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 Naioth in Ramah and came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? What is my sin before your father, that he seeks to take 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!”
Jonathan said to David, “Far from it; you will not die. My father does nothing either great or small without telling it to me. 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.”
Yet David vowed again and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes. He has said, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.' But as truly as Yahweh lives, and as you live, 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 you say, 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.
David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third day at 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 misses me at all, then say, 'David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city; because it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.'
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 will have peace. But if he is very angry, then know that he has decided on evil.
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 Yahweh with you. But if there is sin in me, kill me yourself; for why then 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! If I learned my father decided harm to come upon you, would I not tell you?”
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 by chance your father should answer you roughly?”
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, let us go out into the field.” So 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, “May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be witness. When I have questioned my father around this time tomorrow, or the third day, see, if there is good will toward David, will I not then send to you and make it known 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.
If it pleases my father to do you harm, may Yahweh do to Jonathan and more also if I do not make it known to you and send you away, so that you may go in peace. May Yahweh 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,
If I am still alive, will you not show me the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh, 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.”
Do not cut off your covenant faithfulness from my house forever—not even when Yahweh cuts off every one of the enemies of David 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.”
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David and said, “May Yahweh require an accounting from 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.
Jonathan made David vow again because of the love that he had for him, because 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 him, “Tomorrow is the new moon. 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.
When you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself when the business was in hand, and stay by the stone Ezel.
20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at 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.
Then I will send my young man and say to him, 'Go find the arrows.' If I say to the young boy, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them,” then come; for there will be safety for you and not harm, as Yahweh 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 to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go your way, for Yahweh 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.”
As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, see, Yahweh is 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. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
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 usual, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood up, 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.”
Yet Saul did not say anything that day, because 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?”
But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,
Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission from 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 my brother has ordered me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.' For this reason 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 burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame 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, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now then, send and bring him to me, for he must surely die.”
32 “Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
Jonathan answered Saul his father, “For what reason 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 kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined 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.
Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved over 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.
In the morning, Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and a young man 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.
He said to his young man, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the young man ran, he shot an arrow 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?”
When the young man came to the place where the arrow that Jonathan shot had landed, Jonathan called after the young man, and said, “Is not 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.
Then Jonathan called after the young man, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” So Jonathan's young man 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 young man 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 young man and said to him, “Go, take 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 young man was gone, David stood up from behind the mound, lay facedown on the ground, and bowed himself three times. They kissed one another and wept together, with David weeping the 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.
Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have both sworn in the name of Yahweh and said, 'May Yahweh be between you and me, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.'” Then David stood up and left, and Jonathan returned to the city.
