²⁵ He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,^[a] and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty.^{(A) 26} Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.^(B)” ²⁷ But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”