1 Samuel 20
1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?”
And David fled from Naioth in 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 seeks my life?
2 “Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!”
And he said to him, Far from it. Thou shall not die. Behold, 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.
3 But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
And David swore moreover, and said, Thy father knows well that I have found favor in thine eyes, and he says, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as Jehovah lives, and as thy soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.
4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.”
Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever thy soul desires, I will even do it for thee.
5 So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now.
And David said to Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at evening.
6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’
If thy father misses me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city, for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
7 If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions.
If he says thus, It is well. Thy servant shall have peace. But if he is angry, then know that evil is determined by him.
8 Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”
Therefore deal kindly with thy servant, for thou have brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee. But if there be in me iniquity, kill me thyself, for why should thou bring me to thy father?
9 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”
And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee, for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would I not tell it to thee?
10 Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
Then David said to Jonathan, Who shall tell me if perchance thy father answers thee roughly?
11 “Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.” So the two of them went out into the field,
And Jonathan said to David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
12 and Jonathan said, “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?
And Jonathan said to David, Jehovah, the God of Israel-when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send to thee, and disclose it to thee?
13 But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father.
Jehovah do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do thee evil, if I not disclose it to thee, and send thee away that thou may go in peace. And Jehovah be with thee as he has been with my father.
14 And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die,
And thou shall not only show me the loving kindness of Jehovah, while I yet live, that I not die,
15 and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
but also thou shall not cut off thy kindness from my house forever. No, not when Jehovah has cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.
16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.”
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, And Jehovah will require it at the hand of David's enemies.
17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
And Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him. For he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed if your seat is empty.
Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon, and thou will be missed because thy seat will be empty.
19 When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel.
And when thou have stayed three days, thou shall go down quickly, and come to the place where thou hid thyself when the business was in hand, and shall remain by the stone Ezel.
20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.
And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.
21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them,’ then come, because as surely as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger.
And, behold, I will send the lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them, and come, for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as Jehovah lives.
22 But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away.
But if I say thus to the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee, go thy way, for Jehovah has sent thee away.
23 And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.”
And concerning the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Jehovah is between thee and me forever.
24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat.
So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
25 He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner, but David’s place was empty.
And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon the seat by the wall, and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty.
26 Saul said nothing that day because he thought, “Something has happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”
Nevertheless Saul spoke nothing that day, for he thought, Something has befallen him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean.
27 But on the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
And it came to pass on the morrow after the new moon, which was the second day, that David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has the son of Jesse not come in to the food, neither yesterday, nor today?
28 Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,
And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.
29 saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he did not come to the king’s table.”
And he said, Let me go, I pray thee, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother, he has commanded me. And now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brothers. Therefore he has not come to the king's table.
30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the disgrace of the mother who bore you?
Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Thou son of a perverse rebellious woman, do I not know that thou have chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame, and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?
31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”
For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the ground, thou shall not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now send and fetch him to me, for he shall surely die.
32 “Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he be put to death? What has he done?
33 Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.
And Saul cast his spear at him to smite him. By this Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.
34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.
So Jonathan arose 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 done him shame.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him.
And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.
36 He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” And as the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.
And he said to his lad, Run, now find the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37 When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”
And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
38 Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
39 But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.
But the lad knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”
And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city.
41 When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.
And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times. And they kissed each other, and wept one with another until David surpassed him.
42 And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, inasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah shall be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed, forever. And he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
