1 One day, Saul said to his son Jonathan and to his workers, “David has got to die. You have to kill him.”

But Jonathan was good friends with David, 2 so he told David, “Look out. My father is trying to kill you. Run away and hide over there in the bush. Wait there and watch out for somebody tomorrow morning. 3 I will go for a walk with my father near the place you are hiding. I will talk to him about you. After he goes back, I will tell you whatever he says.”

4 Next morning Jonathan and his father went for a walk in the bush, and they talked about David. Jonathan said good things about David like this, “He didn’t do wrong to you. He did all kinds of good things for you. He did things that helped you. You can’t do wrong to him now. 5 He didn’t worry about dying. He bravely fought that Philistia man, Goliath, and killed him dead. God used him to really help the Israel mob. You saw it too, and you were happy about it. Why do you want to kill him? He did nothing wrong.”

6 Saul listened to his son Jonathan, and he said, “God hears us, so I’m talking straight to you. I will not try to kill David.”

7 After Saul went back, Jonathan called to David to come out. He told him everything his father said. So they went back to Saul, and David started to work for him again.

8 One day, the Philistia mob came again, to fight with the Israel mob. David was a boss soldier at that time, and he attacked and killed lots of Philistia men dead. The rest of them ran away frightened.

9 Then David went back to Saul’s place, to work for him again, and God sent a bad spirit to Saul again. David played the guitar as before. At that time, Saul was holding a spear in his hand, 10 and he tried to spear him straight through and hang him on the wall. But again David quickly jumped out of the way, and the spear only hit the wall. That night David ran away safely from Saul’s house.

11 Saul sent men to watch David’s house that night and to kill him in the morning. But while it was still night time, David’s wife, Mihal, she saw them and said to David, “Run away quickly, right now. Don’t wait, or in the morning they will kill you dead.”* Psalm 59 12 Then she put a rope down from the window, and he climbed down it and ran away safely.