' there for all the family. ⁷ If thus he say: Good; peace 'is' for thy servant; and if it be very displeasing to him—know that the evil hath been determined by him; ⁸ 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?'

⁹ 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.' ¹⁰ And David saith unto Jonathan, 'Who doth declare to me? or what 'if' thy father doth answer thee sharply?' ¹¹ And Jonathan saith unto David, 'Come, and we go out into the field;' and they go out both of them into the field. ¹² 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— ¹³ 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; ¹⁴ and not only while I am alive dost thou do with me the kindness of Jehovah, and I die not, ¹⁵ 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.' ¹⁶ And Jonathan covenanteth with the house of David, and Jehovah hath sought 'it' from the hand of the enemies of David; ¹⁷ and Jonathan addeth to cause David to swear, because he loveth him, for with the love of his own soul he hath loved him. ¹⁸ And Jonathan saith to him, 'To-morrow 'is' new moon, and thou hast been looked after, for thy seat is looked after; ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 'And I shoot three of the arrows at the side, sending out for myself at a mark; ²¹ 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. ²² And if thus I say to the young man, Lo, the arrows 'are' beyond thee,—go, for Jehovah hath sent thee away; ²³ as to the thing which we have spoken, I and thou, lo, Jehovah 'is' between me and thee—unto the age.'

²⁴ And David is hidden in the field, and it is the new moon, and the king sitteth down by the food to eat, ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ And Saul hath not spoken anything on that day, for he said, 'It 'is' an accident; he is not clean—surely not clean.' ²⁷ 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?' ²⁸ And Jonathan answereth Saul, 'David hath been earnestly asked of me unto Beth-Lehem, ²⁹ 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.' ³⁰ 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? ³¹ 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.' ³² And Jonathan answereth Saul his father, and saith unto him, 'Why is he put to death? what hath he done?' ³³ And Saul casteth the javelin at him to smite him, and Jonathan knoweth that it hath been determined by his father to put David to death. ³⁴ And Jonathan riseth from the table in the heat of anger, and hath not eaten food on the second day of the new moon, for he hath been grieved for David, for his father put him to shame.

³⁵ And it cometh to pass in the morning, that Jonathan goeth out into the field for the appointment with David, and a little youth 'is' with him. ³⁶ And he saith to his youth, 'Run, find, I pray thee, the arrows which I am shooting;' the youth is running, and he hath shot the arrow, causing 'it' to pass over him. ³⁷ And the youth cometh unto the place of the arrow which Jonathan hath shot, and Jonathan calleth after the youth, and saith, 'Is not the arrow beyond thee?' ³⁸ and Jonathan calleth after the youth, 'Speed, haste, stand not;' and Jonathan's youth gathereth the arrows, and cometh unto his lord. ³⁹ And the youth hath not known anything, only Jonathan and David knew the word. ⁴⁰ And Jonathan giveth his weapons unto the youth whom he hath, and saith to him, 'Go, carry into the city.' ⁴¹ The youth hath gone, and David hath risen from Ezel, at the south, and falleth on his face to the earth, and boweth himself three times, and they kiss one another, and they weep one with another, till David exerted himself; ⁴² and Jonathan saith to David, 'Go in peace, in that we have sworn—we two—in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah is between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed—unto the age;' and he riseth and goeth; and Jonathan hath gone in to the city.

David Flees from Saul

21¹ And David cometh in to Nob, unto Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech trembleth at meeting David, and saith to him, 'Wherefore 'art' thou thyself alone, and no man with thee?' ² And David saith to Ahimelech the priest, 'The king hath commanded me a matter, and he saith unto me, Let no man know anything of the matter about which I am sending thee, and which I have commanded thee; and the young men I have caused to know at such and such a place; ³ and now, what is there under thy hand? five loaves give into my hand, or that which is found.' ⁴ And the priest answereth David, and saith, 'There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the youths have been kept only from women.' ⁵ And David answereth the priest, and saith to him, 'Surely, if women have been restrained from us as heretofore in my going out, then the vessels of the young men are holy, and it 'is' a common way: and also, surely to-day it is sanctified in the vessel.' ⁶ And the priest giveth to him the holy thing, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which is turned aside from the presence of Jehovah to put hot bread in the day of its being taken away. ⁷ And there 'is' a man of the servants of Saul on that day detained before Jehovah, and his name 'is' Doeg the Edomite, chief of the shepherds whom Saul hath. ⁸ And David saith to Ahimelech, 'And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for neither my sword nor my vessels have I taken in my hand, for the matter of the king was urgent.' ⁹ And the priest saith, 'The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou didst smite in the valley of Elah, lo, it is wrapt in a garment behind the ephod, if it thou dost take to thyself, take; for there is none other save it in this 'place'.' And David saith, 'There is none like it—give it to me.'

¹⁰ And David riseth and fleeth on that day from the face of Saul, and cometh in unto Achish king of Gath; ¹¹ and the servants of Achish say unto him, 'Is not this David king of the land? is it not of this one they sing in dances, saying, 'Saul smote among his thousands, and David among his myriads?' ¹² And David layeth these words in his heart, and is exceedingly afraid of the face of Achish king of Gath, ¹³ and changeth his behaviour before their eyes, and feigneth himself mad in their hand, and scribbleth on the doors of the gate, and letteth down his spittle unto his beard. ¹⁴ And Achish saith unto his servants, 'Lo, ye see a man acting as a madman; why do ye bring him in unto me? ¹⁵ A lack of madmen 'have' I, that ye have brought in this one to act as a madman by me! doth this one come in unto my house?'

An Evil Generation Seeks a Sign

²⁹ And the multitudes crowding together upon him, he began to say, 'This generation is evil, a sign it doth seek after, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet, ³⁰ for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall 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, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and lo, greater than Solomon here! ³² 'Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they reformed at the proclamation of Jonah; and lo, greater than Jonah here!

The Light of the Body

³³ 'And no one having lighted a lamp, doth put 'it' in a secret place, nor under the measure, but on the lamp-stand, that those coming in may behold the light. ³⁴ 'The lamp of the body is the eye, when then thine eye may be simple, thy whole body also is lightened; and when it may be evil, thy body also is darkened; ³⁵ take heed, then, lest the light that 'is' in thee be darkness; ³⁶ if then thy whole body is lightened, not having any part darkened, the whole shall be lightened, as when the lamp by the brightness may give thee light.'

Jesus Denounces the Pharisees and Lawyers

³⁷ And in 'his' speaking, a certain Pharisee was asking him that he might dine with him, and having gone in, he reclined (at meat), ³⁸ and the Pharisee having seen, did wonder that he did not first baptize himself before the dinner. ³⁹ And the Lord said unto him, 'Now do ye, the Pharisees, the outside of the cup and of the plate make clean, but your inward part is full of rapine and wickedness; ⁴⁰ unthinking! did not He who made the outside also the inside make? ⁴¹ But what ye have give ye 'as' alms, and, lo, all things are clean to you. ⁴² 'But wo to you, the Pharisees, because ye tithe the mint, and the rue, and every herb, and ye pass by the judgment, and the love of God; these things it behoveth to do, and those not to be neglecting. ⁴³ 'Wo to you, the Pharisees, because ye love the first seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the market-places. ⁴⁴ 'Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye are as the unseen tombs, and the men walking above have not known.' ⁴⁵ And one of the lawyers answering, saith to him, 'Teacher, these things saying, us also thou dost insult;' ⁴⁶ and he said, 'And to you, the lawyers, wo! because ye burden men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves with one of your fingers do not touch the burdens. ⁴⁷ 'Wo to you, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸ Then do ye testify, and are well pleased with the works of your fathers, because they indeed killed them, and ye do build their tombs; ⁴⁹ because of this also the wisdom of God said: I will send to them prophets, and apostles, and some of them they shall kill and persecute, ⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets, that is being poured forth from the foundation of the world, may be required from this generation; ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the house; yes, I say to you, It shall be required from this generation. ⁵² 'Wo to you, the lawyers, because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.' ⁵³ And in his speaking these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began fearfully to urge and to press him to speak about many things, ⁵⁴ laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.