20:3. And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death. 20:4. And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee. 20:5. And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day. To morrow is the new moon... The neomenia, or first day of the moon, kept according to the law, as a festival; and therefore Saul feasted on that day: and expected the attendance of his family. 20:6. If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem, his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all of his tribe. 20:7. If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height. 20:8. Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father. 20:9. And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee. 20:10. And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me? 20:11. And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into the field, 20:12. Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father's mind, to morrow, or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee, 20:13. May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan, and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou mayst go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father. 20:14. And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die, 20:15. Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the hands of David's enemies. May he take away Jonathan, etc... It is a curse upon himself, if he should not be faithful to his promise.-Ibid. Require it, etc... That is, revenge it upon David's enemies, and upon me, if I should fail of my word given to him. 20:16. Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David's enemies.