1 Samuel 20

David and Jonathan’s Covenant

1David fled from Naioth in Ramah and he came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my #Or iniquity.guilt? What is my sin before (against) your father, that he is seeking my life?” 2Jonathan said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing #Lit great or small.important or insignificant without telling me. So why would he hide this thing from me? It is not so!” 3But David vowed again, saying “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be worried.’ But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death.” 4Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon [observance], and I should sit at the table to eat [the sacrificial meal] with the king; but let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. 6If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem, his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the entire family.’ 7If he says, ‘All right,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, then be certain that he has decided on evil. 8Therefore show kindness to your servant, because you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is iniquity (guilt) in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father [to be killed]?” 9Jonathan said, “Far be it from [happening to] you! In fact, if I indeed learn that my father has decided to harm you, would I not tell you about it?” 10Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field [to talk].” So they went out to the field.

12Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward #Lit David.you, shall I not then send word to you and make it known to you? 13But if it pleases my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more if I do not let you know about it and send you away, so that you may go in #Lit shalom.safety. And #With this statement Jonathan acknowledges that David has been anointed king.may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness and faithfulness of the Lord, #To secure his throne a new king would usually kill anyone who was a potential rival for the throne. Jonathan is asking assurance that he will not be assassinated after David becomes king.so that I will not die? 15You shall never cut off your lovingkindness and faithfulness from my house, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16So Jonathan made a covenant with the #This covenant was binding not only on David and Jonathan, but also on their descendants.house of David. [#This may have been the additional vow mentioned in v 17.He added,] “May #Jonathan was aligning himself with David against all of David’s enemies, including Saul.the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies. [that is, hold them accountable for any harm they inflict on David].” 17Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, for Jonathan loved him as himself.

18Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon [festival], and you will be missed because your seat will be empty. 19When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself #Lit on the day of the doing.on that eventful day [when my father tried to kill you], and shall stay by the stone Ezel. 20I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a target. 21And I will send a boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come [back to my father’s table]; for it is #Lit shalom.safe for you and there is #Lit nothing.no danger, as the Lord lives. 22But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. 23As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever [making sure that we each keep our word].”

24So David hid in the field; and when the New Moon [festival] came, the king sat down to eat food. 25The king sat on his seat as on previous occasions, on his seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up, and Abner [his commander] sat down by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “It is an incident [of some kind] and #Saul assumed that David had come into contact with a source of ritual pollution, such as a corpse, and was for that reason temporarily disqualified from participating in the New Moon Festival.he is not [ceremonially] clean—surely he is unclean.” 27But on the next day, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was empty [again]; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Please let me go because our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

Saul Is Angry with Jonathan

30Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a #The vulgar language of this Hebrew idiom demeaned Jonathan, not his mother, and Saul implied that she was ashamed of giving birth to him.wayward, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse [over me] 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 [as heir to the throne] nor your kingdom will be established. So now, send [someone] and bring him to me, for he #Lit is a son of death.must die.” 32Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why must he be put to death? What has he done?” 33Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down, so Jonathan knew [without any doubt] that his father had decided to put David to death. 34Then Jonathan stood up from the table in the heat of anger, and ate no food on that second day of the new moon (month), for he grieved and worried about David because his father had dishonored him.

35In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the meeting with David, and a young boy was with him. 36And he said to his boy, “Run, please find the arrows which I am about to shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow past him. 37When the boy came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called to him, “Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38And Jonathan called out after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came back to his master. 39But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.” 41As soon as the boy was gone, David got up from the south side [beside the mound of stones] and fell on his face to the ground [in submission and respect], and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more. 42Jonathan told David, “Go #Lit in shalom.in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours forever.’ ” #In Hebrew, this is v 1 of the next chapter making the versification different throughout ch 21.Then he stood and left, while Jonathan went into the city.

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1 Samuel 20: AMP

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1 Samuel 20

Jonathan Helps David Escape

1David escaped from Prophets Village. Then he ran to see Jonathan and asked, “Why does your father Saul want to kill me? What have I done wrong?”

2“My father can't be trying to kill you! He never does anything without telling me about it. Why would he hide this from me? It can't be true!”

3“Jonathan, I swear it's true! But your father knows how much you like me, and he didn't want to break your heart. That's why he didn't tell you. I swear by the living Lord and by your own life that I'm only one step ahead of death.”

4Then Jonathan said, “Tell me what to do, and I'll do it.”

5 # Nu 28.11. David answered:

Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,#20.5 New Moon Festival: The first day of the month, when Israelites offered special sacrifices to the Lord and had special sacred meals. and I'm supposed to eat dinner with your father. But instead, I'll hide in a field until the evening of the next day. 6If Saul wonders where I am, tell him, “David asked me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem, so he could take part in a sacrifice his family makes there every year.”

7If your father says it's all right, then I'm safe. But if he gets angry, you'll know he wants to harm me. 8Be kind to me. After all, it was your idea to promise the Lord that we would always be loyal friends. If I've done anything wrong, kill me yourself, but don't hand me over to your father.

9“Don't worry,” Jonathan said. “If I find out that my father wants to kill you, I'll certainly let you know.”

10“How will you do that?” David asked.

11“Let's go out to this field, and I'll tell you,” Jonathan answered.

When they got there, 12Jonathan said:

I swear by the Lord God of Israel, that two days from now I'll know what my father is planning. Of course I'll let you know if he's friendly toward you. 13But if he wants to harm you, I promise to tell you and help you escape. And I ask the Lord to punish me severely if I don't keep my promise.

I pray that the Lord will bless you, just as he used to bless my father. 14-15#2 S 9.1. Someday the Lord will wipe out all of your enemies. Then if I'm still alive, please be as kind to me as the Lord has been. But if I'm dead, be kind to my family.

16Jonathan and David made an agreement that even David's descendants would have to keep.#20.16 Jonathan … keep: Or, continuing Jonathan's statement to David, “You and your descendants must not kill off my descendants.” Then Jonathan said, “I pray that the Lord will take revenge on your descendants if they break our promise.”#20.16 I pray … promise: Or “I pray that the Lord take revenge on you if you break our promise!”

17Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself, so he asked David to promise once more that he would be a loyal friend. 18After this Jonathan said:

Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, and people will wonder where you are, because your place at the table will be empty. 19By the day after tomorrow, everyone will think you've been gone a long time.#20.19 By … time: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Then go to the place where you hid before and stay beside Going-Away Rock.#20.19 Going-Away Rock: Or “Ezel Rock”; one ancient translation “that mound” (see 20.41). 20I'll shoot three arrows at a target off to the side of the rock, 21and send my servant to find the arrows.

You'll know if it's safe to come out by what I tell him. If it is safe, I swear by the living Lord that I'll say, “The arrows are on this side of you! Pick them up!” 22But if it isn't safe, I'll say to the boy, “The arrows are farther away!” This will mean that the Lord wants you to leave, and you must go. 23But he will always watch us to make sure that we keep the promise we made to each other.

24So David hid there in the field.

During the New Moon Festival, Saul sat down to eat 25by the wall, just as he always did. Jonathan sat across from him,#20.25 sat … him: One ancient translation; Hebrew “stood up.” and Abner sat next to him. But David's place was empty. 26Saul didn't say anything that day, because he was thinking, “Something must have happened to make David unfit to be at the Festival.#20.26 unfit … Festival: During the New Moon Festival a sacred meal was served that could only be eaten by people who were properly prepared. Some of the things that could make a person unfit are listed in Leviticus 7.20,21; 15.2,31; 22.4-8; Deuteronomy 23.10,11. Yes, something must have happened.”

27The day after the New Moon Festival, when David's place was still empty, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn't that son of Jesse come to eat with us? He wasn't here yesterday, and he still isn't here today!”

28-29Jonathan answered, “The reason David hasn't come to eat with you is that he begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Please let me go. My family is offering a sacrifice, and my brother told me I have to be there. Do me this favor and let me slip away to see my brothers.’ ”

30Saul was furious with Jonathan and yelled, “You're no son of mine, you traitor! I know you've chosen to be loyal to that son of Jesse. You should be ashamed of yourself! And your own mother should be ashamed that you were ever born. 31You'll never be safe, and your kingdom will be in danger as long as that son of Jesse is alive. Turn him over to me now! He deserves to die!”

32“Why do you want to kill David?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”

33Saul threw his spear at Jonathan and tried to kill him. Then Jonathan was sure that his father really did want to kill David. 34Jonathan was angry and hurt that his father had insulted David#20.34 insulted David: Or “insulted him” (that is, Jonathan). so terribly. He got up, left the table, and didn't eat anything all that day.

35In the morning, Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a servant boy along 36and told him, “When I shoot the arrows, you run and find them for me.”

The boy started running, and Jonathan shot an arrow so that it would go beyond him. 37When the boy got near the place where the arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted, “Isn't the arrow on past you?” 38Jonathan shouted to him again, “Hurry up! Don't stop!”

The boy picked up the arrows and brought them back to Jonathan, 39but he had no idea about what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him, “Take these back into town.”

41After the boy had gone, David got up from beside the mound#20.41 the mound: One ancient translation; Hebrew “from the south side.” and bowed very low three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed#20.41 kissed: A common way of greeting or saying goodbye in biblical times (see Mark 14.44). each other and cried, but David cried louder. 42Jonathan said, “Take care of yourself. And remember, we each have asked the Lord to watch and make sure that we and our descendants keep our promise forever.”

David left and Jonathan went back to town.

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