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 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 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.”
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 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.”
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 you say, I will do for you.”
Jonathan said to David, “I will do whatever you tell me to do.”
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.
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 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 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 will have peace. But if he is very angry, then know that he has decided on evil.
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 Yahweh with you. But if there is sin in me, kill me yourself; for why then 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! If I learned my father decided harm to come upon you, would I not tell 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 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if by chance your father should answer you roughly?”
David asked him, “How will I find out if your father answers you harshly?”
11 Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So 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, “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?
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 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 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 If I am still alive, will you not show me the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh, that I may 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 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.”
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 made a covenant with the house of David and said, “May Yahweh require an accounting 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 Jonathan made David vow again because of the love that he had for him, because 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 to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon. 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 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.
The day after tomorrow, in the evening, go to the place where you hid before. Wait by the pile of stones.
20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at 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 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 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 to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go your way, for Yahweh 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 agreement of which you and I have spoken, see, Yahweh is 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. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
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 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 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 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.”
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 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 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, “David earnestly asked permission from 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 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 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 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 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, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now then, send and bring him to me, for he must 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 Jonathan answered Saul his father, “For what reason 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 threw his spear at him to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined 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 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 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 In the morning, Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and a young man was 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 his young man, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the young man ran, he shot an arrow beyond 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 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 ran to the place where the arrow hit the ground, Jonathan called out, “The arrow is further away!” [RHQ]
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.
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 young man 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 young man and said to him, “Go, take 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 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.
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 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, “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.
