Kings I 20
1 And David fled from Navath in Rama, and comes into the presence of Jonathan; and he said, What have I done, and what [is] my fault, and wherein have I sinned before thy father, that he seeks my life?
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?”
2 And Jonathan said to him, Far be it from thee: thou shalt not die: behold, my father will not do any thing great or small without discovering it to me; and why should my father hide this matter from me? This thing is not [so].
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.”
3 And David answered Jonathan, and said, Thy father knows surely that I have found grace in thy sight, and he said, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he refuse his consent: but [as] the Lord lives and thy soul lives, as I said, [the space] is filled up between me and death.
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.”
4 And Jonathan said to David, What does thy soul desire, and what shall I do for thee.
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
5 And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow [is] the new moon, and I shall not on any account sit down to eat, but thou shalt let me go, and I will hide in the plain till the evening.
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.
6 And if thy father do in anywise enquire for me, then shalt thou say, David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethleem his city, for [there is] there, a yearly sacrifice for all the family.
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.'
7 If he shall say thus, Well, — [all is] safe for thy servant: but if he shall answer harshly to thee, know that evil is determined by him.
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.
8 And thou shalt deal mercifully with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thyself: and if there is iniquity in thy servant, slay me thyself; but why dost thou thus bring me to thy father?
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?”
9 And Jonathan said, That be far from thee: for if I surely know that evil is determined by my father to come upon thee, although it should not be against thy cities, I will tell thee.
Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I learned my father decided harm to come upon you, would I not tell you?”
10 And David said to Jonathan, Who can tell me if thy father should answer roughly?
Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if by chance your father should answer you roughly?”
11 And Jonathan said to David, Go, and abide in the field. And they went out both into the field.
Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
12 And Jonathan said to David, the Lord God of Israel knows that I will sound my father as I have an opportunity, three several times, and, behold, [if good] should be determined concerning David, and I do not send to thee to the field,
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?
13 God do so to Jonathan and more also: as I shall [also] report the evil to thee, and make it known to thee, and I will let thee go; and thou shalt depart in peace, and the Lord shall be with thee, as he was with my father.
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.
14 And if indeed I continue to live, then shalt thou deal mercifully with me; and if I indeed die,
If I am still alive, will you not show me the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh, that I may not die?
15 thou shalt not withdraw thy mercy from my house for ever: and if thou doest not, when the Lord cuts off the enemies of David each from the face of the earth,
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.”
16 [should it happen] that the name of Jonathan be discovered by the house of David, then let the Lord seek out the enemies of David.
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.”
17 And Jonathan swore yet again to David, because he loved the soul of him that loved him.
Jonathan made David vow again because of the love that he had for him, because he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18 And Jonathan said, To-morrow [is] the new moon, and thou wilt be enquired for, because thy seat will be observed as vacant.
Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon. You will be missed because your seat will be empty.
19 And thou shalt stay three days, and watch an opportunity, and shalt come to thy place where thou mayest hide thyself in the day of thy business, and thou shalt wait by that ergab.
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.
20 And I will shoot three arrows, aiming them at a mark.
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target.
21 And behold, I [will] send a lad, saying, Go find me the arrow.
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.
22 If I should expressly say to the lad, The arrow [is] here, and on this side of thee, take it; [then] come, for it is well with thee, and there is no reason [for fear, as] the Lord lives: [but] if I should say thus to the young man, The arrow [is] on that side of thee, and beyond; go, for the Lord hath sent thee away.
“But if I say to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go your way, for Yahweh has sent you away.
23 And as for the word which thou and I have spoken, behold, the Lord [is] witness between me and thee for ever.
As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, see, Yahweh is between you and me forever.'”
24 So David hides himself in the field, and the [new] month arrives, and the king comes to the table to eat.
So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
25 And he sat upon his seat as in former times, even on his seat by the wall, and he went before Jonathan; and Abenner sat on one side of Saul, and the place of David was empty.
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.
26 And Saul said nothing on that day, for he said, It seems to have fallen out that he is not clean, because he has not purified himself.
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.”
27 And it came to pass on the morrow, on the second day of the month, that the place of David was empty; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jessae attended both yesterday and today at the table?
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?”
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, and said to him, David asked leave of me to go as far as Bethleem his city;
Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem.
29 and he said, Let me go, I pray thee, for we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brethren have sent for me; and now, if I have found grace in thine eyes, I will even go over and see my brethren: therefore he is not present at the table of the king.
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.”
30 And Saul was exceedingly angry with Jonathan, and said to him, Thou son of traitorous damsels! for do I not know that thou art an accomplice with the son of Jessae to thy same, and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?
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?
31 For so long as the son of Jessae lives upon the earth, thy kingdom shall not be established: now then send and take the young man, for he shall surely die.
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.”
32 And Jonathan answered Saul, Why is he to die? What has he done?
Jonathan answered Saul his father, “For what reason should he be put to death? What has he done?”
33 And Saul lifted up his spear against Jonathan to slay him: so Jonathan knew that this evil was determined on by his father to slay David.
Then Saul threw his spear at him to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.
34 And Jonathan sprang up from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second [day] of the month, for he grieved bitterly for David, because his father determined [on mischief] against him.
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.
35 And morning came, and Jonathan went out to the field, as he appointed [to do] for a signal to David, and a little boy [was] with him.
In the morning, Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and a young man was with him.
36 And he said to the boy, Run, find me the arrows which I shoot: and the boy ran, and [Jonathan] shot an arrow, and sent it beyond [him].
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.
37 And the boy came to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan shot; and Jonathan cried out after the lad, and said, The arrow [is] on that side of thee and beyond thee.
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?”
38 And Jonathan cried out after his boy, saying, Make all speed, and stay not. And Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and brought the arrows to his master.
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.
39 And the boy knew nothing, only Jonathan and David [knew].
But the young man did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to his boy, Go, enter into the city.
Jonathan gave his weapons to his young man and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.”
41 And when the lad went in, then David arose from the argab, and fell upon his face, and did obeisance to him three times, and they kissed each other, and wept for each other, for a great while.
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.
42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, and as we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord shall be witness between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever—[even so let it be]. And David arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
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.
