1 Samuel 20
1 And David fled from Naioth by 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 seeks my life?
David ran from Naioth in Ramah to Jonathan and asked him, “What have I done? What is my wrong have I done? What terrible thing have I done to your father that he wants to kill me?”
2 And he said to him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, and not apprise me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.
“Nothing!” Jonathan replied. “You're not going to die! Listen! My father tells me everything he's planning, whatever it is. Why would my father keep something like this from me? It's not true!”
3 And David swore again and again, and said, Thy father certainly knows that I have found favour in thy sight: and he has thought, Jonathan shall not know this, lest he be grieved; but truly [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.
But David swore an oath again, saying, “Your father knows very well that I'm your friend, and so he's told himself, ‘Jonathan can't find out about this, otherwise he'll be really upset.’ I swear on the life of the Lord, and on your own life, my life is hanging by a thread.”
4 And Jonathan said to David, What thy soul may say, I will even do it for thee.
“Tell me what you want me to do for you and I'll do it,” Jonathan told David.
5 And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is 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 until the third evening.
“Well, the New Moon festival is tomorrow, and I'm meant to sit down and eat with the king. But if it's alright with you, I plan to go and hide in the field until the evening three days from now.
6 If thy father should actually 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.
If your father does indeed miss me, tell him, ‘David had to urgently ask my permission to hurry down to Bethlehem, his hometown, because of a yearly sacrifice there for his whole family group.’
7 If he say thus, It is well, — thy servant shall have peace; but if he be very wroth, be sure that evil is determined by him.
If he says, ‘That's fine,’ then there's no problem for me, your servant, but if he gets mad, you'll know he intends to do me harm.
8 Deal kindly then with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee; but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
So please treat me well, as you promised when you made a agreement with me before the Lord. If I've done wrong, then kill me yourself! Why take me to your father for him to do it?”
9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for, if I knew with certainty that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, would I not tell it thee?
“Absolutely not!” Jonathan replied. “If I knew for certain that if my father had plans to harm you, don't you think I'd tell you?”
10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
“So who's going to let me know if your father gives you a nasty answer?” David asked.
11 And Jonathan said to David, Come and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
“Come on, let's go out into the countryside,” Jonathan said. So they both of them went out into the countryside.
12 And Jonathan said to David, Jehovah, God of Israel, when I sound my father about this time to-morrow, [or] the next day, and behold, there be good toward David, and I then send not to thee, and apprise thee of it,
Jonathan said to David, “I promise by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will question my father by this time tomorrow or the day after. If things look good for you, I'll send a message to you and let you know.
13 Jehovah do so and much more to Jonathan. Should it please my father [to do] thee evil, then I will apprise thee of it, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and Jehovah be with thee, as he has been with my father.
But if my father plans to do you harm, then may the Lord punish me very severely, if I don't let you know by sending you a message so you can get away safely. May the Lord be with you, just as he was with my father.
14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of Jehovah, that I die not,
While I live, please show me trustworthy love like that of the Lord so I don't die,
15 but thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever, no, not when Jehovah cuts off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth.
and please don't ever remove your trustworthy love for my family, even when the Lord has removed every one of your enemies from the earth.”
16 And Jonathan made [a covenant] with the house of David, [saying, ] Let Jehovah even require [it] at the hand of David's enemies!
Jonathan made a solemn agreement with the family of David, saying, “May the Lord impose retribution on David's enemies.”
17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, by the love he had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Jonathan made David swear this once more by making an oath based on David's love for him, for Jonathan already loved David as he loved himself.
18 And Jonathan said to him, To-morrow is the new moon; and thou wilt be missed, for thy seat will be empty;
Then Jonathan said to David, “The New Moon festival is tomorrow. You'll be missed, because your place will be empty.
19 but on the third day thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself on the day of the business, and abide by the stone Ezel.
In three days time, go quickly to where you hid when all this started, and stay there beside the pile of stones.
20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.
I'll shoot three arrows to the side of it as if I were shooting at a target.
21 And behold, I will send the lad, [saying, ] Go, find the arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come, for there is peace for thee, and it is nothing; [as] Jehovah liveth.
Then I'll send a boy and tell him, ‘Go and find the arrows!’ Now, if I say to him specifically, ‘Look, the arrows are this side of you; bring them over here,’ then I swear on the life of the Lord it's safe for you to come out—there's no danger.
22 But if I say thus to the youth: Behold, the arrows are beyond thee, — go thy way; for Jehovah sends thee away.
But if I tell the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are way past you,’ then you'll have to leave, for the Lord wants you to go away.
23 And as to the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Jehovah is between me and thee for ever.
As for what you and I talked about, remember that the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
24 And David hid himself in the field; and it was the new moon, and the king sat at table to eat.
So David hid himself in the field. When the New Moon festival arrived, the king sat down to eat.
25 And the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.
He sat in his usual place by the wall opposite Jonathan. Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty.
26 And Saul said nothing that day; for he thought, Something has befallen [him], that he is not clean: surely he is not clean.
Saul didn't say anything that day because he thought, “Something has probably happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—yes, he must be unclean.”
27 And it came to pass the next day after the new moon, the second [day of the month], as David's place was empty, that Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse come to table, neither yesterday nor to-day?
But the second day, the day after the New Moon, David's place was still empty. Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn't the son of Jesse come to dinner either yesterday or today?”
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me [to go] to Bethlehem,
Jonathan answered, “David had to urgently ask my permission to go to Bethlehem.
29 and said, Let me go, I pray thee; for we have a family sacrifice in the city; and my brother himself has commanded me [to be there]; and now, if I have found favour in thy sight, let me go away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. He has therefore not come to the king's table.
He told me, ‘Please let me go, because our family is having a sacrifice in the town and my brother told me I had to be there. If you think well of me, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That's why he's absent from the king's table.”
30 And Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?
Saul got very angry with Jonathan and said, “You rebellious son of a whore! Don't you think I know that you prefer the son of Jesse? Shame on you! You're a disgrace to the mother who bore you!
31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. And now send and fetch him to me, for he must die.
While the son of Jesse remains alive, you and your kingship are not secure. Now go and bring him here to me, for he has to die!”
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he be put to death? what has he done?
“Why does he have to be put to death?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”
33 Then Saul cast the spear at him to smite him; and Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.
Saul threw his spear at Jonathan, trying to kill him, so he knew that his father definitely wanted David dead.
34 And Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no meat the second day of the new moon; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
Jonathan left the table absolutely furious. He would not eat anything on the second day of the festival, for he was so upset by the shameful way his father had treated David.
35 And it came to pass in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field, to the place agreed on with David, and a little lad with him.
In the morning Jonathan went to the field to the place he had agreed with David, and a young boy was with him.
36 And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. The lad ran, and he shot the arrow beyond him.
He told the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” The boy started running and Jonathan shot an arrow past him.
37 And when the lad came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad and said, Is not the arrow away beyond thee?
When the boy got to the place where Jonathan's arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted to him, “Isn't the arrow farther past you?
38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not! And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
Hurry up! Do it quickly! Don't wait!” The boy picked up the arrows and took them back to his master.
39 And the lad knew nothing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
The boy didn't suspect anything—only Jonathan and David knew what it meant.
40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city.
Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and said, “Take these back to town.”
41 The lad went, and David arose from the side of 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.
After the boy had gone, David got up from beside the pile of stones, fell facedown to the ground, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and cried together as friends, though David cried the hardest.
42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have both of us sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah 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.
Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn a solemn oath in the name of the Lord. We said, ‘The Lord will be a witness between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to town.
