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 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 “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 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 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 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 “Tell me what you want me to do for you and I'll do it,” Jonathan told David.
Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul sayeth will I do for thee.
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 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 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.’
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, ‘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 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 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?”
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 “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, 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 “So who's going to let me know if your father gives you a nasty answer?” David asked.
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell it me? or what, if thy father answer thee roughly?
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 unto David, Come, let us go out into the field. And they went out, both of them, into the field.
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 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 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 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 While I live, please show me trustworthy love like that of the Lord so I don't die,
And wilt thou not, should I be yet alive, show me the kindness of the Lord, that I may not die?
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.”
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 Jonathan made a solemn agreement with the family of David, saying, “May the Lord impose retribution on David's enemies.”
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, [saying, ] May the Lord require it at the hand of David's enemies.
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 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 David, “The New Moon festival is tomorrow. You'll be missed, because your place will be empty.
Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the new-moon: and thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be left empty.
19 In three days time, go quickly to where you hid when all this started, and stay there beside the pile of stones.
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 I'll shoot three arrows to the side of it as if I were shooting at a target.
And I will myself shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I were shooting 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, 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 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 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 talked about, remember that the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
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 hid himself in the field. When the New Moon festival arrived, the king sat down to eat.
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 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 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 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.”
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 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 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 Jonathan answered, “David had to urgently ask my permission to go to Bethlehem.
And Jonathan answered Saul, David asked earnestly leave of me to go as far as Beth-lechem.
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.”
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 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!
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 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 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 “Why does he have to be put to death?” Jonathan asked. “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 Saul threw his spear at Jonathan, trying to kill him, so he knew that his father definitely wanted David dead.
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 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.
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 In the morning Jonathan went to the field to the place he had agreed with David, and a young boy was 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 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 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 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 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 Hurry up! Do it quickly! Don't wait!” The boy picked up the arrows and took them 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 The boy didn't suspect anything—only Jonathan and David knew what it meant.
But the lad knew not the least: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and said, “Take these back to town.”
And Jonathan gave his weapons unto the lad who was with him, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
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 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 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: 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.
