1 Samuel 20:3
King James Version
“And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly the LORD liveth, and thy soul liveth, but a step between me and death.”
Context
1And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what mine iniquity? and what my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?
2And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it not
3And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly the LORD liveth, and thy soul liveth, but a step between me and death.
4Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do for thee.
5And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third at even.
6If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.