1 Samuel 20:5-24

5David replied, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. I’ve always eaten with the king on this occasion, but tomorrow I’ll hide in the field and stay there until the evening of the third day.

6If your father asks where I am, tell him I asked permission to go home to Bethlehem for an annual family sacrifice.

7If he says, ‘Fine!’ you will know all is well. But if he is angry and loses his temper, you will know he is determined to kill me.

8Show me this loyalty as my sworn friend—for we made a solemn pact before the Lord—or kill me yourself if I have sinned against your father. But please don’t betray me to him!”

9“Never!” Jonathan exclaimed. “You know that if I had the slightest notion my father was planning to kill you, I would tell you at once.”

10Then David asked, “How will I know whether or not your father is angry?”

11“Come out to the field with me,” Jonathan replied. And they went out there together.

12Then Jonathan told David, “I promise by the Lord, the God of Israel, that by this time tomorrow, or the next day at the latest, I will talk to my father and let you know at once how he feels about you. If he speaks favorably about you, I will let you know.

13But if he is angry and wants you killed, may the Lord strike me and even kill me if I don’t warn you so you can escape and live. May the Lord be with you as he used to be with my father.

14And may you treat me with the faithful love of the Lord as long as I live. But if I die,

15treat my family with this faithful love, even when the Lord destroys all your enemies from the face of the earth.”

16So Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, saying, “May the Lord destroy all your enemies!”

17And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

18Then Jonathan said, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. You will be missed when your place at the table is empty.

19The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid before, and wait there by the stone pile.

20I will come out and shoot three arrows to the side of the stone pile as though I were shooting at a target.

21Then I will send a boy to bring the arrows back. If you hear me tell him, ‘They’re on this side,’ then you will know, as surely as the Lord lives, that all is well, and there is no trouble.

22But if I tell him, ‘Go farther—the arrows are still ahead of you,’ then it will mean that you must leave immediately, for the Lord is sending you away.

23And may the Lord make us keep our promises to each other, for he has witnessed them.”

24So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon festival began, the king sat down to eat.