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 your father, that he seeks my life?
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?”
2 And Jonathan said to him, Far be it from you: you shall 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].
“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!”
3 And David answered Jonathan, and said, Your father knows surely that I have found grace in your sight, and he said, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he refuse his consent: but [as] the Lord lives and your soul lives, as I said, [the space] is filled up between me and death.
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.”
4 And Jonathan said to David, What does your soul desire, and what shall I do for you.
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, 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 you shall let me go, and I will hide in the plain till the evening.
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.
6 And if your father do in anyway enquire for me, then shall you 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, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’
7 If he shall say thus, Well, — [all is] safe for your servant: but if he shall answer harshly to you, know that evil is determined by him.
If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions.
8 And you shall deal mercifully with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with yourself: and if there is iniquity in your servant, kill me yourself; but why do you thus bring me to your father?
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?”
9 And Jonathan said, That be far from you: for if I surely know that evil is determined by my father to come upon you, although it should not be against your cities, I will tell you.
“Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”
10 And David said to Jonathan, Who can tell me if your father should answer roughly?
Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
11 And Jonathan said to David, Go, and abide in the field. And they went out both into the field.
“Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.” So the two of them 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 you to the field,
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?
13 God do so to Jonathan and more also: as I shall [also] report the evil to you, and make it known to you, and I will let you go; and you shall depart in peace, and the Lord shall be with you, as he was with my father.
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.
14 And if indeed I continue to live, then shall you deal mercifully with me; and if I indeed die,
And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die,
15 you shall not withdraw your mercy from my house for ever: and if you do not, when the Lord cuts off the enemies of David each from the face of the earth,
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.”
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, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.”
17 And Jonathan swore yet again to David, because he loved the soul of him that loved him.
And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
18 And Jonathan said, To-morrow [is] the new moon, and you will be enquired for, because your seat will be observed as vacant.
Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed if your seat is empty.
19 And you shall stay three days, and watch an opportunity, and shall come to your place where you may hide yourself in the day of your business, and you shall wait by that stone Ezel.
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.
20 And I will shoot three arrows, aiming them at a mark.
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.
21 And behold, I [will] send a lad, saying, Go find me the arrow.
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.
22 If I should expressly say to the lad, The arrow [is] here, and on this side of you, take it; [then] come, for it is well with you, 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 you, and beyond; go, for the Lord has sent you away.
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.
23 And as for the word which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord [is] witness between me and you for ever.
And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness 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 in the field, and when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat.
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.
He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner, 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.
Saul said nothing that day because he thought, “Something has happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”
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 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?”
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, and said to him, David asked leave of me to go as far as Bethleem his city;
Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,
29 and he said, Let me go, I pray you, for we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brethren have sent for me; and now, if I have found grace in your eyes, I will even go over and see my brethren: therefore he is not present at the table of the king.
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.”
30 And Saul was exceedingly angry with Jonathan, and said to him, You son of traitorous damsels! for do I not know that you are an accomplice with the son of Jessae to your same, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?
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?
31 For so long as the son of Jessae lives upon the earth, your 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 this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”
32 And Jonathan answered Saul, Why is he to die? What has he done?
“Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
33 And Saul lifted up his spear against Jonathan to kill him: so Jonathan knew that this evil was determined on by his father to kill David.
Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.
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 did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.
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 to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy 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 the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” And as the boy ran, Jonathan 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 you and beyond you.
When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t 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 cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
39 And the boy knew nothing, only Jonathan and David [knew].
But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.
40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to his boy, Go, enter into the city.
Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”
41 And when the lad went in, then David arose from the south, 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.
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.
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 you, and between my seed and your seed for ever—[even so let it be]. And David arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
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.
