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Jonathan Seeks to Protect David
20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked,[a] “What have I done? What is my offense?[b] How have I sinned before your father, that he is seeking my life?”
2 Jonathan[c] said to him, “By no means are you going to die! My father does nothing[d] large or small without making me aware of it.[e] Why would my father hide this matter from me? It just won’t happen!”
3 Taking an oath, David again[f] said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact[g] that I have found favor with you, and he has thought,[h] ‘Don’t let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!” 4 Jonathan replied to David, “Tell me what I can do for you.”[i]
5 David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal.[j] You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now. 6 If your father happens to miss me, you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go[k] to his town Bethlehem, for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’ 7 If he should then say, ‘That’s fine,’[l] then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided to harm me.[m] 8 You must be loyal[n] to your servant, for you have made a covenant with your servant in the Lord’s name.[o] If I am guilty,[p] you yourself kill me! Why bother taking me to your father?”
9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from you to suggest this! If I were at all aware that my father had decided to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?” 10 David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11 Jonathan said to David, “Come on. Let’s go out to the field.”
When the two of them had gone out into the field, 12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness![q] I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know?[r] 13 But if my father intends to do you harm, may the Lord do all this and more to Jonathan, if I don’t let you know[s] and send word to you, so you can go safely on your way.[t] May the Lord be with you, as he was with my father. 14 While I am still alive, extend to me the loyalty of the Lord, or else I will die. 15 Don’t ever cut off your loyalty to my family, not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth 16 and called David’s enemies to account.” So Jonathan made a covenant[u] with the house of David.[v] 17 Jonathan once again took an oath with David, because he loved him. In fact Jonathan loved him as much as he did his own life.[w] 18 Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty. 19 On the third day[x] you should go down quickly[y] and come to the place where you hid yourself the day this all started.[z] Stay near the stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows near it, as though I were shooting at a target. 21 When I send a boy after them, I will say, ‘Go and find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you;[aa] get them,’ then come back. For as surely as the Lord lives, you will be safe and there will be no problem. 22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on the other side of you,’[ab] then get away. For in that case the Lord has sent you away. 23 With regard to the matter that you and I discussed, the Lord is the witness between us forever.”[ac]
24 So David hid in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. 25 The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him[ad] and Abner at his side.[ae] But David’s place was vacant. 26 However, Saul said nothing about it[af] that day, for he thought,[ag] “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.” 27 But the next morning, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was still vacant. So Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has Jesse’s son not come to the meal yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan replied to Saul, “David urgently requested that he be allowed to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Permit me to go,[ah] for we are having a family sacrifice in the town, and my brother urged[ai] me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go[aj] to see my brothers.’ For that reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
30 Saul became angry with Jonathan[ak] and said to him, “You stupid traitor![al] Don’t I realize that to your own disgrace and to the disgrace of your mother’s nakedness you have chosen this son of Jesse? 31 For as long as[am] this son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. Now, send some men[an] and bring him to me. For he is as good as dead!”[ao]
32 Jonathan responded to his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan[ap] in order to strike him down. So Jonathan was convinced[aq] that his father had decided to kill David. 34 Jonathan got up from the table enraged. He did not eat any food on that second day of the new moon, for he was upset that his father had humiliated David.[ar]
35 The next morning Jonathan, along with a young servant, went out to the field to meet David. 36 He said to his servant, “Run, find the arrows that I am about to shoot.” As the servant ran, Jonathan[as] shot the arrow beyond him. 37 When the servant came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called out to[at] the servant, “Isn’t the arrow farther beyond you?” 38 Jonathan called out to the servant, “Hurry! Go faster! Don’t delay!” Jonathan’s servant retrieved the arrow and came back to his master. 39 (Now the servant did not understand any of this. Only Jonathan and David knew what was going on.)[au] 40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him. He said to him, “Go, take these things back to the town.”
41 When the servant had left, David got up from beside the mound,[av] knelt[aw] with his face to the ground, and bowed three times. Then they kissed each other and they both wept, especially David. 42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the Lord saying, ‘The Lord will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’”
David Goes to Nob
(21:1)[ax] Then David[ay] got up and left, while Jonathan went back to the town of Naioth.[az] 21 1 (21:2) David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met[ba] David, and said to him, “Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?” 2 David replied to Ahimelech the priest, “The king instructed me to do something, but he said to me, ‘Don’t let anyone know the reason I am sending you or the instructions I have given you.’[bb] I have told my soldiers[bc] to wait at a certain place.[bd] 3 Now what do you have at your disposal?[be] Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
4 The priest replied to David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers[bf] have abstained from relations with women.”[bg] 5 David said to the priest, “Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers’[bh] equipment[bi] is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!”
6 So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the Bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away. 7 (One of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Saul’s shepherds.) 8 David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no sword or spear here at your disposal? I don’t have my own sword or equipment in hand due to the urgency of the king’s instructions.”
David Goes to Gath
9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, is wrapped in a garment behind the ephod. If you wish, take it for yourself. Other than that one, there’s no sword here.” David said, “There’s nothing like it. Give it to me.” 10 So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath. 11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying,
‘Saul struck down his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands’?”
12 David thought about what they said[bj] and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath. 13 He altered his behavior in their presence.[bk] Since he was in their power,[bl] he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me? 15 Do I have a shortage of fools so that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?”
Healing a Man Born Blind
9 Now as Jesus was passing by,[a] he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him,[b] “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man[c] or his parents?”[d] 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man[e] nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that[f] the acts[g] of God may be revealed[h] through what happens to him.[i] 4 We must perform the deeds[j] of the one who sent me[k] as long as[l] it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”[m] 6 Having said this,[n] he spat on the ground and made some mud[o] with the saliva. He[p] smeared the mud on the blind man’s[q] eyes 7 and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam”[r] (which is translated “sent”).[s] So the blind man[t] went away and washed, and came back seeing.
8 Then the neighbors and the people who had seen him previously[u] as a beggar began saying,[v] “Is this not the man[w] who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some people said,[x] “This is the man!”[y] while others said, “No, but he looks like him.”[z] The man himself[aa] kept insisting, “I am the one!”[ab] 10 So they asked him,[ac] “How then were you made to see?”[ad] 11 He replied,[ae] “The man called Jesus made mud,[af] smeared it[ag] on my eyes and told me,[ah] ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and was able to see.”[ai] 12 They said[aj] to him, “Where is that man?”[ak] He replied,[al] “I don’t know.”
The Pharisees’ Reaction to the Healing
13 They brought the man who used to be blind[am] to the Pharisees.[an] 14 (Now the day on which Jesus made the mud[ao] and caused him to see[ap] was a Sabbath.)[aq] 15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had gained his sight.[ar] He replied,[as] “He put mud[at] on my eyes and I washed, and now[au] I am able to see.”
16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say,[av] “This man is not from God, because he does not observe[aw] the Sabbath.”[ax] But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform[ay] such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division[az] among them. 17 So again they asked the man who used to be blind,[ba] “What do you say about him, since he caused you to see?”[bb] “He is a prophet,” the man replied.[bc]
18 Now the Jewish religious leaders[bd] refused to believe[be] that he had really been blind and had gained his sight until at last they summoned[bf] the parents of the man who had become able to see.[bg] 19 They asked the parents,[bh] “Is this your son, whom you say[bi] was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 So his parents replied,[bj] “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who caused him to see.[bk] Ask him, he is a mature adult.[bl] He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders.[bm] For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus[bn] to be the Christ[bo] would be put out[bp] of the synagogue.[bq] 23 For this reason his parents said, “He is a mature adult,[br] ask him.”)[bs]
24 Then they summoned[bt] the man who used to be blind[bu] a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth.[bv] We know that this man[bw] is a sinner.” 25 He replied,[bx] “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing—that although I was blind, now I can see.” 26 Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?”[by] 27 He answered,[bz] “I told you already and you didn’t listen.[ca] Why do you want to hear it[cb] again? You people[cc] don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”
28 They[cd] heaped insults[ce] on him, saying,[cf] “You are his disciple![cg] We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man[ch] comes from!” 30 The man replied,[ci] “This is a remarkable thing,[cj] that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see![ck] 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to[cl] sinners, but if anyone is devout[cm] and does his will, God[cn] listens to[co] him.[cp] 32 Never before[cq] has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see.[cr] 33 If this man[cs] were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They replied,[ct] “You were born completely in sinfulness,[cu] and yet you presume to teach us?”[cv] So they threw him out.
The Man’s Response to Jesus
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so he found the man[cw] and said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[cx] 36 The man[cy] replied,[cz] “And who is he, sir, that[da] I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus told him, “You have seen him; he[db] is the one speaking with you.”[dc] 38 [He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.[dd] 39 Jesus[de] said,][df] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight,[dg] and the ones who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees[dh] who were with him heard this[di] and asked him,[dj] “We are not blind too, are we?”[dk] 41 Jesus replied,[dl] “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin,[dm] but now because you claim that you can see,[dn] your guilt[do] remains.[dp]
Psalm 113[a]
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
3 From east to west[b]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[c]
5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[d]
6 He bends down to look[e]
at the sky and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[f]
8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman of the family[g]
a happy mother of children.[h]
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 114[i]
114 When Israel left Egypt,
when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind,[j]
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his kingdom.
3 The sea looked and fled;[k]
the Jordan River[l] turned back.[m]
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.[n]
5 Why do you flee, O sea?
Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?
6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
like lambs, O hills?
7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord—
before the God of Jacob,
8 who turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into springs of water.[o]
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