1 Samuel 20
1 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?”
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?”
2 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.”
“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!”
3 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.”
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.”
4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
“Tell me what you want me to do for you and I'll do it,” Jonathan told David.
5 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.
“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.
6 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.'
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.’
7 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.
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.
8 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?”
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?”
9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I learned my father decided harm to come upon you, would I not tell you?”
“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?”
10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if by chance your father should answer you roughly?”
“So who's going to let me know if your father gives you a nasty answer?” David asked.
11 Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
“Come on, let's go out into the countryside,” Jonathan said. So they both of them went out into the countryside.
12 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?
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.
13 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.
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.
14 If I am still alive, will you not show me the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh, that I may not die?
While I live, please show me trustworthy love like that of the Lord so I don't die,
15 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.”
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.”
16 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.”
Jonathan made a solemn agreement with the family of David, saying, “May the Lord impose retribution on David's enemies.”
17 Jonathan made David vow again because of the love that he had for him, because he loved him as he loved his own soul.
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.
18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon. You will be missed because your seat will be empty.
Then Jonathan said to David, “The New Moon festival is tomorrow. You'll be missed, because your place will be empty.
19 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.
In three days time, go quickly to where you hid when all this started, and stay there beside the pile of stones.
20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target.
I'll shoot three arrows to the side of it as if I were shooting at a target.
21 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.
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.
22 “But if I say to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go your way, for Yahweh has sent you away.
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.
23 As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, see, Yahweh is between you and me forever.'”
As for what you and I talked about, remember that the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
So David hid himself in the field. When the New Moon festival arrived, the king sat down to eat.
25 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.
He sat in his usual place by the wall opposite Jonathan. Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty.
26 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.”
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.”
27 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?”
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?”
28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem.
Jonathan answered, “David had to urgently ask my permission to go to Bethlehem.
29 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.”
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.”
30 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?
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!
31 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.”
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!”
32 Jonathan answered Saul his father, “For what reason should he be put to death? What has he done?”
“Why does he have to be put to death?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”
33 Then Saul threw his spear at him to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.
Saul threw his spear at Jonathan, trying to kill him, so he knew that his father definitely wanted David dead.
34 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.
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.
35 In the morning, Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and a young man was with him.
In the morning Jonathan went to the field to the place he had agreed with David, and a young boy was with him.
36 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.
He told the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” The boy started running and Jonathan shot an arrow past him.
37 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?”
When the boy got to the place where Jonathan's arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted to him, “Isn't the arrow farther past you?
38 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.
Hurry up! Do it quickly! Don't wait!” The boy picked up the arrows and took them back to his master.
39 But the young man did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
The boy didn't suspect anything—only Jonathan and David knew what it meant.
40 Jonathan gave his weapons to his young man and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.”
Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and said, “Take these back to town.”
41 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.
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.
42 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.
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.
