22 But if I tell him, ‘The arrows are on the other side of you,’ then leave, because the Lord is sending you away.
23 As for the promise we have made to each other, the Lord will make sure that we will keep it for ever.”
24 So David hid in the fields. At the New Moon Festival, King Saul came to the meal
25 and sat in his usual place by the wall. Abner sat next to him, and Jonathan sat opposite him. David's place was empty,
26 but Saul said nothing that day, because he thought, “Something has happened to him, and he is not ritually pure.”
27 On the following day, the day after the New Moon Festival, David's place was still empty, and Saul asked Jonathan, “Why didn't David come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered, “He begged me to let him go to Bethlehem.