1 Samuel 20
1 And David fled from Naioth by Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity, and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeks my life?
And David went in flight from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my crime and my sin against your father that he is attempting to take my life?
2 And he said to him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, and not apprise me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.
And he said to him, Far be the thought: you will not be put to death: see, my father does nothing, great or small, without giving me word of it: would he keep this secret from me? It is not so.
3 And David swore again and again, and said, Thy father certainly knows that I have found favour in thy sight: and he has thought, Jonathan shall not know this, lest he be grieved; but truly [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.
But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death.
4 And Jonathan said to David, What thy soul may say, I will even do it for thee.
Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you.
5 And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.
And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening.
6 If thy father should actually miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year.
7 If he say thus, It is well, — thy servant shall have peace; but if he be very wroth, be sure that evil is determined by him.
If he says, It is well, your servant will be at peace: but if he is angry, then it will be clear to you that he has an evil purpose in mind against me.
8 Deal kindly then with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee; but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father?
9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for, if I knew with certainty that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, would I not tell it thee?
And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it?
10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer?
11 And Jonathan said to David, Come and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
And Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go out into the country. And the two of them went out together into the open country.
12 And Jonathan said to David, Jehovah, God of Israel, when I sound my father about this time to-morrow, [or] the next day, and behold, there be good toward David, and I then send not to thee, and apprise thee of it,
And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news?
13 Jehovah do so and much more to Jonathan. Should it please my father [to do] thee evil, then I will apprise thee of it, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and Jehovah be with thee, as he has been with my father.
May the Lord's punishment be on Jonathan, if it is my father's pleasure to do you evil and I do not give you word of it and send you away so that you may go in peace: and may the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.
14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of Jehovah, that I die not,
And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death!
15 but thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever, no, not when Jehovah cuts off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth.
And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David's haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth.
16 And Jonathan made [a covenant] with the house of David, [saying, ] Let Jehovah even require [it] at the hand of David's enemies!
And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible.
17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, by the love he had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul.
18 And Jonathan said to him, To-morrow is the new moon; and thou wilt be missed, for thy seat will be empty;
Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat.
19 but on the third day thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself on the day of the business, and abide by the stone Ezel.
And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there.
20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.
And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark.
21 And behold, I will send the lad, [saying, ] Go, find the arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come, for there is peace for thee, and it is nothing; [as] Jehovah liveth.
And I will send my boy to have a look for the arrow. And if I say to him, See, the arrow is on this side of you; take it up! then you may come; for there is peace for you and no evil, by the living Lord.
22 But if I say thus to the youth: Behold, the arrows are beyond thee, — go thy way; for Jehovah sends thee away.
But if I say to the boy, See, the arrow has gone past you: then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away.
23 And as to the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Jehovah is between me and thee for ever.
As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever.
24 And David hid himself in the field; and it was the new moon, and the king sat at table to eat.
So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast.
25 And the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.
And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat.
26 And Saul said nothing that day; for he thought, Something has befallen [him], that he is not clean: surely he is not clean.
But Saul said nothing that day, for his thought was, Something has taken place making him unclean; it is clear that he is not clean.
27 And it came to pass the next day after the new moon, the second [day of the month], as David's place was empty, that Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse come to table, neither yesterday nor to-day?
And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today?
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me [to go] to Bethlehem,
And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem,
29 and said, Let me go, I pray thee; for we have a family sacrifice in the city; and my brother himself has commanded me [to be there]; and now, if I have found favour in thy sight, let me go away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. He has therefore not come to the king's table.
Saying, Our family is making an offering in the town, and my brothers have given me orders to be there: so now, if I have grace in your eyes, let me go away and see my brothers. This is why he has not come to the king's table.
30 And Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?
Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother?
31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. And now send and fetch him to me, for he must die.
For while the son of Jesse is living on the earth, your position is unsafe and your kingdom is in danger. So make him come here to me, for it is certainly right for him to be put to death.
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he be put to death? what has he done?
And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? What has he done?
33 Then Saul cast the spear at him to smite him; and Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.
And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father's purpose was to put David to death.
34 And Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no meat the second day of the new moon; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
So Jonathan got up from the table, burning with wrath, and took no part in the feast the second day of the month, being full of grief for David because his father had put shame on him.
35 And it came to pass in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field, to the place agreed on with David, and a little lad with him.
Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him.
36 And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. The lad ran, and he shot the arrow beyond him.
And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him.
37 And when the lad came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad and said, Is not the arrow away beyond thee?
And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you?
38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not! And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
And Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan's boy got the arrow and came back to his master.
39 And the lad knew nothing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it.
40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city.
And Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Take these and go back to the town.
41 The lad went, and David arose from the side of the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times; and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David's grief was the greater.
42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have both of us sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever! And he arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for we two have taken an oath, in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed for ever. Then David went away, and Jonathan went into the town.
