1 Samuel 20
1 And David went in flight from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my crime and my sin against your father that he is attempting to take my life?
But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he seeketh my life?
2 And he said to him, Far be the thought: you will not be put to death: see, my father does nothing, great or small, without giving me word of it: would he keep this secret from me? It is not so.
And he said to him: God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do nothing great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be.
3 But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death.
And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death.
4 Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you.
And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee.
5 And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening.
And David said to Jonathan: Behold tomorrow is the new moon, and I according to custom am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day.
6 And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year.
If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all his tribe.
7 If he says, It is well, your servant will be at peace: but if he is angry, then it will be clear to you that he has an evil purpose in mind against me.
If he shall say, It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.
8 So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father?
Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father.
9 And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it?
And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee.
10 Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer?
And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?
11 And Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go out into the country. And the two of them went out together into the open country.
And Jonathan said to David: Come and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into the field,
12 And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news?
Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father’s mind, tomorrow or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee,
13 May the Lord's punishment be on Jonathan, if it is my father's pleasure to do you evil and I do not give you word of it and send you away so that you may go in peace: and may the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.
May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
14 And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death!
And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die,
15 And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David's haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth.
Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies.
16 And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible.
Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David’s enemies.
17 And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul.
And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul.
18 Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat.
And Jonathan said to him: Tomorrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed:
19 And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there.
For thy seat will be empty till after tomorrow. So thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place, where thou must be hid on the day when it is lawful to work, and thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel.
20 And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark.
And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark.
21 And I will send my boy to have a look for the arrow. And if I say to him, See, the arrow is on this side of you; take it up! then you may come; for there is peace for you and no evil, by the living Lord.
And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows.
22 But if I say to the boy, See, the arrow has gone past you: then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away.
If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on this side of thee, take them up: come thou to me, because, there is peace to thee, and there is no evil, as the Lord liveth. But if I shall speak thus to the boy: Behold the arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the Lord hath sent thee away.
23 As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever.
And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.
24 So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast.
So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.
25 And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat.
And when the king sat down upon his chair (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place appeared empty.
26 But Saul said nothing that day, for his thought was, Something has taken place making him unclean; it is clear that he is not clean.
And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified.
27 And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today?
And when the second day after the new moon was come, David’s place appeared empty again. And Saul said to Jonathan his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat neither yesterday nor today?
28 And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem,
And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem,
29 Saying, Our family is making an offering in the town, and my brothers have given me orders to be there: so now, if I have grace in your eyes, let me go away and see my brothers. This is why he has not come to the king's table.
And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacrifice in the city, one of my brethren hath sent for me: and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will go quickly, and see my brethren. For this cause he came not to the king’s table.
30 Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother?
Then Saul being angry against Jonathan said to him: Thou son of a woman that is the ravisher of a man, do I not know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy own confusion and to the confusion of thy shameless mother?
31 For while the son of Jesse is living on the earth, your position is unsafe and your kingdom is in danger. So make him come here to me, for it is certainly right for him to be put to death.
For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son of death.
32 And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? What has he done?
And Jonathan answering Saul his father, said: Why shall he die: what hath he done?
33 And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father's purpose was to put David to death.
And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to kill David.
34 So Jonathan got up from the table, burning with wrath, and took no part in the feast the second day of the month, being full of grief for David because his father had put shame on him.
So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to confusion.
35 Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him.
And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field, according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him.
36 And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him.
And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow beyond the boy.
37 And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you?
The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot: and Jonathan cried after the boy, and said: Behold the arrow is there further beyond thee.
38 And Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan's boy got the arrow and came back to his master.
And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make haste speedily, stand not. And Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows, and brought them to his master:
39 But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it.
And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 And Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Take these and go back to the town.
Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into the city.
41 And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David's grief was the greater.
And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place, which was towards the south, and falling on his face to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one another, they wept together, but David more.
42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for we two have taken an oath, in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed for ever. Then David went away, and Jonathan went into the town.
And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all stand that we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying: The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
