A reading from 1 Samuel.

Then David fled from Naoth and Rima and came and said before Jonathan,

What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father that he seeks my life?

And he said to him, Far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me.

And why should my father hide this from me?

It is not so.

But David vowed again, saying, Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes,

and he thinks, do not let Jonathan know this lest he be grieved.

But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.

Then Jonathan said to David,

Whatever you say I will do for you.

David said to Jonathan,

Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king,

but let me go, that I may hide myself in the

field till the third day at evening. If your father misses me at all, then say,

David earnestly asks leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly

sacrifice there for all the clan. If he says, good, it will be well with your servant. But if he is angry,

then know that harm is determined by him. Therefore, deal kindly with your servant, for you

have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me,

kill me yourself. For why should you bring me to your father? And Jonathan said,

Far be it from you. If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you? Then David said to Jonathan,

who will tell me if your father answers you roughly? And Jonathan said to David, come, let us go out

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