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Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and went to Jonathan. "What have I done?" he asked. "What crime have I committed? What wrong have I done to your father to make him want to kill me?"
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Jonathan answered, "God forbid that you should die! My father tells me everything he does, important or not, and he would not hide this from me. It just isn't so!"
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But David answered, "Your father knows very well how much you like me, and he has decided not to let you know what he plans to do, because you would be deeply hurt. I swear to you by the living LORD that I am only a step away from death!"
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Jonathan said, "I'll do anything you want."
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"Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival," David replied, "and I am supposed to eat with the king. But if it's all right with you, I will go and hide in the fields until the evening of the day after tomorrow.
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If your father notices that I am not at the table, tell him that I begged your permission to hurry home to Bethlehem, since it's the time for the annual sacrifice there for my whole family.
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If he says, 'All right,' I will be safe; but if he becomes angry, you will know that he is determined to harm me.
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Please do me this favor, and keep the sacred promise you made to me. But if I'm guilty, kill me yourself ! Why take me to your father to be killed?"
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"Don't even think such a thing!" Jonathan answered. "If I knew for sure that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?"
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David then asked, "Who will let me know if your father answers you angrily?"
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"Let's go out to the fields," Jonathan answered. So they went,
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and Jonathan said to David, "May the LORD God of Israel be our witness! At this time tomorrow and on the following day I will question my father. If his attitude toward you is good, I will send you word.
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If he intends to harm you, may the LORD strike me dead if I don't let you know about it and get you safely away. May the LORD be with you as he was with my father!
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And if I remain alive, please keep your sacred promise and be loyal to me; but if I die,
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show the same kind of loyalty to my family forever. And when the LORD has completely destroyed all your enemies,
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may our promise to each other still be unbroken. If it is broken, the LORD will punish you."
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Once again Jonathan made David promise to love him, for Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself.
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Then Jonathan said to him, "Since tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, your absence will be noticed if you aren't at the meal.
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The day after tomorrow your absence will be noticed even more; so go to the place where you hid yourself the other time, and hide behind the pile of stones there.
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I will then shoot three arrows at it, as though it were a target.
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Then I will tell my servant to go and find them. And if I tell him, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them,' that means that you are safe and can come out. I swear by the living LORD that you will be in no danger.
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But if I tell him, 'The arrows are on the other side of you,' then leave, because the LORD is sending you away.
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As for the promise we have made to each other, the LORD will make sure that we will keep it forever."
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So David hid in the fields. At the New Moon Festival, King Saul came to the meal
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and sat in his usual place by the wall. Abner sat next to him, and Jonathan sat across the table from him. David's place was empty,
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but Saul said nothing that day, because he thought, "Something has happened to him, and he is not ritually pure."
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On the following day, the day after the New Moon Festival, David's place was still empty, and Saul asked Jonathan, "Why didn't David come to the meal either yesterday or today?"
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Jonathan answered, "He begged me to let him go to Bethlehem.
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'Please let me go,' he said, 'because our family is celebrating the sacrificial feast in town, and my brother ordered me to be there. So then, if you are my friend, let me go and see my relatives.' That is why he isn't in his place at your table."
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Saul became furious with Jonathan and said to him, "How rebellious and faithless your mother was! Now I know you are taking sides with David and are disgracing yourself and that mother of yours!
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Don't you realize that as long as David is alive, you will never be king of this country? Now go and bring him here---he must die!"
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"Why should he die?" Jonathan replied. "What has he done?"
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At that, Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, and Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.
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Jonathan got up from the table in a rage and ate nothing that day---the second day of the New Moon Festival. He was deeply distressed about David, because Saul had insulted him.
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The following morning Jonathan went to the fields to meet David, as they had agreed. He took a young boy with him
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and said to him, "Run and find the arrows I'm going to shoot." The boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.
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When the boy reached the place where the arrow had fallen, Jonathan shouted to him, "The arrow is farther on!
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Don't just stand there! Hurry up!" The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master,
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not knowing what it all meant; only Jonathan and David knew.
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Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him to take them back to town.
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After the boy had left, David got up from behind the pile of stones, fell on his knees and bowed with his face to the ground three times. Both he and Jonathan were crying as they kissed each other; David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's.
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Then Jonathan said to David, "God be with you. The LORD will make sure that you and I, and your descendants and mine, will forever keep the sacred promise we have made to each other." Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
1
David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, "Why did you come here all by yourself ?"
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"I am here on the king's business," David answered. "He told me not to let anyone know what he sent me to do. As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.
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Now, then, what supplies do you have? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have."
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The priest said, "I don't have any ordinary bread, only sacred bread; you can have it if your men haven't had sexual relations recently."
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"Of course they haven't," answered David. "My men always keep themselves ritually pure even when we go out on an ordinary mission; how much more this time when we are on a special mission!"
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So the priest gave David the sacred bread, because the only bread he had was the loaves offered to God, which had been removed from the sacred table and replaced by fresh bread.
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(Saul's chief herdsman, Doeg, who was from Edom, happened to be there that day, because he had to fulfill a religious obligation.)
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David said to Ahimelech, "Do you have a spear or a sword you can give me? The king's orders made me leave in such a hurry that I didn't have time to get my sword or any other weapon."
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Ahimelech answered, "I have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in Elah Valley; it is behind the ephod, wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, take it---it's the only weapon here." "Give it to me," David said. "There is not a better sword anywhere!"
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So David left, fleeing from Saul, and went to King Achish of Gath.
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The king's officials said to Achish, "Isn't this David, the king of his country? This is the man about whom the women sang, as they danced, 'Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.' "
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Their words made a deep impression on David, and he became very much afraid of King Achish.
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So whenever David was around them, he pretended to be insane and acted like a madman when they tried to restrain him; he would scribble on the city gates and let spit drool down his beard.
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So Achish said to his officials, "Look! The man is crazy! Why did you bring him to me?
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Don't I have enough madmen already? Why bring another one to bother me with his crazy actions right here in my own house?"
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I will always thank the LORD; I will never stop praising him.
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I will praise him for what he has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad!
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Proclaim with me the LORD's greatness; let us praise his name together!
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I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me; he freed me from all my fears.
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The oppressed look to him and are glad; they will never be disappointed.
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The helpless call to him, and he answers; he saves them from all their troubles.
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His angel guards those who honor the LORD and rescues them from danger.
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Find out for yourself how good the LORD is. Happy are those who find safety with him.
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Honor the LORD, all his people; those who obey him have all they need.
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Even lions go hungry for lack of food, but those who obey the LORD lack nothing good.
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Come, my young friends, and listen to me, and I will teach you to honor the LORD.
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Would you like to enjoy life? Do you want long life and happiness?
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Then keep from speaking evil and from telling lies.
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Turn away from evil and do good; strive for peace with all your heart.
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The LORD watches over the righteous and listens to their cries;
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but he opposes those who do evil, so that when they die, they are soon forgotten.
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The righteous call to the LORD, and he listens; he rescues them from all their troubles.
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The LORD is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope.
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Good people suffer many troubles, but the LORD saves them from them all;
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the LORD preserves them completely; not one of their bones is broken.
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Evil will kill the wicked; those who hate the righteous will be punished.
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The LORD will save his people; those who go to him for protection will be spared.
1
Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him,
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and he began to teach them:
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"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!
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"Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!
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"Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised!
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"Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully!
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"Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them!
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"Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God!
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"Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children!
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"Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!
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"Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers.
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Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted.
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"You are like salt for the whole human race. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. It has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.
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"You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.
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No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house.
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In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.
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"Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true.
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Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with---not until the end of all things.
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So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven.
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I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires.
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"You have heard that people were told in the past, 'Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.'
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But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother 'You good-for-nothing!' you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to the fire of hell.
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So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you,
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leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.
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"If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, settle the dispute while there is time, before you get to court. Once you are there, you will be turned over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail.
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There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine.
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"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'
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But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart.
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So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell.
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If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell.
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"It was also said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.'
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But now I tell you: if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he is guilty of making her commit adultery if she marries again; and the man who marries her commits adultery also.
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"You have also heard that people were told in the past, 'Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.'
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But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, for it is God's throne;
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nor by earth, for it is the resting place for his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
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Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.
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Just say 'Yes' or 'No'---anything else you say comes from the Evil One.
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"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'
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But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.
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And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well.
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And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles.
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When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.
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"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your friends, hate your enemies.'
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But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
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so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil.
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Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that!
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And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that!
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You must be perfect---just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
