1 Samuel 20
20
David and Jonathan
1David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my offense? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
2And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Look, my father does nothing either great or small that he does not reveal to me. Why would my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.”
3#Dt 6:13; 1Sa 25:26David vowed again and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight. And he says, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be distressed.’ However, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”
4Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do it for you.”
5#Nu 10:10; 28:11David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go that I may hide myself in the field until the evening of the third day. 6#1Sa 9:12; 17:58If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David asked for leave from me that he might run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7#1Sa 25:17; Est 7:7If he says, ‘Good,’ it will be well for your servant. But if he gets angry, know that evil is determined by him. 8#1Sa 18:3; 23:18Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is any guilt in me, kill me yourself. For why should you bring me to your father?”
9Then Jonathan said, “Far be it from you. For if I indeed knew that my father had determined evil against you, would I not tell it you?”
10David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me? Or what if your father answers you roughly?”
11So Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” And the two of them went out to the field.
12Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is witness. When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or by the third day, and if he is favorable toward David, then will I not send and reveal it to you? 13#Jos 1:5; Ru 1:17May the Lord do so to Jonathan and much more. If it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will reveal it you and send you away that you may go in peace. And may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14And if I live, not only will you show me the kindness of the Lord, that I shall not die, 15#2Sa 21:7but you will not cut off your faithfulness from my house forever, even when the Lord has cut off each one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”
16#1Sa 25:22So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David saying, “May the Lord require it at the hand of the enemies of David.” 17#1Sa 18:1; 18:3Jonathan made David swear again, because he loved him. For he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18#1Sa 20:5; 20:25Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19#1Sa 19:2When you have stayed three days, you will surely go down and come to the place where you hid yourself on the day this happened, and wait there beside the stone Ezel. 20And I will shoot three arrows to its side, as though I shot at a target. 21Then I will send a boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the boy, ‘See, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then come, for it will be safe for you. And as the Lord lives, it is nothing of concern. 22#1Sa 20:37But if I say to the young man, ‘See, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, for the Lord has sent you away. 23#1Sa 20:14–15; 20:42As for the matter upon which you and I have spoken, the Lord is between you and me forever.”
24So David hid himself in the field. And when the New Moon appeared, the king sat down over food to eat. 25#1Sa 20:18Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on a seat by the wall. Then Jonathan arose and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26#Lev 15:5; 11:24Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day. For he thought, “Something has happened. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27It happened on the following day, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place remained empty. So Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat food either yesterday or today?”
28#1Sa 20:6And Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave from me to go to Bethlehem. 29And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city and my brother has commanded me to come. Now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me leave and see my brothers.’ This is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
30#Pr 21:24Then Saul was angry with Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse rebellious woman, do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now, send and bring him to me, for he is a dead man.”
32#1Sa 19:5; Mt 27:23Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?” 33#1Sa 18:11; 20:7So Saul cast a spear at him to strike him. Therefore Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.
34And Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and did not eat food on the second day of the month. For he was grieved for David, because his father had dishonored him.
35In the morning Jonathan went out to the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy was with him. 36And he said to his boy, “Run, find the arrows which I shoot.” He ran, and he shot the arrow over him. 37#1Sa 20:22When the boy came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38Then Jonathan cried after the boy, “Hurry quickly! Do not stay!” And Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrow and came to his master. 39But the boy did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”
41#1Sa 18:3When the boy had gone, David arose from the south side of the stone, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times. They kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more.
42#1Sa 1:17Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since the two of us swore in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’ ” So he arose and departed, but Jonathan went into the city.
Currently Selected:
1 Samuel 20: MEV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Military Bible Association
1 Samuel 20
20
Jonathan Helps David
1Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and went to Jonathan. “What have I done?” he asked. “What crime have I committed? What wrong have I done to your father to make him want to kill me?”
2Jonathan answered, “God forbid that you should die! My father tells me everything he does, important or not, and he would not hide this from me. It just isn't so!”
3But David answered,#20.3: One ancient translation answered; Hebrew made a vow again. “Your father knows very well how much you like me, and he has decided not to let you know what he plans to do, because you would be deeply hurt. I swear to you by the living Lord that I am only a step away from death!”
4Jonathan said, “I'll do anything you want.”
5 #
Nu 28.11
“Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,” David replied, “and I am supposed to eat with the king. But if it's all right with you, I will go and hide in the fields until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6If your father notices that I am not at the table, tell him that I begged your permission to hurry home to Bethlehem, since it's the time for the annual sacrifice there for my whole family. 7If he says, ‘All right,’ I will be safe; but if he becomes angry, you will know that he is determined to harm me. 8Please do me this favor, and keep the sacred promise you made to me. But if I'm guilty, kill me yourself! Why take me to your father to be killed?”
9“Don't even think such a thing!” Jonathan answered. “If I knew for sure that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?”
10David then asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you angrily?”
11“Let's go out to the fields,” Jonathan answered. So they went, 12and Jonathan said to David, “May the Lord God of Israel be our witness!#20.12: One ancient translation be our witness; Hebrew does not have these words. At this time tomorrow and on the following day I will question my father. If his attitude toward you is good, I will send you word. 13If he intends to harm you, may the Lord strike me dead if I don't let you know about it and get you safely away. May the Lord be with you as he was with my father! 14And if I remain alive, please keep your sacred promise and be loyal to me; but if I die,#20.14: Some ancient translations if I die; Hebrew that I may not die. 15#2 S 9.1 show the same kind of loyalty to my family forever. And when the Lord has completely destroyed all your enemies, 16may our promise to each other still be unbroken. If it is broken, the Lord will punish you.”#20.16: Verses 15-16 in Hebrew are unclear.
17Once again Jonathan made David promise to love him, for Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself. 18Then Jonathan said to him, “Since tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, your absence will be noticed if you aren't at the meal. 19The day after tomorrow your absence will be noticed#20.19: Some ancient translations your absence will be noticed; Hebrew go down. even more; so go to the place where you hid yourself the other time, and hide behind the pile of stones there.#20.19: Probable text the pile of stones there; Hebrew the Ezel Stone. 20I will then shoot three arrows at it, as though it were a target. 21Then I will tell my servant to go and find them. And if I tell him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them,’ that means that you are safe and can come out. I swear by the living Lord that you will be in no danger. 22But if I tell him, ‘The arrows are on the other side of you,’ then leave, because the Lord is sending you away. 23As for the promise we have made to each other, the Lord will make sure that we will keep it forever.”
24So David hid in the fields. At the New Moon Festival, King Saul came to the meal 25and sat in his usual place by the wall. Abner sat next to him, and Jonathan sat across the table from him.#20.25: One ancient translation sat across the table from him; Hebrew stood up. David's place was empty, 26but Saul said nothing that day, because he thought, “Something has happened to him, and he is not ritually pure.” 27On the following day, the day after the New Moon Festival, David's place was still empty, and Saul asked Jonathan, “Why didn't David come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
28Jonathan answered, “He begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. 29‘Please let me go,’ he said, ‘because our family is celebrating the sacrificial feast in town, and my brother ordered me to be there. So then, if you are my friend, let me go and see my relatives.’ That is why he isn't in his place at your table.”
30Saul became furious with Jonathan and said to him, “How rebellious and faithless your mother was! Now I know you are taking sides with David and are disgracing yourself and that mother of yours! 31Don't you realize that as long as David is alive, you will never be king of this country? Now go and bring him here—he must die!”
32“Why should he die?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
33At that, Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, and Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. 34Jonathan got up from the table in a rage and ate nothing that day—the second day of the New Moon Festival. He was deeply distressed about David, because Saul had insulted him. 35The following morning Jonathan went to the fields to meet David, as they had agreed. He took a young boy with him 36and said to him, “Run and find the arrows I'm going to shoot.” The boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37When the boy reached the place where the arrow had fallen, Jonathan shouted to him, “The arrow is farther on! 38Don't just stand there! Hurry up!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master, 39not knowing what it all meant; only Jonathan and David knew. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him to take them back to town.
41After the boy had left, David got up from behind the pile of stones,#20.41: Probable text the pile of stones; Hebrew the south. fell on his knees and bowed with his face to the ground three times. Both he and Jonathan were crying as they kissed each other; David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's.#20.41: Probable text David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's; Hebrew unclear. 42Then Jonathan said to David, “God be with you. The Lord will make sure that you and I, and your descendants and mine, will forever keep the sacred promise we have made to each other.” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)
© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Bible text from the Good News Translation (GNT) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (www.americanbible.org).
LICENSEE shall reproduce the following trademark and trademark notice on the copyright page of each copy of the Licensed Products: ®