1 Samuel 20
1 Then David fled from Naioth, which is in Ramah, and he went and said before Jonathan: “What have I done? What is my iniquity, or what is my sin, against your father, so that he would seek my life?”
And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?
2 And he said to him: “May this not be! You shall not die. For my father will not do anything, great or small, without first revealing it to me. Therefore, has my father concealed this word solely from me? By no means shall this be!”
And he said unto him, Elohim forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.
3 And he swore again to David. And David said: “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and so he will say, ‘Let Jonathan not know this, lest he be saddened.’ So truly, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, there is only one step (if I may say it) separating me from death.”
And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found favour in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as YHWH liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.
4 And Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your soul will tell me, I will do for you.”
Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.
5 Then David said to Jonathan: “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I am accustomed to sit in a seat beside the king to eat. Therefore, permit me that I may be hidden in the field, until the evening of the third day.
And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.
6 If your father, looking around, will seek me, you shall respond to him: ‘David asked me if he may hurry to Bethlehem, his own city. For there are solemn sacrifices in that place for all of his tribe together.’
If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
7 If he will say, ‘It is well,’ then your servant will have peace. But if he will be angry, know that his malice has reached its height.
If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him.
8 Therefore, show mercy to your servant. For you have brought me, your servant, into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is any iniquity in me, you may kill me, and you shall not lead me in to your father.”
Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of YHWH with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
9 And Jonathan said: “May this be far from you. For certainly, if I ever realized that any wickedness was determined by my father against you, I would not be able to do anything other than report it to you.”
And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?
10 And David responded to Jonathan, “Who will repeat it to me, if your father may perhaps answer you harshly about me?”
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” And when they both had gone out into the field,
And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
12 Jonathan said before David: “O Lord, God of Israel, if I will discover a decision by my father, tomorrow, or the day after, and if there will be anything good concerning David, and yet I do not immediately send to you and make it known to you,
And Jonathan said unto David, O YHWH Elohim of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee;
13 may the Lord do these things to Jonathan, and may he add these other things. But if my father will have persevered in malice against you, I will reveal it to your ear, and I will send you away, so that you may go in peace, and so that the Lord may be with you, just as he was with my father.
YHWH do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and YHWH be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
14 And if I live, you shall show the mercy of the Lord to me. Yet truly, if I die,
And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of YHWH, that I die not:
15 you shall not take away your mercy from my house, even forever, when the Lord will have rooted out the enemies of David, each and every one of them, from the earth. May he take Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it from the hands of the enemies of David.”
But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when YHWH hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.
16 Therefore, Jonathan formed a covenant with the house of David. And the Lord required it from the hands of the enemies of David.
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let YHWH even require it at the hand of David's enemies.
17 And Jonathan continued to swear to David, because he loved him. For he loved him like his own soul.
And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18 And Jonathan said to him: “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be sought.
Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.
19 For your seat will be empty until the day after tomorrow. Therefore, you shall descend quickly, and you shall go to the place where you are to be hidden, on a day when it is lawful to work, and you shall remain beside the stone that is called Ezel.
And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.
20 And I will shoot three arrows near it, and I will cast them as if I were practicing for myself toward a mark.
And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.
21 Also, I will send a boy, saying to him, ‘Go and bring the arrows to me.’
And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as YHWH liveth.
22 If I will say to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are before you, take them up,’ you shall approach before me, because there is peace for you, and there is nothing evil, as the Lord lives. But if I will have spoken to the boy in this way, ‘Behold, the arrows are away from you,’ then you shall go away in peace, for the Lord has released you.
But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for YHWH hath sent thee away.
23 Now about the word that you and I have spoken, may the Lord be between you and me, even forever.”
And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, YHWH be between thee and me for ever.
24 Therefore, David was hidden in the field. And the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.
So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.
25 And when the king had sat down on his chair, (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat beside Saul, and David’s place appeared empty.
And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.
26 And Saul did not say anything on that day. For he was thinking that perhaps something happened to him, so that he was not clean, or not purified.
Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.
27 And when the second day after the new moon had begun to dawn, David’s place again appeared empty. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not arrived to eat, neither yesterday, nor today?”
And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?
28 And Jonathan responded to Saul, “He petitioned me earnestly that he might go to Bethlehem,
And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
29 and he said: ‘Permit me. For there is a solemn sacrifice in the city. One of my brothers has summoned me. Now therefore, if I have found favor in your eyes, I will go quickly, and I will see my brothers.’ For this reason, he has not come to the table of the king.”
And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king's table.
30 Then Saul, becoming angry against Jonathan, said to him: “You son of a woman wantonly seizing a man! Could I be ignorant that you love the son of Jesse, to your own shame, and to the shame of your disgraceful mother?
Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?
31 For all the days that the son of Jesse moves upon earth, neither you, nor your kingdom, will be secure. And so, send and bring him to me, here and now. For he is a son of death.”
For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
32 Then Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said: “Why should he die? What has he done?”
And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
33 And Saul picked up a lance, so that he might strike him. And Jonathan understood that it had been decided by his father that David be put to death.
And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
34 Therefore, Jonathan rose up from the table in a rage of anger. And he did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was saddened over David, because his father had confounded him.
So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
35 And when the morning had begun to dawn, Jonathan went into the field according to the agreement with David, and a young boy was with him.
And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.
36 And he said to his boy, “Go, and bring to me the arrows that I shoot.” And when the boy had run, he shot another arrow away from the boy.
And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37 And so, the boy went to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot. And Jonathan cried out, from behind the back of boy, and said: “Behold, the arrow is there, farther away from you.”
And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
38 And Jonathan cried out again, from behind the back of the boy, saying, “Go quickly! Do not stand still!” Then Jonathan’s boy collected the arrows, and he brought them to his lord.
And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
39 And he did not understand at all what was happening. For only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy, and he said to him, “Go, and carry them into the city.”
And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
41 And when the boy had gone away, David rose up from his place, which turned toward the south, and falling prone on the ground, he reverenced three times. And kissing one another, they wept together, but David more so.
And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, 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 Then Jonathan said to David: “Go in peace. And let us both keep all that we have ever sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, even forever.’” And David rose up and went away. But Jonathan entered into the city.
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of YHWH, saying, YHWH be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
