1 Samuel 20
20
Jonathan Warns David
1Then David fled from Naioth #ch. 1:19in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? 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. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that #See Gen. 33:15 I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, #ch. 25:26; 2 Kgs. 2:2, 4, 6; 4:30; See Ruth 3:13 as the Lord lives and #ch. 1:26as your soul lives, there is but 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 #ver. 18; Num. 10:10; 28:11 the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, #ch. 19:2, 3that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6#ver. 18 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run #ch. 16:4 to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly #[ch. 9:12]sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that #ch. 25:17; Esth. 7:7; [ver. 33]harm is determined by him. 8Therefore deal kindly with your servant, #ver. 16, 42; ch. 18:3; 23:18; [2 Sam. 21:7] for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. #2 Sam. 14:32But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that #[See ver. 7 above]it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
12And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness!#20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13But should it please my father to do you harm, #[Ruth 1:17] the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. #Josh. 1:5, 17; 1 Kgs. 1:37; 1 Chr. 22:11, 16; [ch. 17:37]May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die; 15#2 Sam. 9:1, 3, 7; 21:7and do not cut off#20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, #[ch. 25:22; Josh. 22:23]“May#20:16 Septuagint earth, 16 let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may the Lord take vengeance on David’s enemies.” 17And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, #ch. 18:1, 3for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18Then Jonathan said to him, #ver. 5 “Tomorrow is the new moon, and #ver. 6 you will be missed, because #ver. 25, 27your seat will be empty. 19On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.#20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel 20And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, #ver. 3; See Ruth 3:13as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22But if I say to the youth, #ver. 37‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. 23#ver. 14, 15 And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, #ver. 42the Lord is between you and me forever.”
24So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,#20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up and Abner sat by Saul’s side, #ver. 18but David’s place was empty.
26Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. #Lev. 7:21; See Lev. 11:24-28; 15:1-4He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27But on #[ver. 34] the second day, the day after the new moon, #[See ver. 25 above]David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28Jonathan answered Saul, #ver. 6“David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
30Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen 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 shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, #ch. 19:5“Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33#ch. 18:11; 19:10 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew #ver. 7that his father was determined to put David to death. 34And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.
35In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, #ver. 22“Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap#20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42Then Jonathan said to David, #ver. 13; ch. 1:17 “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, #ver. 23 ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, #ver. 15and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.#20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew
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1 Samuel 20: ESV
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 20
20
David and Jonathan
1Then David ran away from Naioth in Ramah. He went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I sinned against your father so that he’s trying to kill me?”
2Jonathan answered, “No! You won’t die! See, my father doesn’t do anything without first telling me. It doesn’t matter if it is very important or just a small thing. Why would he refuse to tell me he wants to kill you? No, it’s not true!”
3But David took an oath. He said, “Your father knows very well that I’m your friend. He has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know about it. If he knows, he will tell David.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I am very close to death!”
4Jonathan said to David, “I’ll do anything you want me to do.”
5So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival. I am supposed to eat with the king. But let me hide in the field until the third evening. 6Your father may notice I am gone. If he does, tell him, ‘David begged me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem. Every year at this time, his family group offers a sacrifice.’ 7If your father says, ‘Fine,’ I am safe. But if he becomes angry, you can believe he wants to hurt me. 8Jonathan, be kind to me, your servant. You have made an agreement with me before the Lord. If I am guilty, you may kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”
9Jonathan answered, “No, never! If I learn that my father plans to harm you, I will warn you!”
10David asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you unkindly?”
11Then Jonathan said, “Come, let’s go out into the field.” So Jonathan and David went together into the field.
12Jonathan said to David, “I promise this before the Lord, the God of Israel: At this same time day after tomorrow, I will find out how my father feels. If he feels good toward you, I’ll send word to you. I’ll let you know. 13But my father may mean to hurt you. If so, I will let you know and send you away safely. May the Lord punish me terribly if I don’t do this. And may the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. 14But show me the kindness of the Lord as long as I live. Do this so that I may not die. 15You must not stop showing your kindness to my family. Don’t do this, even when the Lord has destroyed all your enemies from the earth.”
16So Jonathan made an agreement with David. He said, “May the Lord punish David’s enemies.” 17And Jonathan asked David to repeat his promise of love for him. He did this because he loved David as much as he loved himself.
18Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. Your seat will be empty. So my father will notice you’re gone. 19On the third day go to the place where you hid when this trouble began. Wait by the rock Ezel. 20On the third day I will shoot three arrows to the side of the rock. I will shoot as if I am shooting at a target. 21Then I will send a boy and tell him to go find the arrows. I may say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you. Bring them here.’ If so, you may come out of hiding. You may do this as surely as the Lord lives because you are safe. There is no danger. 22But I may say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you.’ If I do, you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. 23Remember what we talked about. The Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
24So David hid in the field. And when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat. 25He sat where he always sat, near the wall. Jonathan sat across from him, and Abner sat next to him. But David’s place was empty. 26That day Saul said nothing. He thought, “Maybe something has happened to David so that he is unclean.” 27But the next day was the second day of the month. And David’s place was empty again. So Saul said to Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the festival yesterday or today?”
28Jonathan answered, “David begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the town. And my brother has ordered me to be there. Now if I am your friend, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
30Then Saul became very angry with Jonathan. He said, “You son of an evil and disobedient woman! I know you are on the side of David son of Jesse! You bring shame on yourself and on your mother who gave birth to you. 31As long as Jesse’s son lives, you’ll never be king or have a kingdom. Now send for David and bring him to me. He must die!”
32Jonathan asked his father, “Why should David be killed? What wrong has he done?” 33Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan, trying to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father really wanted to kill David. 34Jonathan was very angry and left the table. That second day of the month he refused to eat. He was upset about what his father wanted to do to David.
35The next morning Jonathan went out to the field. He went to meet David as they had agreed. He had a young boy with him. 36Jonathan said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” When he ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37The boy ran to the place where Jonathan’s arrow fell. But Jonathan called, “The arrow is beyond you!” 38Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and brought it back to his master. 39(The boy knew nothing about what this meant. Only Jonathan and David knew.) 40Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told him, “Go back to town.”
41When the boy left, David came out from the south side of the rock. He bowed facedown on the ground before Jonathan. He did this three times. Then David and Jonathan kissed each other. They cried together, but David cried the most.
42Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace. We have promised by the Lord that we will be friends. We said, ‘The Lord will be a witness between you and me, and between our descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to town.
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