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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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
1 Samuel 20
20
The Friendship of David and Jonathan
1David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin against your father that he is trying to take my life?” 2He said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me; and why should my father hide this from me? Never!” 3But David also swore, “Your father knows well that you like me; and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, 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, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the meal; but let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening. 6If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant; but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him. 8Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant#20.8 Heb a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?” 9Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was decided by my father that evil should come upon you, would I not tell you?” 10Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11Jonathan replied to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.
12Jonathan said to David, “By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you, and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die,#20.14 Meaning of Heb uncertain 15never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord seek out the enemies of David.” 17Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life.
18Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, because your place will be empty. 19On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there.#20.19 Meaning of Heb uncertain 20I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21Then 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, collect them,’ then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go; for the Lord has sent you away. 23As for the matter about which you and I have spoken, the Lord is witness#20.23 Gk: Heb lacks witness between you and me forever.”
24So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. 25The king sat upon his seat, as at other times, upon the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood, while Abner sat by Saul's side; but David's place was empty.
26Saul did not say anything that day; for he thought, “Something has befallen him; he is not clean, surely he is not clean.” 27But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast, either yesterday or today?” 28Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem; 29he said, ‘Let me go; for our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, 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. 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 upon the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32Then Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33But Saul threw his spear at him to strike him; so Jonathan knew that it was the decision of his father to put David to death. 34Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, and because his father had disgraced him.
35In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him was a little boy. 36He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37When the boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not linger.” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39But the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap#20.41 Gk: Heb from beside the south and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more.#20.41 Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain 42Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.’ ” He got up and left; and Jonathan went into the city.#20.42 This sentence is 21.1 in Heb
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.