²⁴ So David hid in the countryside. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. ²⁵ The king sat at his usual seat next to the wall. Jonathan was across from him,^[a] and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. ²⁶ Nevertheless, Saul did not say anything that day, since he thought, “Something has happened to him to make him ceremonially unclean. That’s what it is—he must be unclean.”