1 Samuel 20
1 And David flees from Naioth in Ramah, and comes, and says before Jonathan, “What have I done? What [is] my iniquity? And what [is] my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?”
David ran away from [the] Naioth [section] of Ramah [city]. He went to Jonathan and asked him, “What have I done [to displease your father]? What did I do that was wrong? Why is he trying to kill me?”
2 And he says to him, “Far be it! You do not die; behold, my father does not do anything great or small and does not uncover my ear; and why does my father hide this thing from me? This [thing] is not.”
Jonathan replied, “My father is surely not trying to kill you! He always tells me before he does anything that he is planning. He tells me about important things and unimportant things that he plans to do. (Why would he refuse to tell me [if he were planning to kill me]?/I am sure that he would not refuse to tell me [if he were planning to kill you].) [RHQ] So what you are saying cannot be true.”
3 And David swears again and says, “Your father has certainly known that I have found grace in your eyes, and he says, Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he is grieved; and yet, YHWH lives, and your soul lives, but—as a step between me and death.”
Then David solemnly declared this to Jonathan: “Your father knows very well that you and I are very good friends, so he says to himself, ‘I will not tell Jonathan [what I am going to do]. If I tell Jonathan, he will be upset/distressed, [and then he will tell David].’ But just as certain as Yahweh lives and you live, I am only one step away from being killed.”
4 And Jonathan says to David, “What does your soul [desire]? Command and I do it for you.”
Jonathan said to David, “I will do whatever you tell me to do.”
5 And David says to Jonathan, “Behold, the new moon [is] tomorrow; and I certainly sit with the king to eat; and you have sent me away, and I have been hidden in a field until the third evening;
David replied, “Tomorrow we will celebrate the Festival of the New Moon. I always eat with the king at that festival. But tomorrow I will hide in the field, and I will stay there for one night. I will stay there until the evening of the day after tomorrow.
6 if your father looks after me at all, then you have said, David earnestly asked of me to run to his city of Beth-Lehem, for there [is] a sacrifice of the days for all the family.
If your father asks why I am not there at the festival, say to him, ‘David requested me to allow him to go to his home in Bethlehem, where his family will offer the sacrifice that they offer [during this festival] every year.’
7 If thus he says: Good; [there is] peace for your servant; and if it is very displeasing to him—know that the evil has been determined by him;
If your father says ‘That is okay’, then I know I will be safe. But if he becomes extremely angry, you will know that he is determined to harm me.
8 and you have done kindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of YHWH with you—and if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why [is] this [that] you bring me to your father?”
Please be kind to me. Yahweh heard you when you made a solemn agreement with me [that you and I will always be loyal friends]. If I deserve to be punished [MTY], kill me yourself. I do not want [RHQ] you to allow your father to punish [IDM] me.”
9 And Jonathan says, “Far be it from you! For I certainly do not know that the evil has been determined by my father to come on you, and I do not declare it to you.”
Jonathan replied, “I will never do that! But if I find out that my father is determined to harm/kill you, I will certainly warn you.” [RHQ]
10 And David says to Jonathan, “Who declares [it] to me? Or what [if] your father answers you sharply?”
David asked him, “How will I find out if your father answers you harshly?”
11 And Jonathan says to David, “Come, and we go out into the field”; and both of them go out into the field.
Jonathan replied, “Come with me. We will go out into the field.” So they went together out into the field.
12 And Jonathan says to David, “YHWH, God of Israel, [is my witness]—when I search out my father about [this] time tomorrow [or] the third [day], and behold, [there is] good toward David, and I do not then send to you, and have uncovered your ear—
There Jonathan said to David, “I promise this while Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], is listening: At this time the day after tomorrow, I will find out what my father [is thinking about you]. If he is saying good things about you, I will certainly send a message to you to tell that to you [RHQ].
13 thus YHWH does to Jonathan, and thus He adds; when the evil concerning you is good to my father, then I have uncovered your ear, and sent you away, and you have gone in peace, and YHWH is with you, as he was with my father;
But if he is planning to hurt/kill you, I will enable you to know [IDM] that, and enable you to go away safely. I desire that Yahweh will punish me severely if I do not do that [for you]. I desire/hope that Yahweh will be with you [and help you] like he has helped my father.
14 and not only while I am alive do you do the kindness of YHWH with me, and I do not die,
But while I am still alive, please be kind to me in the same way that Yahweh is kind to me, and do not kill me [when you become king].
15 but you do not cut off your kindness from my house for all time, nor in YHWH’s cutting off the enemies of David, each one from off the face of the ground.”
But [if I die, ] never stop being kind to my family, [even] after Yahweh has gotten rid of all your enemies all over the earth.”
16 So Jonathan cuts [a covenant] with the house of David, and YHWH has sought [it] from the hand of the enemies of David;
[David agreed]. So Jonathan made a solemn agreement with David. And he said, “I hope/desire that Yahweh will get rid of all your enemies.”
17 and Jonathan adds to cause David to swear, because he loves him, for he has loved him [as] the love [for] his own soul.
And Jonathan requested David to repeat his solemn promise to be his close friend, because Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself.
18 And Jonathan says to him, “Tomorrow [is] the new moon, and you have been looked after, for your seat is looked after;
Then Jonathan said, “Tomorrow we will celebrate the Festival of the New Moon. When you are not sitting at your place when we eat, my father will (miss you/see that you are not there).
19 and on the third day you certainly come down, and have come to the place where you were hidden in the day of the work, and have remained near the stone of Ezel.
The day after tomorrow, in the evening, go to the place where you hid before. Wait by the pile of stones.
20 And I shoot three of the arrows at the side, sending out at a mark for myself;
I will come out and shoot three arrows as though I were trying to shoot at a target. [The arrows will hit the ground] close to the pile of stones.
21 and behold, I send the youth, [saying], Go, find the arrows. If I say to the youth at all, Behold, the arrows [are] on this side of you—take them and come, for [there is] peace for you, and there is no [adverse] word—[as] YHWH lives.
Then I will send a boy to bring the arrows back to me. If you hear me say to him, ‘They are closer to me’, then as surely as Yahweh lives, you will know that everything is fine, [and that Saul will not kill you].
22 And if thus I say to the young man, Behold, the arrows [are] beyond you—go, for YHWH has sent you away;
But if I tell him, ‘The arrows are farther away’, you will know that you must leave immediately, because Yahweh wants you to run away.
23 as for the thing which you and I have spoken, behold, YHWH [is] between me and you for all time.”
I hope/desire that Yahweh will watch you and me and enable us to never forget what we have promised each other.”
24 And David is hidden in the field, and it is the new moon, and the king sits down by the food to eat,
So David went and hid in the field. When the Festival of the New Moon started, the king sat down to eat.
25 and the king sits on his seat, as time by time, on a seat by the wall, and Jonathan rises, and Abner sits at the side of Saul, and David’s place is looked after.
He sat where he usually sat, close to the wall. Jonathan sat across from him, and Abner [the army commander] sat next to Saul. But no one was sitting in the place where David [usually sat].
26 And Saul has not spoken anything on that day, for he said, “It [is] an accident; he is not clean—surely not clean.”
On that day, Saul did not say anything about David, because he was thinking, “Something must have happened that caused David to become unacceptable [to worship God].”
27 And it comes to pass on the second day of the new moon, that David’s place is looked after, and Saul says to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come in, either yesterday or today, to the food?”
But the next day, when David was not sitting at the place where he usually sat, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why has that son of Jesse not been here to eat with us yesterday and today?”
28 And Jonathan answers Saul, “David has earnestly asked [permission] from me [to go] to Beth-Lehem,
Jonathan replied, “David earnestly requested me that I permit him to go to Bethlehem.
29 and he says, Please send me away, for we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother has given command to me himself, and now, if I have found grace in your eyes, please let me go away and see my brothers; therefore he has not come to the table of the king.”
He said, ‘Please allow me to go, because our family is going to offer a sacrifice. My [older] brother insisted that I be there. So please allow me to go to be with my [older] brothers.’ [I allowed David to go], and that is the reason that he is not here eating with you.”
30 And the anger of Saul burns against Jonathan, and he says to him, “Son of a perverse [woman] of rebellion! Have I not known that you are fixing on the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of the nakedness of your mother?
Saul was (furious/very angry) with Jonathan. He yelled at him, “You stupid bastard [EUP]! I know that you are being loyal to that son of Jesse. By doing that, you will bring shame to yourself and to your mother.
31 For all the days that the son of Jesse lives on the ground you are not established, you and your kingdom; and now, send and bring him to me, for he [is] a son of death.”
As long as Jesse’s son is living, you will never become the king, and you will never rule over a kingdom! So now, summon David, and bring him to me. He must be executed!”
32 And Jonathan answers his father Saul and says to him, “Why is he put to death? What has he done?”
Jonathan asked his father, “Why should David be executed? What wrong has he done?”
33 And Saul casts the javelin at him to strike him, and Jonathan knows that it has been determined by his father to put David to death.
Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan in order to kill him, [but the spear did not hit him]. So Jonathan knew that his father really wanted to kill David.
34 And Jonathan rises from the table in the heat of anger, and has not eaten food on the second day of the new moon, for he has been grieved for David, for his father put him to shame.
Jonathan was very angry, and he left the room. On that second day of the festival, he refused to eat anything. He was disgusted about what his father had done, and he was worried about David.
35 And it comes to pass in the morning, that Jonathan goes out into the field for the appointment with David, and a little youth [is] with him.
The following morning Jonathan went out to the field to give a message to David, like he had agreed that he would do. He took a young boy with him.
36 And he says to his youth, “Now run, find the arrows which I am shooting”; the youth is running, and he has shot the arrow, causing [it] to pass over him.
Jonathan said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” The boy started running, and Jonathan shot an arrow ahead of the boy.
37 And the youth comes to the place of the arrow which Jonathan has shot, and Jonathan calls after the youth, and says, “Is the arrow not beyond you?”
When the boy ran to the place where the arrow hit the ground, Jonathan called out, “The arrow is further away!” [RHQ]
38 And Jonathan calls after the youth, “Speed, hurry, do not stand”; and Jonathan’s youth gathers the arrows, and comes to his lord.
Then he shouted to the boy, “Act quickly; do not wait! Do not stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and brought it back to Jonathan.
39 And the youth has not known anything, only Jonathan and David knew the word.
But the boy did not understand the meaning of what Jonathan had said; only Jonathan and David knew.
40 And Jonathan gives his weapons to the youth whom he has and says to him, “Go, carry into the city.”
Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him, “Go back to the town.”
41 The youth has gone, and David has risen from Ezel, at the south, and falls on his face to the earth, and bows himself three times, and they kiss one another, and they weep with one another, until David exerted himself;
When the boy left, David came out from the south side of the pile of stones behind which he had been hiding. He went to Jonathan and bowed [in front of Jonathan] three times, with his face touching the ground. Then David and Jonathan kissed each other [on the cheek/neck], and they cried together. But David cried more than Jonathan.
42 and Jonathan says to David, “Go in peace, in that we have sworn—the two of us—in the Name of YHWH, saying, YHWH is between me and you, and between my seed and your seed—for all time”; and he rises and goes; and Jonathan has gone into the city.
Jonathan said to David, “May things go well for you as you go. Yahweh has heard what we solemnly promised to always do for each other, and what we said that our descendants must do for each other.” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
