1 Samuel 20
20
David and Jonathan
1David was in Naioth at Ramah. He ran away from there to where Jonathan was. He asked him, “What have I done? What crime have I committed? I haven’t done anything to harm your father. So why is he trying to kill me?”
2“That will never happen!” Jonathan replied. “You aren’t going to die! My father doesn’t do anything at all without letting me know. So why would he hide this from me? He isn’t going to kill you!”
3But David strongly disagreed. He said, “Your father knows very well that you are pleased with me. He has said to himself, ‘I don’t want Jonathan to know I’m planning to kill David. If he finds out, he’ll be very sad.’ But I’m very close to being killed. And that’s just as sure as the Lord and you are alive.”
4Jonathan said to David, “I’ll do anything you want me to do for you.”
5So David said, “Tomorrow is the time for the New Moon feast. I’m supposed to eat with the king. But let me go and hide in the field. I’ll stay there until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6Your father might miss me. If he does, then tell him, ‘David begged me to let him hurry home to Bethlehem. A yearly sacrifice is being offered there for his whole family group.’ 7Your father might say, ‘That’s all right.’ If he does, it will mean I’m safe. But he might become very angry. If he does, you can be sure he’s made up his mind to harm me. 8Please be kind to me. You have made a covenant with me in front of the Lord. If I’m guilty, kill me yourself! Don’t hand me over to your father!”
9“I would never do that!” Jonathan said. “Suppose I had even the smallest clue that my father had made up his mind to harm you. Then I would tell you.”
10David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you in a mean way?”
11“Come on,” Jonathan said. “Let’s go out to the field.” So they went there together.
12Then Jonathan spoke to David. He said, “I promise you that I’ll find out what my father is planning to do. I’ll find out by this time the day after tomorrow. The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness. Suppose my father has kind feelings toward you. Then I’ll send you a message and let you know. 13But suppose he wants to harm you. And I don’t let you know about it. Suppose I don’t help you get away in peace. Then may the Lord punish me greatly. May he be with you, just as he has been with my father. 14But always be kind to me, just as the Lord is. Be kind to me as long as I live. Then I won’t be killed. 15And never stop being kind to my family. Don’t stop even when the Lord has cut off every one of your enemies from the face of the earth.”
16So Jonathan made a covenant of friendship with David and his family. He said, “May the Lord hold David’s enemies responsible for what they’ve done.” 17Jonathan had David promise his friendship again because he loved him. In fact, Jonathan loved David just as he loved himself.
18Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the time for the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat at the table will be empty. 19Go to the place where you hid when all this trouble began. Go there the day after tomorrow, when evening is approaching. There’s a stone out there called Ezel. 20Wait by it. I’ll shoot three arrows to one side of the stone. I’ll pretend I’m practicing my shooting. 21Then I’ll send a boy out there. I’ll tell him, ‘Go and find the arrows.’ Suppose I say to him, ‘The arrows are on this side of you. Bring them here.’ Then come. That will mean you are safe. You won’t be in any danger. And that’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. 22But suppose I tell the boy, ‘The arrows are far beyond you.’ Then go. That will mean the Lord is sending you away. 23And remember what we talked about. Remember that the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
24So David hid in the field. When the time for the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. 25He sat in his usual place by the wall. Jonathan sat across from him. Abner sat next to Saul. But David’s place was empty. 26Saul didn’t say anything that day. He said to himself, “Something must have happened to David to make him ‘unclean.’ That must be why he isn’t here.” 27But the next day, David’s place was empty again. It was the second day of the month. Finally, Saul spoke to his son Jonathan. He said, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal? He hasn’t been here yesterday or today.”
28Jonathan replied, “David begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Let me go. Our family is offering a sacrifice in the town. My brother has ordered me to be there. Are you pleased with me? If you are, let me go and see my brothers.’ That’s why he hasn’t come to eat at your table.”
30Saul became very angry with Jonathan. He said to him, “You are an evil son. You have refused to obey me. I know that you are on the side of Jesse’s son. You should be ashamed of that. And your mother should be ashamed of having a son like you. 31You will never be king as long as Jesse’s son lives on this earth. And you will never have a kingdom either. So send someone to bring the son of Jesse to me. He must die!”
32“Why do you want to put him to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?” 33But Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father wanted to kill David.
34So Jonathan got up from the table. He was very angry. On that second day of the feast, he refused to eat. He was very sad that his father was treating David so badly.
35The next morning Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a young boy with him. 36He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow far beyond him. 37The boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen. Then Jonathan shouted to him, “The arrow went far beyond you, didn’t it?” 38He continued, “Hurry up! Run fast! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39The boy didn’t know what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told him, “Go back to town. Take the weapons with you.”
41After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone. He bowed down in front of Jonathan with his face to the ground. He did it three times. Then they kissed each other and cried. But David cried more than Jonathan did.
42Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace. In the name of the Lord we’ve promised to be friends. We have said, ‘The Lord is a witness between you and me. He’s a witness between your children and my children forever.’ ” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
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1 Samuel 20: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Samuel 20
20
1David 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“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!”
3But 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.”#20:3. “My life is hanging by a thread”: literally, “there's just a step between me and death.”
4“Tell me what you want me to do for you and I'll do it,” Jonathan told David.
5“Well, the New Moon festival is tomorrow, and I'm meant to sit down and eat with the king. But if it's all right with you, I plan to go and hide in the field until the evening three days from now. 6If 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.’ 7If 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. 8So please treat me well, as you promised when you made an 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“Absolutely not!” Jonathan replied. “If I knew for certain that my father had plans to harm you, don't you think I'd tell you?”
10“So who's going to let me know if your father gives you a nasty answer?” David asked.
11“Come on, let's go out into the countryside,” Jonathan said. So they both went out into the countryside.
12Jonathan 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. 13But 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. 14While I live, please show me trustworthy love like that of the Lord so I don't die, 15and 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.”
16Jonathan made a solemn agreement with the family of David, saying, “May the Lord impose retribution on David's enemies.”#20:16. This and the previous verses have a number of problems in translation. 17Jonathan 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.
18Then Jonathan said to David, “The New Moon festival is tomorrow. You'll be missed, because your place will be empty. 19In three days time, go quickly to where you hid when all this started, and stay there beside the pile of stones. 20I'll shoot three arrows to the side of it as if I were shooting at a target. 21Then 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. 22But 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. 23As for what you and I talked about, remember that the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
24So David hid himself in the field. When the New Moon festival arrived, the king sat down to eat. 25He sat in his usual place by the wall opposite Jonathan. Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty. 26Saul 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.”
27But 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?”
28Jonathan answered, “David had to urgently ask my permission to go to Bethlehem. 29He 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.”
30Saul 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! 31While 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“Why does he have to be put to death?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”
33Saul threw his spear at Jonathan, trying to kill him, so he knew that his father definitely wanted David dead. 34Jonathan 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.
35In the morning Jonathan went to the field to the place he had agreed with David, and a young boy was with him. 36He told the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” The boy started running and Jonathan shot an arrow past him. 37When the boy got to the place where Jonathan's arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted to him, “Isn't the arrow farther past you? 38Hurry up! Do it quickly! Don't wait!” The boy picked up the arrows and took them back to his master. 39The boy didn't suspect anything—only Jonathan and David knew what it meant. 40Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and said, “Take these back to town.”
41After 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.
42Jonathan 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.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com