Friendship

¹⁶ And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,

¹⁷ saying, “Do not be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. And you will be king over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this is true.”

He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.”

¹³ But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father.

¹⁴ And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die,

¹⁵ and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.”

¹⁷ And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

⁴¹ When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.

⁴² And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.

I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.

¹⁴ A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵ But my brothers are as faithless as wadis, as seasonal streams that overflow,

¹⁶ darkened because of the ice and the inflow of melting snow,

Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁷ Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, lest he grow weary and hate you.

¹⁸ Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.

¹⁹ Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

¹² For it is not an enemy who insults me; that I could endure. It is not a foe who rises against me; from him I could hide.

¹³ But it is you, a man like myself, my companion and close friend.

¹⁴ We shared sweet fellowship together; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.

¹⁰ For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!

¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?

¹² And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

¹⁴ You are My friends if you do what I command you.

¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.

Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.

²⁴ Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,

²⁵ or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

⁵ Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.

⁶ The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

⁹ Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is counsel to the soul.

¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

¹ After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself.

² And from that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house.

³ Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

⁴ And Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

¹¹ Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him.

¹² When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.

¹³ Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw how intense his suffering was.

¹³ He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.

¹⁴ My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me.

¹⁹ All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.

²⁰ My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹ Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

²² Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?

But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

¹ Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan delighted greatly in David,

² so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there.

³ I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, so I can ask about you. And if I find out anything, I will tell you.”

⁴ Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.

⁵ He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”

⁸ Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”

⁹ “Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”

¹⁰ Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹ “Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.” So the two of them went out into the field,

¹² and Jonathan said, “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?

So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.

“Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!”

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he has often refreshed me and was unashamed of my chains.

¹⁷ Indeed, when he arrived in Rome, he searched diligently until he found me.

⁹ Make every effort to come to me quickly,

¹⁰ because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is useful to me in the ministry.

³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

² “How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?

³ Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.

And David went out to meet them, saying, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free of violence, may the God of our fathers see it and judge you.”

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.”

And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.”

Brothers, although we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in heart), our desire to see you face to face was even more intense.

Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, were not divided in death. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

When David came to Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim.

Now the king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the LORD between David and Jonathan son of Saul.