1 Samuel 20
1 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?
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 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.
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 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.
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 And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee.
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
5 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.
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 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.
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 shall say, It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.
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 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.
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 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.
Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I learned my father decided harm to come upon you, would I not tell you?”
10 And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?
Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if by chance your father should answer you roughly?”
11 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,
Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
12 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,
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 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.
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 if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die,
If I am still alive, will you not show me the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh, that I may not die?
15 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.
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 Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David’s enemies.
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 swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul.
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 And Jonathan said to him: Tomorrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed:
Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon. You will be missed because your seat will be empty.
19 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.
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 And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark.
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target.
21 And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows.
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 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.
“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 concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.
As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, see, Yahweh is between you and me forever.'”
24 So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.
So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
25 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.
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 And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified.
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 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?
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 And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem,
Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem.
29 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.
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 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?
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 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.
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 And Jonathan answering Saul his father, said: Why shall he die: what hath he done?
Jonathan answered Saul his father, “For what reason should he be put to death? What has he done?”
33 And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father 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 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.
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 And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field, according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him.
In the morning, Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and a young man was with him.
36 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.
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 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.
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 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:
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 And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
But the young man did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into the city.
Jonathan gave his weapons to his young man and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.”
41 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.
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: 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.
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.
