1 Samuel 20:27-29

International Standard Version

²⁷ But the next day, on the second day of the New Moon, David’s place was empty, and so Saul told his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the festival, either yesterday or today?”

²⁸ Jonathan answered Saul, “David urgently requested that I let him go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ He said, ‘Please let me go because our family has a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has ordered me to come. Now, if it’s acceptable to you,^[a] please let me get away so I can see my brothers.’ That’s the reason he didn’t come to the king’s table.”