³ Then ^(A)Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

¹² Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward ^[a]you, shall I not then send word to you and ^[b]inform you? ¹³ If it pleases my father to do you harm, ^(A)may the Lord do so to ^[c]me and more so, if I fail to ^[d]inform you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. And ^(B)may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. ¹⁴ And if I am still alive, will you not show me the faithfulness of the Lord, so that I do not die? ¹⁵ And ^(C)you shall never cut off your loyalty to my house, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” ¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “^(D)May the Lord demand it from the hands of David’s enemies.” ¹⁷ And Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because ^(E)he loved him as he loved his own life.

¹⁸ So ^(A)the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed at Horesh, while Jonathan went to his house.

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 Then David said, “Is there ^[a]anyone still left of the house of Saul, ^(A)so that I could show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” ² Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they summoned him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you ^(B)Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³ Then the king said, “Is there no one remaining of the house of Saul to whom I could show the ^(C)kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “^(D)There is still a son of Jonathan, one who is disabled in both feet.” ⁴ So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is ^(E)in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo-debar.” ⁵ Then King David sent ^[b]messengers who brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. ^6 (F)Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and ^(G)fell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” ⁷ Then David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for ^(H)I will assuredly show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I ^(I)will restore to you all the ^[c]land of your ^[d]grandfather Saul; and ^(J)you yourself shall ^[e]eat at my table regularly.”