Taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. JONATHAN (PART 1) JDG 17:7 A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, JDG 17:8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim. JDG 17:9 Micah asked him, "Where are you from?" "I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah," he said, "and I'm looking for a place to stay." JDG 17:10 Then Micah said to him, "Live with me and be my father and priest, and I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food." JDG 17:11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him like one of his sons. JDG 17:12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. JDG 17:13 And Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest." JDG 18:1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. JDG 18:2 So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told them, "Go, explore the land." The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. JDG 18:3 When they were near Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?" JDG 18:4 He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, "He has hired me and I am his priest." JDG 18:5 Then they said to him, "Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful." JDG 18:6 The priest answered them, "Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD'S approval." JDG 18:7 So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else. JDG 18:8 When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, "How did you find things?" JDG 18:9 They answered, "Come on, let's attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take it over. JDG 18:10 When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever." JDG 18:11 Then six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. JDG 18:12 On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day. JDG 18:13 From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah's house. JDG 18:14 Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their brothers, "Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other household gods, a carved image and a cast idol? Now you know what to do." JDG 18:15 So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah's place and greeted him. JDG 18:16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance to the gate. JDG 18:17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance to the gate. JDG 18:18 When these men went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?" JDG 18:19 They answered him, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn't it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man's household?" JDG 18:20 Then the priest was glad. He took the ephod, the other household gods and the carved image and went along with the people. JDG 18:21 Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 INTERNATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETY JDG 18:22 When they had gone some distance from Micah's house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. JDG 18:23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, "What's the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?" JDG 18:24 He replied, "You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, 'What's the matter with you?'" JDG 18:25 The Danites answered, "Don't argue with us, or some hot-tempered men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives." JDG 18:26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home. JDG 18:27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. JDG 18:28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. JDG 18:29 They named it Dan after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel--though the city used to be called Laish. JDG 18:30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. Taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. JONATHAN (PART 2) 1SA 13:3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!" 1SA 13:4 So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines." And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. 1SA 13:16 Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Micmash. 1SA 14:1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, "Come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side." But he did not tell his father. 1SA 14:2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, 1SA 14:3 among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD'S priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left. 1SA 14:4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez, and the other Seneh. 1SA 14:5 One cliff stood to the north toward Micmash, the other to the south toward Geba. 1SA 14:6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." 1SA 14:7 "Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul." 1SA 14:8 Jonathan said, "Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us. 1SA 14:9 If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 1SA 14:10 But if they say, 'Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands." 1SA 14:11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. "Look!" said the Philistines. "The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in." 1SA 14:12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, "Come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson." So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, "Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel." 1SA 14:13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor- bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 1SA 14:14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre. 1SA 14:15 Then panic struck the whole army--those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties--and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God. 1SA 14:16 Saul's lookouts at Gibeah of Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. 1SA 14:17 Then Saul said to the men who were with him, "Muster the forces and see who has left us." When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor- bearer who were not there. 1SA 14:18 Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God." (At that time it was with the Israelites.) 1SA 14:24 Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, "Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!" So none of the troops tasted food. 1SA 14:25 The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. 1SA 14:26 When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out, yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. 1SA 14:27 But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. 1SA 14:28 Then one of the soldiers told him, "Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, 'Cursed be any man who eats food today!' That is why the men are faint." 1SA 14:29 Jonathan said, "My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. 1SA 14:30 How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?" NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 INTERNATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETY 1SA 14:43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done." So Jonathan told him, "I merely tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now must I die?" 1SA 14:44 Saul said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan." 1SA 14:45 But the men said to Saul, "Should Jonathan die--he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God's help." So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death. 1SA 14:49 Saul's sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. 1SA 18:1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 1SA 18:2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. 1SA 18:3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 1SA 18:4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. 1SA 19:1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David 1SA 19:2 and warned him, "My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 1SA 19:3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I'll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out." 1SA 19:4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, "Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 1SA 19:5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?" 1SA 19:6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: "As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death." 1SA 19:7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before. 1SA 20:1 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to take my life?" 1SA 20:2 "Never!" Jonathan replied. "You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn't do anything, great or small, without confiding in me. Why would he hide this from me? It's not so!" 1SA 20:3 But David took an oath and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, 'Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.' Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death." 1SA 20:4 Jonathan said to David, "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do for you." 1SA 20:5 So David said, "Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 1SA 20:6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, 'David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.' 1SA 20:7 If he says, 'Very well,' then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. 1SA 20:8 As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?" 1SA 20:9 "Never!" Jonathan said. "If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?" 1SA 20:10 David asked, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?" 1SA 20:11 "Come," Jonathan said, "let's go out into the field." So they went there together. 1SA 20:12 Then Jonathan said to David: "By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 1SA 20:13 But if my father is inclined to harm you, may the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away safely. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 INTERNATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETY 1SA 20:14 But show me unfailing kindness like that of the LORD as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 1SA 20:15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family--not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth." 1SA 20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the LORD call David's enemies to account." 1SA 20:17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. 1SA 20:18 Then Jonathan said to David: "Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 1SA 20:19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 1SA 20:20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 1SA 20:21 Then I will send a boy and say, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I say to him, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,' then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe; there is no danger. 1SA 20:22 But if I say to the boy, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away. 1SA 20:23 And about the matter you and I discussed--remember, the LORD is witness between you and me forever." 1SA 20:24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat. 1SA 20:25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan, and Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty. 1SA 20:26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, "Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean--surely he is unclean." 1SA 20:27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David's place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, "Why hasn't the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?" 1SA 20:28 Jonathan answered, "David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 1SA 20:29 He said, 'Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.' That is why he has not come to the king's table." 1SA 20:30 Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, "You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 1SA 20:31 As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!" 1SA 20:32 "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" Jonathan asked his father. 1SA 20:33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. 1SA 20:34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father's shameful treatment of David. 1SA 20:35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 1SA 20:36 and he said to the boy, "Run and find the arrows I shoot." As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 1SA 20:37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?" 1SA 20:38 Then he shouted, "Hurry! Go quickly! Don't stop!" The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 1SA 20:39 (The boy knew nothing of all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 1SA 20:40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, "Go, carry them back to town." 1SA 20:41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together--but David wept the most. 1SA 20:42 Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.'" Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town. 1SA 23:16 And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. 1SA 23:17 "Don't be afraid," he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this." 1SA 23:18 The two of them made a covenant before the LORD. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh. 1SA 31:2 The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 1SA 31:6 So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day. 1SA 31:11 When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, 1SA 31:12 all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. 1SA 31:13 Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. 2SA 1:12 They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 2SA 1:17 David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 2SA 1:18 and ordered that the men of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar): 2SA 1:19 "Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen! 2SA 1:20 "Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice. 2SA 1:21 "O mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, nor fields that yield offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul--no longer rubbed with oil. 2SA 1:22 From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied. 2SA 1:23 "Saul and Jonathan--in life they were loved and gracious, and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. 2SA 1:24 "O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold. 2SA 1:25 "How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights. 2SA 1:26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women. 2SA 1:27 "How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!" 2SA 4:4 (Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.) 2SA 9:1 David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" 2SA 9:2 Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" "Your servant," he replied. 2SA 9:3 The king asked, "Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?" Ziba answered the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet." 2SA 9:4 "Where is he?" the king asked. Ziba answered, "He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar." 2SA 9:5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 2SA 9:6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, "Mephibosheth!" "Your servant," he replied. 2SA 9:7 "Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table." NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 INTERNATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETY 2SA 9:8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?" 2SA 9:9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 2SA 9:10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 2SA 9:11 Then Ziba said to the king, "Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. 2SA 9:12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. 2SA 9:13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet. 2SA 21:12 he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had taken them secretly from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) 2SA 21:13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up. 2SA 21:14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul's father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land. 1CH 8:34 The son of Jonathan: Merib-Baal, who was the father of Micah. 1CH 10:2 The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. Bible Bulletin Board Internet: www.biblebb.com Box 314 Columbus, NJ 08022 ....online since 1986