1 Samuel 20
1 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?”
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?
2 “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!”
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.
3 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.”
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.
4 “Tell me what you want me to do for you and I'll do it,” Jonathan told David.
Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you.
5 “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.
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.
6 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.’
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.
7 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.
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.
8 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?”
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?
9 “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?”
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?
10 “So who's going to let me know if your father gives you a nasty answer?” David asked.
Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer?
11 “Come on, let's go out into the countryside,” Jonathan said. So they both of them went out into the countryside.
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.
12 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.
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?
13 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.
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.
14 While I live, please show me trustworthy love like that of the Lord so I don't die,
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!
15 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.”
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.
16 Jonathan made a solemn agreement with the family of David, saying, “May the Lord impose retribution on David's enemies.”
And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible.
17 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.
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.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “The New Moon festival is tomorrow. You'll be missed, because your place will be empty.
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.
19 In three days time, go quickly to where you hid when all this started, and stay there beside the pile of stones.
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.
20 I'll shoot three arrows to the side of it as if I were shooting at a target.
And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark.
21 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.
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.
22 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.
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.
23 As for what you and I talked about, remember that the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever.
24 So David hid himself in the field. When the New Moon festival arrived, the king sat down to eat.
So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast.
25 He sat in his usual place by the wall opposite Jonathan. Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty.
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.
26 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.”
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.
27 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?”
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?
28 Jonathan answered, “David had to urgently ask my permission to go to Bethlehem.
And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem,
29 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.”
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.
30 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!
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?
31 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!”
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.
32 “Why does he have to be put to death?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”
And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? What has he done?
33 Saul threw his spear at Jonathan, trying to kill him, so he knew that his father definitely wanted David dead.
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.
34 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.
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.
35 In the morning Jonathan went to the field to the place he had agreed with David, and a young boy was with him.
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.
36 He told the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” The boy started running and Jonathan shot an arrow past him.
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.
37 When the boy got to the place where Jonathan's arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted to him, “Isn't the arrow farther past you?
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?
38 Hurry up! Do it quickly! Don't wait!” The boy picked up the arrows and took them back to his master.
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.
39 The boy didn't suspect anything—only Jonathan and David knew what it meant.
But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it.
40 Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and said, “Take these back to town.”
And Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Take these and go back to the town.
41 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.
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.
42 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.
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.
