1 Samuel 20
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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1 Samuel 20: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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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