1 Samuel 20
1 Then David fled from the dwellings at Ramah, and came before Jonathan and said, "What have I done? What is my iniquity? What is my sin before your father, that he seeks 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 He said to him, "Far from it; you shall not die. Look, my father does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so."
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 answered and said, "Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved:' but truly as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, there is but 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 Then Jonathan said to David, "Whatever your soul desires, I will do for you."
Jonathan said to David, “I will do whatever you tell me to do.”
5 So David said to Jonathan, "Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. Instead, let me go so that I may hide myself in the field until 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 missed me at all, then say, 'David urgently requested of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city, for it is the yearly sacrifice there 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 he says, 'It is well;' your servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, then know that evil is 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 Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you: but if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself; for why should 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 Jonathan said, "Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come on you, then wouldn't I tell you that?"
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 Then David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?"
David asked him, “How will I find out if your father answers you harshly?”
11 Jonathan said to David, "Come, and let us go out into the field." They both went 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 Jonathan said to David, "The LORD, the God of Israel, is witness. When I have studied my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, look, if there is good toward David, shall I not then send to you, and disclose it to you?
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 But should it please my father to do you harm, God do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not let you know and send you away, that you may go in safety. And may the LORD be with you, as he has been 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 if I am still alive, deal loyally with me. But if I 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 do not cut off your loyalty from my house forever. And when the LORD cuts off the enemies of David, each one from the face of the earth,
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 if the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David, then may the LORD require it at 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 swore to David again, because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved 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 Then Jonathan said, "Tomorrow is the new moon: and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
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 On the third day you should go down quickly, and come to the place where you hid yourself when this started, and stay by that mound.
The day after tomorrow, in the evening, go to the place where you hid before. Wait by the pile of stones.
20 And as for me, on the third day I will shoot arrows to its side, aiming it toward a target.
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 Look, I will send the boy, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I tell the boy, 'Look, the arrow is on this side of you. Take it;' then come; for there is peace to you and no hurt, as the LORD 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 But if I say this to the boy, 'Look, the arrow is beyond you;' then go your way; for the LORD 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 Concerning the matter which you and I have spoken of, look, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever."
I hope/desire that Yahweh will watch you and me and enable us to never forget what we have promised each other.”
24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon had come, the king sat at the table 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 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side: but David's place was empty.
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 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day: for he thought, "Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is 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 It happened on the next day after the new moon, the second day, that David's place was empty. Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why hasn't the son of Jesse come to the table, either yesterday or today?"
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 Jonathan answered Saul, and said, "David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.
Jonathan replied, “David earnestly requested me that I permit him to go to Bethlehem.
29 He said, 'Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city. And as for me, my brothers have ordered me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go away and see my brothers.' Therefore he has not come to the king's table."
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 Then Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a rebellious slave girl, don't I know that you are the companion of the son of Jesse, to your own disgrace, and to the disgrace of your mother's nakedness?
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 as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, your kingdom will not be established. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die."
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 But Jonathan answered Saul, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"
Jonathan asked his father, “Why should David be executed? What wrong has he done?”
33 Then Saul raised his spear at him to strike him, and Jonathan realized that this evil from his father to kill David was determined.
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 So Jonathan sprang up from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had dishonored him.
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 It happened in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy 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 He said to the boy, "Run, find now the arrows which I shoot." And as the boy ran, he shot an arrow, causing it to pass beyond, toward the city.
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 When the boy had come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the youth, and said, "Isn't the arrow 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 Jonathan cried after the boy, "Go fast. Hurry. Do not delay." Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
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 But the boy did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
But the boy did not understand the meaning of what Jonathan had said; only Jonathan and David knew.
40 Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to him, "Go, carry them to the city."
Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him, “Go back to the town.”
41 As soon as the boy was gone, David arose from beside the mound, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times. They kissed one another, and wept one with another, and David wept the most.
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 Then Jonathan said, "Go in peace, because we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.'" He arose and departed; and Jonathan went 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.
