20:1 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to take my life?”
20:2 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without confiding in me. Why would he hide this from me? It’s not so!”
20:3 But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”
20:4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”
20:5 So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow.
20:6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’
20:7 If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me.
20:8 As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”
20:9 “Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”
20:10 David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
20:11 “Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.
20:12 Then Jonathan said to David: “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know?
20:13 But if my father is inclined to harm you, may the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away safely. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father.
20:14 But show me unfailing kindness like that of the LORD as long as I live, so that I may not be killed,
20:15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family–not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD call David’s enemies to account.”
20:17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
20:18 Then Jonathan said to David: “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
20:19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel.
20:20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target.
20:21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe; there is no danger.
20:22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away.
20:23 And about the matter you and I discussed–remember, the LORD is witness between you and me forever.”
20:24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat.
20:25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan, and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty.
20:26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean–surely he is unclean.”
20:27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
20:28 Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem.
20:29 He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
20:30 Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?
20:31 As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!”
20:32 “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father.
20:33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.
20:34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.
20:35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him,
20:36 and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
20:37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”
20:38 Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
20:39 (The boy knew nothing of all this; only Jonathan and David knew.)
20:40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”
20:41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together–but David wept the most.
20:42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
20:1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said to Jonathan, What have I done? What is my iniquity, or what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?
20:2 And he said to him, Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing great or small that he does not disclose to me. So why should my father hide this matter from me? Such would not happen.
20:3 Then David swore again and said, Your father fully knows that I have found favor in your sight; so he says, Do not let Jonathan know about this; otherwise, he will be grieved. But truly as Jehovah lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.
20:4 And Jonathan said to David, Whatever you say, I will do for you.
20:5 And David said to Jonathan, It is the new moon tomorrow, and I am to sit with the king at the meal. But let me go, and I will hide myself in the field until the following evening.
20:6 If your father misses me at all, you shall say, David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all his family.
20:7 If he says in this way, Fine; then your servant will have peace. But if he becomes angry at all, know that evil has been determined by him.
20:8 Deal kindly then with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Jehovah with you. But if there is any iniquity in me, you kill me. Why then should you bring me to your father?
20:9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from you! For if I knew at all that evil has been determined by my father to come upon you, would I not tell it to you?
20:10 Then David said to Jonathan, Who will tell me whether or not your father has responded to you harshly?
20:11 And Jonathan said to David, Come and let us go out into the field. And they both went out into the field.
20:12 And Jonathan said to David, By Jehovah, the God of Israel: When I search out my father about this time tomorrow, or on the following day, and if he is good toward David, I will surely send word to you and disclose it to you.
20:13 May Jehovah do so to Jonathan, and even more, if it pleases my father to do you evil, and I do not disclose it to you and send you away to go in peace. And may Jehovah be with you as He was with my father.
20:14 And while I am still alive, do show me the lovingkindness of Jehovah, that I may not die;
20:15 And never cut off your lovingkindness from my house, not even when Jehovah has cut off David s enemies to the man from the face of the earth.
20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, And Jehovah will require it at the hand of David s enemies.
20:17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
20:18 Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon; and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty.
20:19 And when you have waited three days, you shall go far down and come to the place where you hid yourself while all this was happening; and you shall remain at the stone Ezel.
20:20 And I will shoot three arrows to its side, as though I were shooting at a mark.
20:21 And just then I will send a boy, saying, Go; find the arrows. If I say to the boy, The arrows are there to this side of you; gather them; then come, for you have peace and there is no problem, as Jehovah lives.
20:22 But if I speak in this way to the young man, The arrows are there beyond you; then go, for Jehovah has sent you away.
20:23 And concerning this matter that I and you have spoken of, it is Jehovah who is between me and you forever.
20:24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat at the meal to eat.
20:25 And the king sat on his seat as at other times, on his seat near the wall; and Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat down beside Saul, but David s place was empty.
20:26 But Saul said nothing that day about it, for he thought, Something has happened to him; he is not clean; surely he is not clean.
20:27 And on the day after the new moon, the second day, David s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has the son of Jesse come neither yesterday nor today to the meal?
20:28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem.
20:29 And he said, Let me go, I beg you; for our family has a sacrifice in that city, and my brother commanded me to be there. So now if I have found favor in your sight, let me slip away to see my brothers. Therefore he has not come to the king s table.
20:30 And Saul s anger burned 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?
20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. Now therefore send someone and bring him to me, for he is as good as dead.
20:32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, Why must he be put to death? What has he done?
20:33 But Saul threw his spear at him in order to strike him down. So Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.
20:34 And Jonathan rose up from the table in burning anger and did not eat any food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved about David because his father had shamed him.
20:35 Then in the morning Jonathan went forth to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him.
20:36 And he said to his boy, Run and find the arrows that I am shooting. While the boy was running, he shot the arrow beyond him.
20:37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, The arrow is there beyond you.
20:38 And Jonathan called out to the boy, Hurry up quickly; do not stay there. And Jonathan s boy gathered the arrows and came to his master.
20:39 And the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
20:40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to his boy and said to him, Go; bring them to the city.
20:41 And when the boy went, David rose up from his hiding place toward the south and fell on his face to the ground; and he bowed himself three times. And they kissed each other; and they wept for each other, but David more greatly.
20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, because both of us have sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, May Jehovah be between me and you and between my seed and your seed forever. Then David rose up and left, and Jonathan went into the city.
