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
Jonathan Supports David over Saul
1Then David fled from Naioth in 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 is trying to kill me?#Literally “seeking my life” 2And he said to him, “Far from it! You will not die! Look, my father does not do#The Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “he does to/for him”; the translation follows the reading tradition (Qere) which has “does not do” anything large or small unless he reveals it to me.#Literally “a large thing or a small thing and he does not reveal to my ear” Why should my father hide this thing or anything from me?” 3Then David took an oath#Literally “swore” again and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thought, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he worry.’ But as Yahweh lives#Literally “the life of Yahweh” and as your soul lives,#Literally “the life of your soul” surely there is merely a step between me and death!” 4Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you wish,#Literally “What your soul says” I will do for you.” 5David said to Jonathan, “Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should certainly sit with the king to eat. You must send me away so that I can hide myself in the field until the third evening. 6If your father misses me at all, then you must say, ‘David earnestly asked from me to run to Bethlehem his city, for the yearly sacrifice#Literally “the sacrifice of the days” is there for all the clan.’ 7If he says ‘Good,’ it will mean peace for your servant; but if he is very angry, know that he has decided to do me harm.#Literally “the evil has been determined from with him” 8So you must show loyal love to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you. But if there is guilt in me, then kill me yourself! But why should you bring me to your father?” 9Then Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I know for certain that my father decided evil should come upon you,#Literally “the evil is determined from with my father to come over you” would I not have told it to you?” 10Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if what your father answers you is harsh?” 11And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out to the field.” So the two of them went out to the field.
12Then Jonathan said to David, “Yahweh the God of Israel is my witness#The phrase “is my witness” is supplied based on the Syriac version that I will question my father by this time the day after tomorrow.#Literally “as the time tomorrow the third” And look, if he is well disposed toward you,#Literally “if he is good to David” will I not send word to you and disclose it to you?#Literally “I will reveal it to your ear” 13So may Yahweh punish Jonathan and more#Literally “So may Yahweh do to Jonathan and so may he add” if my father decides to do you harm#Literally “the evil over you is regarded as good by my father” and if I fail to disclose it to you#Literally “I will reveal it to your ear” and send word to you that you can go safely. And may Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father. 14And not while I am still alive, will you not show the loyal love of Yahweh with me, that I may not die?#Or perhaps “and if I die, may you not …” 15And do not cut off your loyal love from my family#Literally “my house” forever, not even when Yahweh exterminates#Literally “cuts off” each of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16So Jonathan made a covenant#Literally “cut a covenant” with the house of David, saying, “May Yahweh call the enemies of David to account.”#Literally “seek from the hand of the enemies of David” 17And Jonathan again made David swear an oath, because he loved him; for with the love of his soul he loved him.
18Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will stay empty. 19On the third day you must go down quickly and go to the place where you hid yourself on the day all this started#Literally “on the day of the deed” and remain beside the stone Ezel. 20I will shoot three arrows to the side as if I were shooting at a target. 21Then#Literally “And look” I will send word to my servant, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ If I clearly say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you;#Literally “from you and here” bring#Literally “take” it,’ then#Hebrew “and” come, for it means peace for you. And there is no problem, as Yahweh lives.#Literally “the life of Yahweh” 22But if I say this to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’#Literally “from you and beyond” go, for Yahweh has sent you away. 23And as for the matter about which you and I spoke, look, Yahweh is between you and me forever.”
24So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came,#Literally “And it was the new moon” the king was seated at the feast.#Literally “the king sat at the food to eat” 25The king sat at his seat as before,#Literally “as occurrence at occurrence” the seat by the wall, and Jonathan got up, and Abner sat beside Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26But Saul said nothing on that day, for he thought, “Something happened to him.#Literally “It is incident” He is not ceremonially clean; surely he is not clean.” 27And then#Literally “And it happened” on the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty. So Saul asked Jonathan his son, “Why did the son of Jesse not come either yesterday or today to the feast?” 28Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission from me to go up to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Send me away, please, for our clan sacrifice is in the city, and my brother commanded#Or “urged” me to be present. So then, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the table of the king.” 30Then Saul became angry#Literally “the nose of Saul became hot” at Jonathan and said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman!#Or “bastard of a wayward woman” (HALOT 796) Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31For as long as#Literally “all the days which” the son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established! So then, send and bring him to me, for he will surely die!”#Literally “he is a son of death” 32But Jonathan answered his father Saul and said to him, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33Then Saul hurled his#Hebrew “the” spear at him to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father had decided#Literally “it was complete from with his father” to kill David.
34Jonathan got up from the table enraged,#Literally “with burning of nose” and did not eat on the second day of the new moon because he was upset about David, because his father had disgraced him. 35And then#Literally “And it happened” in the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a young boy#Or “young servant” was with him. 36He said to his servant,#Or “boy” “Run, please find the arrows that I am shooting!” The boy#Or “servant” ran, and he shot the arrow to pass over him. 37When the boy came up to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?”#Literally “from you and beyond” 38Then Jonathan called out after the boy, “Quick, hurry, do not linger!” And Jonathan’s servant collected the arrows and came to his master. 39But the boy did not know anything about this; only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to his servant and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.” 41The boy left, and then David got up from the south side,#So Masoretic Hebrew text; LXX reads “from the mound” (of stones) and he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed each other#Literally “each his friend” and wept together,#Literally “each with his friend” but David wept the most. 42Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn, the two of us, an oath in the name of Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring forever.”#In the Hebrew Bible, 1 Sam 21 begins here. 1 Samuel 20:42b–21:15 in the English Bible is 21:1–16 in the Hebrew Bible Then he got up and left, and Jonathan went into the city.
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