8. So be loyal to your servant, because you’ve brought your servant into a sacred covenant with you. If I’m guilty, then kill me yourself; just don’t take me back to your father."
9. "Enough!" Jonathan replied. "If I can determine for certain that my father intends to harm you, of course I’ll tell you!"
10. "Who will tell me if your father responds harshly?" David asked Jonathan.
11. "Come on," Jonathan said to David. "Let’s go into the field." So both of them went out into the field.
12. Then Jonathan told David, "I pledge by the Lord God of Israel that I will question my father by this time tomorrow or on the third day. If he seems favorable toward David, I will definitely send word and make sure you know.
13. But if my father intends to harm you, then may the Lord deal harshly with me, Jonathan, and worse still if I don’t tell you right away so that you can escape safely. May the Lord be with you as he once was with my father.
14. If I remain alive, be loyal to me. But if I die,
15. don’t ever stop being loyal to my household. Once the Lord has eliminated all of David’s enemies from the earth,
16. if Jonathan’s name is also eliminated, then the Lord will seek retribution from David!"
17. So Jonathan again made a pledge to David because he loved David as much as himself.
18. "Tomorrow is the festival of the new moon," Jonathan told David. "You will be missed because your seat will be empty.
19. The day after tomorrow, go all the way to the spot where you hid on the day of the incident, and stay close to that mound.
20. On the third day I will shoot an arrow to the side of the mound as if aiming at a target.