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?”
Then David fled from the dwellings at Ramah, and came before Jonathan and said, "What have I done? What is my iniquity? What is my sin before your father, that he seeks 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!”
He said to him, "Far from it; you shall not die. Look, my father does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me; and why should my father hide 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.”
And David answered and said, "Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved:' but truly as YHWH lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death."
4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.”
Then Jonathan said to David, "Whatever your soul desires, I will do for you."
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.
So David said to Jonathan, "Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. Instead, let me go so that I may hide myself in the field until 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 your father missed me at all, then say, 'David urgently requested of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city, for it is the 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 says, 'It is well;' your servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, then know that evil is determined 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?”
Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of YHWH with you: but if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself; for 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?”
Jonathan said, "Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come on you, then wouldn't I tell you that?"
10 Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
Then David said to 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,
Jonathan said to David, "Come, and let us go out into the field." They both 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?
Jonathan said to David, "YHWH, the God of Israel, is witness. When I have studied my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, look, if there is good toward David, shall I not then send to you, and disclose it to 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.
But should it please my father to do you harm, God do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not let you know and send you away, that you may go in safety. And may YHWH be with you, 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,
And if I am still alive, deal loyally with me. But if I 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.”
do not cut off your loyalty from my house forever. And when YHWH cuts off the enemies of David, each one 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.”
if the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David, then may YHWH require it at the hand of the enemies of David."
17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
And Jonathan swore to David again, because he loved 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, "Tomorrow is the new moon: and you will be missed, because your seat will be 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.
On the third day you should go down quickly, and come to the place where you hid yourself when this started, and stay by that mound.
20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.
And as for me, on the third day I will shoot arrows to its side, aiming it toward a target.
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.
Look, I will send the boy, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I tell the boy, 'Look, the arrow is on this side of you. Take it;' then come; for there is peace to you and no hurt, as YHWH lives.
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 I say this to the boy, 'Look, the arrow is beyond you;' then go your way; for YHWH has sent you away.
23 And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.”
Concerning the matter which you and I have spoken of, look, YHWH is a witness between you and me forever."
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 had come, the king sat at the table to eat.
25 He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner, but David’s place was empty.
The king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side: but David's place was 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 did not say anything that day: for he thought, "Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean."
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?”
It happened on the next day after the new moon, the second day, that David's place was empty. Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why hasn't the son of Jesse come to the table, either yesterday or today?"
28 Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,
Jonathan answered Saul, and said, "David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.
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.”
He said, 'Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city. And as for me, my brothers have ordered me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go away and see my brothers.' Therefore he has not come to 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?
Then Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a rebellious slave girl, don't I know that you are the companion of the son of Jesse, to your own disgrace, and to the disgrace of your 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 as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, your kingdom will not be established. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die."
32 “Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
But Jonathan answered Saul, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"
33 Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.
Then Saul threw his spear at him to strike him, and Jonathan realized that this evil from his father to kill David was determined.
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.
So Jonathan sprang up from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had dishonored him.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him.
It happened in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy 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.
He said to the boy, "Run, find now the arrows which I shoot." And as the boy ran, he shot an arrow, causing it to pass beyond, toward the city.
37 When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”
When the boy had come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the youth, and said, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?"
38 Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
Jonathan cried after the boy, "Go fast. Hurry. Do not delay." Jonathan's boy 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 boy did not know anything. 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.”
Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to 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.
As soon as the boy was gone, David arose from beside the mound, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times. They kissed one another, and wept one with another, and David wept the most.
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.
Then Jonathan said, "Go in peace, because we have both sworn in the name of YHWH, saying, 'YHWH shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.'" He arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.
