1 Samuel 20
20
Jonathan and David’s friendship
1David fled from the camps at Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father that he wants me dead?”
2Jonathan said to him, “No! You are not going to die! Listen: My father doesn’t do anything big or small without telling me first. Why would my father hide this from me? It isn’t true!”
3But David solemnly promised in response, “Your father knows full well that you like me. He probably said, ‘Jonathan must not learn about this or he’ll be upset.’#20.3 LXX or he’ll tell David; cf 20:34 But I promise you—on the LORD’s life and yours!—that I am this close to death!”
4“What do you want me to do?” Jonathan said to David. “I’ll do it.”
5“Okay, listen,” David answered Jonathan. “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I’m supposed to sit with the king at the feast. Instead, let me go and I’ll hide in the field until nighttime.#20.5 LXX; MT until the third evening; cf 20:12, 19-20 6If your father takes note of my absence, tell him, ‘David begged my permission to run down to his hometown Bethlehem, because there is an annual sacrifice there for his whole family.’ 7If Saul says ‘Fine,’ then I, your servant, am safe. But if he loses his temper, then you’ll know for certain that he intends to harm me. 8So be loyal to your servant, because you’ve brought your servant into a sacred covenant#20.8 MT the LORD’s covenant with you. If I’m guilty, then kill me yourself; just don’t take me back to your father.”
9“Enough!” Jonathan replied. “If I can determine for certain that my father intends to harm you, of course I’ll tell you!”
10“Who will tell me if your father responds harshly?” David asked Jonathan.
11“Come on,” Jonathan said to David. “Let’s go into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. 12Then Jonathan told David, “I pledge by the LORD God of Israel that I will question my father by this time tomorrow or on the third day. If he seems favorable toward David, I will definitely send word and make sure you know. 13But if my father intends to harm you, then may the LORD deal harshly with me, Jonathan, and worse still if I don’t tell you right away so that you can escape safely. May the LORD be with you as he once was with my father. 14If I remain alive, be loyal to me.#20.14 LXX; MT show me the Lord’s faithful love But if I die, 15don’t ever stop being loyal to my household. Once the LORD has eliminated all of David’s enemies from the earth, 16if Jonathan’s name is also eliminated, then the LORD will seek retribution from David!”#20.16 20:14-16 follows LXX.
17So Jonathan again made a pledge to David#20.17 LXX; MT Jonathan made David pledge. because he loved David as much as himself. 18“Tomorrow is the festival of the new moon,” Jonathan told David. “You will be missed because your seat will be empty. 19The day after tomorrow, go all the way to the spot where you hid on the day of the incident, and stay close to that mound.#20.19 LXX; MT to the stone Ezel; cf 20:41 20On the third day I will shoot an arrow to the side of the mound as if aiming at a target.#20.20 Correction; MT arrows (plural here and in 20:21-22, 36, 38 Qere) 21Then I’ll send the servant boy, saying, ‘Go retrieve the arrow.’ If I yell to the boy, ‘Hey! The arrow is on this side of you. Get it!’ then you can come out because it will be safe for you. There won’t be any trouble—I make a pledge on the LORD’s life. 22But if I yell to the young man, ‘Hey! The arrow is past you,’ then run for it, because the LORD has sent you away. 23Either way, the LORD is witness#20.23 LXX; MT lacks witness; also in 20:42. between us forever regarding the promise we made to each other.” 24So David hid himself in the field.
When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. 25He took his customary seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite him#20.25 LXX; MT Jonathan arose while Abner sat beside Saul. David’s seat was empty. 26Saul didn’t say anything that day because he thought, Perhaps David became unclean somehow. That must be it. 27But on the next day, the second of the new moon, David’s seat was still empty. Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t Jesse’s son come to the table,#20.27 LXX, DSS (4QSamb); MT to the feast either yesterday or today?”
28Jonathan answered Saul, “David begged my permission to go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Please let me go because we have a family sacrifice there in town, and my brother has ordered me to be present. Please do me a favor and let me slip away so I can see my family.’ That’s why David hasn’t been at the king’s table.”
30At that, Saul got angry at Jonathan. “You son of a stubborn, rebellious woman!” he said. “Do you think I don’t know how you’ve allied yourself with Jesse’s son? Shame on you and on the mother who birthed you!#20.30 Or and shame on your mother’s nakedness. 31As long as Jesse’s son lives on this earth, neither you nor your dynasty will be secure. Now have him brought to me because he’s a dead man!”
32But Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should David be executed? What has he done?”
33At that, Saul threw#20.33 LXX; MT pointed his spear at Jonathan to strike him, and Jonathan realized that his father intended to kill David. 34Jonathan got up from the table in a rage. He didn’t eat anything on the second day of the new moon because he was worried about David and because his father had humiliated him.
35In the morning, Jonathan went out to the field for the meeting with David, and a young servant boy went with him. 36He said to the boy, “Go quickly and retrieve the arrow that I shoot.” So the boy ran off, and he shot an arrow beyond him. 37When the boy got to the spot where Jonathan shot the arrow, Jonathan yelled to him, “Isn’t the arrow past you?” 38Jonathan yelled again to the boy, “Quick! Hurry up! Don’t just stand there!” So Jonathan’s servant boy gathered up the arrow and came back to his master. 39The boy had no idea what had happened; only Jonathan and David knew. 40Jonathan handed his weapons to the boy and told him, “Get going. Take these back to town.”
41As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from behind the mound#20.41 LXX; MT beside the south and fell down, face on the ground, bowing low three times. The friends kissed each other, and cried with each other, but David cried hardest. 42#20.42 21:1 in HebThen Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace because the two of us made a solemn pledge in the LORD’s name when we said, ‘The LORD is witness between us and between our descendants forever.’” Then David got up and left, but Jonathan went back to town.
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1 Samuel 20: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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 isn't true!”
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 #
Num 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 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 favour, 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 certain 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 towards 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 Sam 9.1show the same kind of loyalty to my family for ever. 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 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 for ever.”
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 opposite him.#20.25 One ancient translation sat opposite 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 was 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 further 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 the 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 for ever keep the sacred promise we have made to each other.” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.