17. And Yehonathan again made Dawiḏ swear, because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved his own being.
18. So Yehonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you shall be missed, because your seat shall be empty.
19. “And on the third day, go down quickly and you shall come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed, and shall remain by the stone Ětsel.
20. “And let me shoot three arrows to the side of it as though shooting at a target,
21. and see, I shall send the youth, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them and come,’ then, as יהוה lives, there is safety for you and no concern.
22. “But if I say thus to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ go your way, for יהוה has sent you away.
23. “And as for the word which you and I have spoken of, see, יהוה is between you and me forever.”
24. And Dawiḏ hid in the field. And when the New Moon came, the sovereign sat down by the food to eat.
25. And the sovereign sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall, with Yehonathan standing, and Aḇnĕr sitting by Sha’ul’s side, but the place of Dawiḏ was empty.