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?
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 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 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 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.
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 your desire is, I will do it for you.
Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul sayeth will I 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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?
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 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 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 said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer?
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell it me? or what, if thy father answer thee roughly?
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 unto David, Come, let us go out into the field. And they went out, both of them, 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?
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 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 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 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 wilt thou not, should I be yet alive, show me the kindness of the Lord, that I may not 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.
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 And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible.
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 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 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 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.
Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the new-moon: and thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be left empty.
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.
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 And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark.
And I will myself shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I were shooting 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, 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 boy, See, the arrow has gone past you: then go on your way, 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 As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever.
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 went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast.
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem,
And Jonathan answered Saul, David asked earnestly leave of me to go as far as Beth-lechem.
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, 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 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?
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 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 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 And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? 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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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 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 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?
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 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 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 had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it.
But the lad knew not the least: 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.
And Jonathan gave his weapons unto the lad who was with him, and said unto him, Go, carry them to 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 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 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: 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.
