1 Samuel 20
20
1And David fleeth from Naioth in Ramah, and cometh, and saith before Jonathan, ‘What have I done? what [is] mine iniquity? and what my sin before thy father, that he is seeking my life?’
2And he saith to him, ‘Far be it! thou dost not die; lo, my father doth not do anything great or small and doth not uncover mine ear; and wherefore doth my father hide from me this thing? this [thing] is not.’
3And David sweareth again, and saith, ‘Thy father hath certainly known that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved; and yet, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, but — as a step between me and death.’
4And Jonathan saith to David, ‘What doth thy soul say? — and I do it for thee.’
5And David saith unto Jonathan, ‘Lo, the new moon [is] to-morrow; and I do certainly sit with the king to eat; and thou hast sent me away, and I have been hidden in a field till the third evening;
6if thy father at all look after me, and thou hast said, David asked earnestly of me to run to Beth-Lehem his city, for a sacrifice of the days [is] there for all the family.
7If thus he say: Good; peace [is] for thy servant; and if it be very displeasing to him — know that the evil hath been determined by him;
8and thou hast done kindness, to thy servant, for into a covenant of Jehovah thou hast brought thy servant with thee; — and if there is in me iniquity, put thou me to death; and unto thy father, why is this — thou dost bring me in?’
9And Jonathan saith, ‘Far be it from thee! for I certainly do not know that the evil hath been determined by my father to come upon thee, and I do not declare it to thee.’
10And David saith unto Jonathan, ‘Who doth declare to me? or what [if] thy father doth answer thee sharply?’
11And Jonathan saith unto David, ‘Come, and we go out into the field;’ and they go out both of them into the field.
12And Jonathan saith unto David, ‘Jehovah, God of Israel — when I search my father, about [this] time to-morrow [or] the third [day], and lo, good [is] towards David, and I do not then send unto thee, and have uncovered thine ear —
13thus doth Jehovah do to Jonathan, and thus doth He add; when the evil concerning thee is good to my father, then I have uncovered thine ear, and sent thee away, and thou hast gone in peace, and Jehovah is with thee, as he was with my father;
14and not only while I am alive dost thou do with me the kindness of Jehovah, and I die not,
15but thou dost not cut off thy kindness from my house unto the age, nor in Jehovah's cutting off the enemies of David, each one from off the face of the ground.’
16And Jonathan covenanteth with the house of David, and Jehovah hath sought [it] from the hand of the enemies of David;
17and Jonathan addeth to cause David to swear, because he loveth him, for with the love of his own soul he hath loved him.
18And Jonathan saith to him, ‘To-morrow [is] new moon, and thou hast been looked after, for thy seat is looked after;
19and on the third day thou dost certainly come down, and hast come in unto the place where thou wast hidden in the day of the work, and hast remained near the stone Ezel.
20‘And I shoot three of the arrows at the side, sending out for myself at a mark;
21and lo, I send the youth: Go, find the arrows. If I at all say to the youth, Lo, the arrows [are] on this side of thee — take them, — then come thou, for peace [is] for thee, and there is nothing; Jehovah liveth.
22And if thus I say to the young man, Lo, the arrows [are] beyond thee, — go, for Jehovah hath sent thee away;
23as to the thing which we have spoken, I and thou, lo, Jehovah [is] between me and thee — unto the age.’
24And David is hidden in the field, and it is the new moon, and the king sitteth down by the food to eat,
25and the king sitteth on his seat, as time by time, on a seat by the wall, and Jonathan riseth, and Abner sitteth at the side of Saul, and David's place is looked after.
26And Saul hath not spoken anything on that day, for he said, ‘It [is] an accident; he is not clean — surely not clean.’
27And it cometh to pass on the second morrow of the new moon, that David's place is looked after, and Saul saith unto Jonathan his son, ‘Wherefore hath the son of Jesse not come in, either yesterday or to-day, unto the food?’
28And Jonathan answereth Saul, ‘David hath been earnestly asked of me unto Beth-Lehem,
29and he saith, Send me away, I pray thee, for a family sacrifice we have in the city, and my brother himself hath given command to me, and now, if I have found grace in thine eyes, let me go away, I pray thee, and see my brethren; therefore he hath not come unto the table of the king.’
30And the anger of Saul burneth against Jonathan, and he saith to him, ‘Son of a perverse rebellious woman! have I not known that thou art fixing on the son of Jesse to thy shame, and to the shame of the nakedness of thy mother?
31for all the days that the son of Jesse liveth on the ground thou art not established, thou and thy kingdom; and now, send and bring him unto me, for he [is] a son of death.’
32And Jonathan answereth Saul his father, and saith unto him, ‘Why is he put to death? what hath he done?’
33And Saul casteth the javelin at him to smite him, and Jonathan knoweth that it hath been determined by his father to put David to death.
34And Jonathan riseth from the table in the heat of anger, and hath not eaten food on the second day of the new moon, for he hath been grieved for David, for his father put him to shame.
35And it cometh to pass in the morning, that Jonathan goeth out into the field for the appointment with David, and a little youth [is] with him.
36And he saith to his youth, ‘Run, find, I pray thee, the arrows which I am shooting;’ the youth is running, and he hath shot the arrow, causing [it] to pass over him.
37And the youth cometh unto the place of the arrow which Jonathan hath shot, and Jonathan calleth after the youth, and saith, ‘Is not the arrow beyond thee?’
38and Jonathan calleth after the youth, ‘Speed, haste, stand not;’ and Jonathan's youth gathereth the arrows, and cometh unto his lord.
39And the youth hath not known anything, only Jonathan and David knew the word.
40And Jonathan giveth his weapons unto the youth whom he hath, and saith to him, ‘Go, carry into the city.’
41The youth hath gone, and David hath risen from Ezel, at the south, and falleth on his face to the earth, and boweth himself three times, and they kiss one another, and they weep one with another, till David exerted himself;
42and Jonathan saith to David, ‘Go in peace, in that we have sworn — we two — in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah is between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed — unto the age;’ and he riseth and goeth; and Jonathan hath gone in to the city.
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1 Samuel 20: YLT98
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1 Samuel 20
20
David and Jonathan Make an Agreement
1David ran away from the camps at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked him, “What have I done wrong? What is my crime? Why is your father trying to kill me?”
2Jonathan answered, “That can’t be true! My father isn’t trying to kill you. My father doesn’t do anything without first telling me. It doesn’t matter how important it is, my father always tells me. Why would my father refuse to tell me that he wants to kill you? No, it is not true!”
3But David answered, “Your father knows very well that I am your friend. Your father said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know about it. If he knows, he will tell David.’#20:3 he will tell David This is from the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text here has “he will be upset.” But as surely as you and the Lord are alive, I am very close to death.”
4Jonathan said to David, “I will do anything you want me to do.”
5Then David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon celebration. I am supposed to eat with the king, but let me hide in the field until the evening. 6If your father notices I am gone, tell him, ‘David wanted to go home to Bethlehem. His family is having its own feast for this monthly sacrifice. David asked me to let him run down to Bethlehem and join his family.’ 7If your father says, ‘Fine,’ then I am safe. But if your father becomes angry, you will know that he wants to hurt me. 8Jonathan, be kind to me. I am your servant. You have made an agreement with me before the Lord. If I am guilty, you may kill me yourself, but don’t take me to your father.”
9Jonathan answered, “No, never! If I learn that my father plans to hurt you, I will warn you.”
10David said, “Who will warn me if your father says bad things to you?”
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 make this promise before the Lord, the God of Israel. I promise that I will learn how my father feels about you. I will learn if he feels good about you or not. Then, in three days, I will send a message to you in the field. 13If my father wants to hurt you, I will let you know. I will let you leave in safety. May the Lord punish me if I don’t do this. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. 14-15As long as I live, show me the same kindness the Lord does. And if I die, never stop showing this kindness to my family. Be faithful to us, even when the Lord destroys all your enemies#20:14-15 enemies Or “descendants.” from the earth.” 16So Jonathan made this agreement with David and his family, and he asked the Lord to hold them responsible for keeping it.#20:14-16 The Hebrew text here is unclear, and several different translations are possible.
17Jonathan loved David as himself, and because of this love, he asked David to repeat this agreement for himself.
18Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon celebration. Your seat will be empty, so my father will see that you are gone. 19On the third day go to the same place you hid when this trouble began. Wait by that hill. 20On the third day I will go to that hill and shoot three arrows as if I am shooting at a target. 21Then I will tell the boy to go find the arrows. If everything is fine, I will tell the boy, ‘You went too far! The arrows are closer to me. Come back and get them.’ If I say that, you can come out of hiding. I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, you are safe. There is no danger. 22But if there is trouble, I will say to the boy, ‘The arrows are farther away. Go get them.’ If I say that, you must leave. The Lord is sending you away. 23Remember this agreement between you and me. The Lord is our witness forever.”
24Then David hid in the field.
Saul’s Attitude at the Celebration
The time for the New Moon celebration came, and the king sat down to eat. 25He sat next to the wall where he usually sat, and Jonathan sat across from him. Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26That day Saul said nothing. He thought, “Maybe something happened to David so that he is not clean.”
27On the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the New Moon celebration yesterday or today?”
28Jonathan answered, “David asked me to let him go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Let me go. Our family is having a sacrifice in Bethlehem. My brother ordered me to be there. Now if I am your friend, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why David has not come to the king’s table.”
30Saul was very angry with Jonathan and said to him, “You son of a twisted, rebellious woman! I know that you have chosen to support that son of Jesse.#20:30 that son of Jesse Saul refers to David by his father’s name, intending it as an insult. This will bring shame to you and to your mother. 31As long as Jesse’s son lives, you will never be king and have a kingdom. Now, bring David to me! He is a dead man.”
32Jonathan asked his father, “Why should David be killed? What did he do wrong?”
33But Saul threw his spear at Jonathan and tried to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father wanted very much to kill David. 34Jonathan became angry and left the table. He was so upset and angry with his father that he refused to eat any food on the second day of the festival. He was angry because Saul humiliated him and because Saul wanted to kill David.
David and Jonathan Say Goodbye
35The next morning Jonathan went out to the field to meet David as they had agreed. Jonathan brought a little boy with him. 36He said to the boy, “Run. Go find the arrows I shoot.” The boy began to run, and Jonathan shot the arrows over his head. 37The boy ran to the place where the arrows fell, but Jonathan called, “The arrows are farther away.” 38Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go get them. Don’t just stand there.” The boy picked up the arrows and brought them back to his master. 39The boy knew nothing about what went on. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him to go back to town.
41When the boy left, David came out from his hiding place on the other side of the hill. David gave a formal greeting by bowing to the ground three times to show his respect for Jonathan. But then David and Jonathan kissed each other and cried together. It was a very sad goodbye, especially for David.
42Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace. We have taken an oath in the Lord’s name to be friends forever. We have asked the Lord to be a witness between us and our descendants forever.”
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