1 Samuel 20:11-23

¹¹Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let’s go out to the field.” So both of them went out to the field.

¹²Then 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 you, shall I not then send word to you and inform you? ¹³If it pleases my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to me and more so, if I fail to inform you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. And may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. ¹⁴And if I am still alive, will you not show me the faithfulness of the Lord, so that I do not die? ¹⁵And 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.” ¹⁶So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord demand it from the hands of David’s enemies.” ¹⁷And Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed since your seat will be empty. ¹⁹When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain beside the stone Ezel. ²⁰And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target. ²¹Then behold, I will send the boy, telling him, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come, because it is safe for you and there is nothing to harm you, as the Lord lives. ²²But if I say to the youth, ‘Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, because the Lord has sent you away. ²³As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever.”