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what is my fin before thy father, that he feeketh my life?

what is mine iniquity? and 7 If he fay thus, It is well; thy fervant fhall have peace: but, if he be very wroth then be fure that evil is determined by him.

2 And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing, either great or fmall, but that he will fhew it me and why fhould my father hide this thing from me? it is not fo?

3 And David fware moreover, and faid, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he faith, Let not Jonathan know this, left he be grieved: but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy foul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

4 Then faid Jonathan unto David, Whatfoever thy foul defireth, I will even do it for thee.

5 And David faid unto Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is the new-moon, and I fhould not fail to fit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myfelf in the field unto the third day at even.

8 Therefore thou fhalt deal kindly with thy fervant; for thou haft brought thy fervant into a covenant of the Lord with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, flay me thyself; for why fhouldeft thou bring me to thy father?

9 And Jonathan faid, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly, that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?

10 Then faid David to Jonathan, Who fhall tell me? or what if thy father anfwer thee roughly?

II And Jonathan faid unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.

12 And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Ifrael, when I have founded my father, about to-morrow any time, or the third day, and behold, if there be good toward David, and I then fend not unto thee, and fhew it thee;

6 If thy father at all mifs me, then fay, David earneftly afked leave of me, that he might run to Beth-lehem his city: for there is a yearly fa- 13 The Lord do fo and crifice there for all the fa-much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to

inily.

do

do thee evil, then I will fhew it thee, and fend thee away, that thou mayeft go in peace and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.

14 And thou shalt not only, while yet I live, fhew me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not:

15 But also thou fhalt not cut off thy kindness from my houfe for ever: no not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth.

16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, faying, Let the Lord even require it at the hand of David's enemies.

17 And Jonathan caufed David to fwear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own foul.

18 Then Jonathan faid to David, To-morrow is the new-moon: and thou fhalt be miffed, because thy feat will be empty.

19 And when thou haft stayed three days, then thou fhalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyfelf, when the bufinefs was in hand, and fhalt remain by the ftone Ezel.

20 And I will fhoot three

arrows on the fide thereof, as though I fhot at a mark.

21 And behold, I will fend a lad, faying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly fay unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this fide of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the Lord liveth.

22 But if I fay thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the Lord hath fent thee away.

23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.

24 So David hid himfelf in the field: and when the new-moon was come, the king fat him down to cat meat.

25 And the king fat upon his feat, as at other times, even upon a feat by the wall: and Jonathan arofe, and Abner fat by Saul's fide, and David's place was empty.

26 Nevertheless, Saul fpake not any thing that day: for he thought, Some thing hath befallen him, he is not clean; furely he is not clean.

27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the fecond day of the month, that David's place was emp

ty:

ty: and Saul faid unto Jo- 33 And Saul cast a jave

nathan his fon, Wherefore cometh not the fon of Jeffe to meat, neither yesterday nor to-day?

28 And Jonathan anfwered Saul, David earneftly afked leave of me, to go to Beth-lehem :

29 And he faid, Let me go, I pray thee, for our family hath a facrifice in the city, and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there; and now if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and fee my brethren: Therefore he cometh not unto the king's table.

lin at him to finite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to flay David.

34 So Jonathan arofe from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the fecond day of the month: for he was grieved for David, becaufe his father had done him fhame.

35 And it came to pafs in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field, at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.

36 And he faid unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I fhoot. And as the lad ran, he thot an arrow beyond him.

30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he faid unto him, Thou fon of the perverfe rebellious 37 And when the lad was woman, do not I know that come to the place of the arthou haft chofen the fon of row which Jonathan had Jeffe to thine own confu-fhot, Jonathan cried after fion, and unto the confufion the lad, and faid, Is not the of thy mother's nakednefs?

arrow beyond thee?

31 For as long as the fon 38 And Jonathan cried of Jeffe liveth upon the after the lad, Make speed, ground, thou shalt not be hatte, ftay not. And Jonaeftablished, nor thy king-than's lad gathered up the dom: wherefore now fend arrows, and cane to his and fetch him unto me, for mafter.

he hall furely die,

39 But the lad knew not

32 And Jonathan anfwer-any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

ed Saul his father, and faid unto him, Wherefore fhall he be flain? what hath he done?

40 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and

faid unto him, Go, carry them to the city.

place.

3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is prefent.

41 ¶ And as foon as the lad was gone, David arofe out of a place toward the fouth, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himfelf three times: and they kiffed one another, and wept one with another, until Da-hand, but there is hallowed vid exceeded.

42 And Jonathan faid to David, Go in peace, forafmuch as we have worn both of us in the name of the Lord, faying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between my feed and thy feed for ever. And he arofe and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

T

:

CHAP. XXI.

HEN came David to

Nob to Ahimelech the priest and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and faid unto hiin, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

2 And David faid unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath faid unto me, Let no man know any thing of the bufinefs whereabout I fend thec, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my fervants to fuch and fuch a

4 And the priest answered David, and faid, There is no common bread under mine

bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth, women have been kept from us about these three days, fince I came out, and the veffels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were fanctified this day in the veffel.

6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread; for there was no bread there, but the fhew-bread that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot-bread in the day when it was taken away.

7 Now a certain man of the fervants of Saul, was there that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was Doeg an Edomite, the chiefelt of the herd-men that belonged to Saul.

8 And David faid unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand fpear

ог

or fword? for I have neither [man is mad: wherefore then

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have ye brought him to me?

15 Have I need of madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my houfe?

CHAP. XXII.

AVID therefore de

D parted thence, and ef

caped to the cave Adullam : and when his brethren, and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him..

9 And the priest faid, The fword of Goliath the Philiftine, whom thou fleweft in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapt in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other fave that, here. And David faid, There is none like that, give it me. 10 And David arofe and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king 2 And every one that was of Gath. in diftress, and every one II And the fervants of that was in debt, and every Achifh faid unto him, Is one that was discontented, not this David the king of the gathered themselves unto land? did they not fing one to him, and he became a capanother of him in dances, fay-tain over them and there ing, Saul hath flain his thou- were with him about four fands, and David his ten hundred men. thousands?

12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was fore afraid of Achifh the king of Gath.

13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and fcrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his fpittle fall down upon his beard.

14 Then faid Achish unto his fervants, Lo, you fee the

3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab : and he faid unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

4 And he brought them before the king of Moab : and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

5 ¶ And the prophet Gad

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