1 Samuel 20
1 And David fled from Naioth, in Ramah, —and came in, and said before Jonathan—What have I done? What is my transgression, and what my sin, before thy father, that he seeketh my life?
David ran from Naioth in Ramah to Jonathan and asked him, “What have I done? What is my wrong have I done? What terrible thing have I done to your father that he wants to kill me?”
2 And he said unto him—Far be it! thou shalt not die. Lo! my father doeth nothing, great or small, without unveiling mine ear, —wherefore, then, should my father hide from me, this thing? There is, nothing, in this.
“Nothing!” Jonathan replied. “You're not going to die! Listen! My father tells me everything he's planning, whatever it is. Why would my father keep something like this from me? It's not true!”
3 But David sware yet further, and said—Thy father, doth know, that I have found favour in thine eyes, therefore saith he, —Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he grieve; but, indeed, by the life of Yahweh, and by the life of thine own soul, surely there is but as it were a step betwixt me and death!
But David swore an oath again, saying, “Your father knows very well that I'm your friend, and so he's told himself, ‘Jonathan can't find out about this, otherwise he'll be really upset.’ I swear on the life of the Lord, and on your own life, my life is hanging by a thread.”
4 And Jonathan said unto David, —Whatsoever thy soul shall desire, I will do for thee.
“Tell me what you want me to do for you and I'll do it,” Jonathan told David.
5 And David said unto Jonathan—Lo! the new moon, is to-morrow, and, I, must not sit with the king, to eat, —let me go then, and hide myself in the field, until the evening.
“Well, the New Moon festival is tomorrow, and I'm meant to sit down and eat with the king. But if it's alright with you, I plan to go and hide in the field until the evening three days from now.
6 If thy father, enquire, for me, then shalt thou say—David, did ask leave, of me, to run to Bethlehem, his own city, for, a yearly sacrifice, [is to be held] there for all the family.
If your father does indeed miss me, tell him, ‘David had to urgently ask my permission to hurry down to Bethlehem, his hometown, because of a yearly sacrifice there for his whole family group.’
7 If, thus, he say—It is well, —thy servant shall have, peace, —but, if it, anger, him, know that harm hath been determined by him.
If he says, ‘That's fine,’ then there's no problem for me, your servant, but if he gets mad, you'll know he intends to do me harm.
8 Thus shalt thou do a lovingkindness for thy servant, for, into a covenant of Yahweh, hast thou brought thy servant, with thee, —But, if there is in me transgression, put me to death, thyself, for, unto thy father, wherefore shouldst thou bring me in?
So please treat me well, as you promised when you made a agreement with me before the Lord. If I've done wrong, then kill me yourself! Why take me to your father for him to do it?”
9 And Jonathan said—Far be it from thee! but, if I, get to know, that harm is determined by my father, to bring it upon thee, is not, that, the thing that I will tell thee?
“Absolutely not!” Jonathan replied. “If I knew for certain that if my father had plans to harm you, don't you think I'd tell you?”
10 Then said David unto Jonathan, Who shall tell me, —if thy father answer thee aught that is, harsh?
“So who's going to let me know if your father gives you a nasty answer?” David asked.
11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come! and let us go out into the field. And they two went out into the field.
“Come on, let's go out into the countryside,” Jonathan said. So they both of them went out into the countryside.
12 Then said Jonathan unto David—Witness [be] Yahweh God of Israel, that I will sound my father about this time to-morrow or the third day, and lo! if there he good towards David, will I not, then, send unto thee, and unveil thine ear?
Jonathan said to David, “I promise by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will question my father by this time tomorrow or the day after. If things look good for you, I'll send a message to you and let you know.
13 So, let Yahweh do unto Jonathan, and, so, let him add—when harm against thee seemeth good unto my father, then will I unveil thine ear, and let thee go, and thou shall depart in peace, —then Yahweh be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
But if my father plans to do you harm, then may the Lord punish me very severely, if I don't let you know by sending you a message so you can get away safely. May the Lord be with you, just as he was with my father.
14 And, not only while I yet live, shalt thou deal with me in the lovingkindness of Yahweh, that I die not:
While I live, please show me trustworthy love like that of the Lord so I don't die,
15 but thou shalt not cut off thy lovingkindness from my house, unto times age-abiding, —no! not when Yahweh hath cut off the enemies of David, every one from off the face of the ground.
and please don't ever remove your trustworthy love for my family, even when the Lord has removed every one of your enemies from the earth.”
16 Thus Jonathan solemnised a covenant with the house of David [saying], —So let Yahweh require it, at the hand of the enemies of David.
Jonathan made a solemn agreement with the family of David, saying, “May the Lord impose retribution on David's enemies.”
17 And again Jonathan sware unto David, by his love to him, —for, as he loved his own soul, so loved he him.
Jonathan made David swear this once more by making an oath based on David's love for him, for Jonathan already loved David as he loved himself.
18 Then said Jonathan unto him—To-morrow, is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed, for thy seat will be empty;
Then Jonathan said to David, “The New Moon festival is tomorrow. You'll be missed, because your place will be empty.
19 and, when thou hast tarried three days, thou shalt come down quickly and enter the place, where thou didst hide thyself on the day of the deed, and shall remain by the side of this mound.
In three days time, go quickly to where you hid when all this started, and stay there beside the pile of stones.
20 And, as for me—three arrows to the side, will I shoot, —as though I shot at a mark.
I'll shoot three arrows to the side of it as if I were shooting at a target.
21 And lo! I will send the boy [saying], Go, find the arrow! If I, say, to the boy—Lo! the arrows, are on this side of thee—take them, then come, for there is peace for thee, and no cause [for fear], by the life of Yahweh.
Then I'll send a boy and tell him, ‘Go and find the arrows!’ Now, if I say to him specifically, ‘Look, the arrows are this side of you; bring them over here,’ then I swear on the life of the Lord it's safe for you to come out—there's no danger.
22 But, if, thus, I say to the youth, Lo! the arrows are beyond thee, depart, for Yahweh hath sent thee away.
But if I tell the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are way past you,’ then you'll have to leave, for the Lord wants you to go away.
23 But, as touching the matter whereof we spake—I and thou, lo! Yahweh, be betwixt me and thee, unto times age-abiding.
As for what you and I talked about, remember that the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
24 So David hid himself in the field—and, when the new moon had come, the king sat down to eat, food,
So David hid himself in the field. When the New Moon festival arrived, the king sat down to eat.
25 yea the king sat down on his seat, as at other times, by the seat against the wall, and, when Jonathan arose, Abner seated himself by the side of Saul, —but David’s place was empty.
He sat in his usual place by the wall opposite Jonathan. Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty.
26 Saul, however, spake nothing that day, —for he said to himself—It is, an accident, he is, not clean, because he hath not been cleansed.
Saul didn't say anything that day because he thought, “Something has probably happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—yes, he must be unclean.”
27 And it came to pass, on the morrow, the second of the month, that David’s place was empty, —and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore hath not the son of Jesse come in, either yesterday or to-day, to meat?
But the second day, the day after the New Moon, David's place was still empty. Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn't the son of Jesse come to dinner either yesterday or today?”
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, —David, asked leave, of me, [to go] as far as Bethlehem;
Jonathan answered, “David had to urgently ask my permission to go to Bethlehem.
29 and said—Let me go, I pray thee, for, a family sacrifice, have we in the city, and my brethren have commanded me, now, therefore, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me slip away, I pray thee, that I may see my brethren. For this cause, hath he not come in unto the table of the king.
He told me, ‘Please let me go, because our family is having a sacrifice in the town and my brother told me I had to be there. If you think well of me, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That's why he's absent from the king's table.”
30 Then was Saul’s anger kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of rebellious perversity! do I not know that thou art, confederate, with the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and to the confusion of the shame of thy mother?
Saul got very angry with Jonathan and said, “You rebellious son of a whore! Don't you think I know that you prefer the son of Jesse? Shame on you! You're a disgrace to the mother who bore you!
31 For, as long as, the son of Jesse, liveth on the ground, thou wilt not be established, thou nor thy kingdom, Now, therefore, send and fetch him unto me, for, doomed to death, is he!
While the son of Jesse remains alive, you and your kingship are not secure. Now go and bring him here to me, for he has to die!”
32 And Jonathan responded to Saul his father, —and said unto him—Wherefore must he be put to death, What hath he done?
“Why does he have to be put to death?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”
33 And Saul hurled his spear at him, to smite him. So Jonathan knew that it was, determined, of his father, to put David to death.
Saul threw his spear at Jonathan, trying to kill him, so he knew that his father definitely wanted David dead.
34 Jonathan therefore rose up from the table, in a glow of anger, —and did eat no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had reviled him.
Jonathan left the table absolutely furious. He would not eat anything on the second day of the festival, for he was so upset by the shameful way his father had treated David.
35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went forth into the field, to the place appointed with David, —a little lad, being with him.
In the morning Jonathan went to the field to the place he had agreed with David, and a young boy was with him.
36 And he said to his lad—Run, find, I pray thee, the arrows which I am about to shoot. The boy, ran, but, he, shot the arrow beyond him.
He told the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” The boy started running and Jonathan shot an arrow past him.
37 And, when the lad came as far as the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow, beyond, thee?
When the boy got to the place where Jonathan's arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted to him, “Isn't the arrow farther past you?
38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Haste thee—be quick, do not stay! so Jonathan’s lad picked up the arrows and brought [them] unto his master.
Hurry up! Do it quickly! Don't wait!” The boy picked up the arrows and took them back to his master.
39 But, the lad, knew, nothing, only Jonathan and David, knew the matter.
The boy didn't suspect anything—only Jonathan and David knew what it meant.
40 So Jonathan gave his weapons unto his lad, and said to him, Go carry them into the city.
Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and said, “Take these back to town.”
41 As soon as, the lad, was gone, David, arose from beside the South, and fell on his face to the earth, and bowed himself down three times, —and they kissed each other, and wept over each other, until, David, exceeded.
After the boy had gone, David got up from beside the pile of stones, fell facedown to the ground, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and cried together as friends, though David cried the hardest.
42 Then said Jonathan unto David—Go in peace, —[remembering] that, we, have both sworn in the name of Yahweh, saying, Yahweh shall be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed, unto times age-abiding. And he arose, and departed, —and, Jonathan, entered the city.
Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn a solemn oath in the name of the Lord. We said, ‘The Lord will be a witness between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to town.
