Jonathan Warns David
1 Then David fled from Naioth min Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3 But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that nI have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, oas the Lord lives and pas your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is qthe new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, rthat I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6 sIf your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run tto Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly usacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that vharm is determined by him. 8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, wfor you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. xBut if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that vit was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
12 And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness!1 When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But should it please my father to do you harm, ythe Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. zMay the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die; 15 aand do not cut off2 your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, b“May3 the Lord take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, cfor he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18 Then Jonathan said to him, d“Tomorrow is the new moon, and eyou will be missed, because fyour seat will be empty. 19 On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.4 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21 And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, gas the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the youth, h‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. 23 iAnd as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, jthe Lord is between you and me forever.”
24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,5 and Abner sat by Saul’s side, kbut David’s place was empty.
26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. lHe is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 But on mthe second day, the day after the new moon, kDavid’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, n“David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, o“Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 pBut Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew qthat his father was determined to put David to death. 34 And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, r“Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41 And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap6 and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, s“Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, t‘The Lord shall be between me and you, uand between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.7
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers,1 xdid not come proclaiming to you ythe testimony2 of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except zJesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And aI was with you bin weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of cthe Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men3 but din the power of God.
Wisdom from the Spirit
6 Yet among ethe mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not fa wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, gwho are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, hwhich God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of ithe rulers of this age understood this, for jif they had, they would not have crucified kthe Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,
l“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
10 these things oGod has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even pthe depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts qexcept the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now rwe have received not sthe spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this tin words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, uinterpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.4
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are vfolly to him, and whe is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The xspiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 y“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But zwe have the mind of Christ.
Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord
1 cRemember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see dour disgrace!
2 eOur inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
5 fOur pursuers are at our necks;
we are weary; we are given no rest.
6 We have given the hand to gEgypt, and to gAssyria,
to get bread enough.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
hand we bear their iniquities.
8 iSlaves rule over us;
there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 jWe get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 kOur skin is hot as an oven
with lthe burning heat of famine.
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.
12 mPrinces are hung up by their hands;
nno respect is shown to the elders.
13 Young men are compelled to ogrind at the mill,
and boys stagger punder loads of wood.
14 nThe old men have left the city gate,
the young men qtheir music.
15 qThe joy of our hearts has ceased;
rour dancing has been turned to mourning.
16 sThe crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this tour heart has become sick,
for these things uour eyes have grown dim,
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
vjackals prowl over it.
19 wBut you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.
20 xWhy do you forget us forever,
why do you forsake us for so many days?
21 yRestore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—
22 zunless you have utterly rejected us,
and you remain exceedingly angry with us.
How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love
To the choirmaster. Of David, the xservant of the Lord.
1 Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;1
ythere is no fear of God
before his eyes.
2 zFor he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3 The words of his mouth are atrouble and deceit;
bhe has ceased to act wisely and do good.
4 He cplots dtrouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in ea way that is not good;
fhe does not reject evil.
5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 gYour righteousness is like the mountains of God;
hyour judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you isave, O Lord.
7 jHow precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge kin the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on lthe abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from mthe river of nyour delights.
9 For with you is othe fountain of life;
pin your light do we see light.
10 Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who qknow you,
and your righteousness to rthe upright of heart!
11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There sthe evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, tunable to rise.
