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David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon celebration,[a] and I am supposed to dine with the king. Let me go and hide myself in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. If your father should miss me, tell him, ‘David begged me for permission to hurry to Bethlehem because they are offering an annual sacrifice there for the whole clan.’ If he says, ‘That is fine,’ then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, you can be sure that he is plotting harm.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 20:5 The new moon celebration: a time for the Israelites to gather socially to dedicate themselves anew to the Lord. They preferred to celebrate when the moon was not yet visible, as opposed to pagan worship that focused on the full moon, not on the Creator God.

So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast,(A) and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide(B) in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission(C) to hurry to Bethlehem,(D) his hometown, because an annual(E) sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper,(F) you can be sure that he is determined(G) to harm me.

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