1 Samuel 20
1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?”
And David fled from Nayoth near Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is my iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?
2 “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!”
And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father is not wont to do a great thing or a small thing, which he doth not inform me of; and why should my father conceal this thing from me? it is not so.
3 But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
But David swore again, and said, Thy father well knoweth that I have found grace in thy eyes; wherefore he said, Jonathan must not know this, lest he be grieved: nevertheless, as truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there was but one step between me and death.
4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.”
Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul sayeth will I do for thee.
5 So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now.
And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new-moon, and I should as usual sit with the king to eat; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.
6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’
If thy father at all miss me, then do thou say, David asked earnestly leave of me that he might run to Beth-lechem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
7 If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions.
If he should say thus, It is well: then shall thy servant have peace; but if it be at all displeasing to him, then know that the evil is determined on by him.
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?”
And do thou deal kindly with thy servant; for into a covenant of the Lord hast thou brought thy servant with thee; but if there be in me any iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldst thou bring me to thy father?
9 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”
And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for if I should know for certain that evil were determined on by my father to come upon thee, would I not tell it thee?
10 Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell it me? or what, if thy father answer thee roughly?
11 “Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.” So the two of them went out into the field,
And Jonathan said unto David, Come, let us go out into the field. And they went out, both of them, 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?
And Jonathan said unto David, May the God of Israel [punish me] if, when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, or of the third day, and, behold, if he be good toward David, I do not then send unto thee, and inform thee of it.
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.
May the Lord do so to Jonathan and continue so yet farther, that, if it please my father [to do] thee evil, I will inform thee of it, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and may the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
14 And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die,
And wilt thou not, should I be yet alive, show me the kindness of the Lord, 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.”
But, surely, thou wilt not withdraw thy kindness from my house for ever, not even when the Lord cutteth off the enemies of David, every one, from off 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.”
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, [saying, ] May the Lord require it at the hand of David's enemies.
17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
And Jonathan caused David to swear again, by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed if your seat is empty.
Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the new-moon: and thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be left empty.
19 When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel.
And when thou hast stayed till the third day, then shalt thou go down greatly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself on the work-day; and thou shalt remain by the stone Ezel.
20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.
And I will myself shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I were shooting at a mark.
21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them,’ then come, because as surely as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger.
And, behold, I will send the lad, saying, Go, find the arrows; if I should now say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee: then take him and come; for there is peace to thee, and it is nothing; as the Lord liveth.
22 But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away.
But if thus I should say unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee: then go thy way, for the Lord hath sent thee off.
23 And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.”
And touching the matter of which we have spoken, thou and I, behold, the Lord is between me and thee for ever.
24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat.
So David hid himself in the field: and when the new-moon was come, the king set himself down to the repast to eat.
25 He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner, but David’s place was empty.
And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, upon the seat by the wall: and when Jonathan arose, Abner seated himself by the side of Saul, and David's place was left empty.
26 Saul said nothing that day because he thought, “Something has happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”
Nevertheless Saul spoke not the least on that day; for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; because he hath not yet purified himself.
27 But on the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
And it came to pass on the morrow, the second day of the new-moon, that David's place was left empty; and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore is the son of Jesse not come, both yesterday and today, to the repast?
28 Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,
And Jonathan answered Saul, David asked earnestly leave of me to go as far as Beth-lechem.
29 saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he did not come to the king’s table.”
And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for we have a family-sacrifice in the city, and my brother himself hath commanded it to me; and now, if I have found favor in thy eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, that I may see my brothers: therefore is he not come unto the king's table.
30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the disgrace of the mother who bore you?
And the anger of Saul was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of perverse rebelliousness! do I not know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thy own shame, and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?
31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”
For all the days that the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou wilt not have any permanence with thy kingdom: therefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
32 “Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be put to death? what hath he done?
33 Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.
And Saul cast his spear at him to smite him: and Jonathan understood that it was determined on by his father to put David to death.
34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.
And Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no food on the second day of the new-moon; for he was grieved for David; because his father had made him feel ashamed.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him.
And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field to the place appointed with David, and a little lad was with him.
36 He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” And as the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.
And he said unto his lad, Run, do find out the arrows which I shoot: and the lad ran, and he shot the arrow so as to pass beyond him.
37 When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”
And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the lad, and said, Behold, the arrow is beyond thee!
38 Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
And Jonathan called after the lad, Make haste, speed, stay not: and Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
39 But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.
But the lad knew not the least: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”
And Jonathan gave his weapons unto the lad who was with him, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
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.
And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose from the south side [of the stone], and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
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.
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace: what we have sworn, both of us, in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord shall be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever, [shall be kept]. And he arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.
