1 Samuel 20

1 And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?2 And he said unto him, Far from it; thou shalt not die: behold, my father doeth nothing either great or small, but that he discloseth it unto me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.3 And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father knoweth well that I have found favor in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.6 If thy father miss me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.7 If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be wroth, then know that evil is determined by him.8 Therefore deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee: but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me if perchance thy father answer thee roughly?11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.

12 And Jonathan said unto David, Jehovah, the God of Israel, be witness: when I have sounded my father about this time to-morrow, or the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send unto thee, and disclose it unto thee?13 Jehovah do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do thee evil, if I disclose it not unto thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and Jehovah be with thee, as he hath been with my father.14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the lovingkindness of Jehovah, that I die not;15 but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever; no, not when Jehovah hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, And Jehovah will require it at the hand of David’s enemies.

17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.18 Then Jonathan said unto him, To-morrow is the new moon: and thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.19 And when thou hast stayed three days, thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.21 And, behold, I will send the lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee; take them, and come; for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as Jehovah liveth.22 But if I say thus unto the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way; for Jehovah hath sent thee away.23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Jehovah is between thee and me for ever.

24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat food.25 And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon the seat by the wall; and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul’s side: but David’s place was empty.26 Nevertheless Saul spake not anything that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.27 And it came to pass on the morrow after the new moon, which was the second day, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to-day?28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem:29 and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he is not come unto the king’s table.

30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of a perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame, and unto the shame of thy mother’s nakedness?31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore should he be put to death? what hath he done?33 And Saul cast his spear at him to smite him; whereby Jonathan knew that is was determined of his father to put David to death.34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.39 But the lad knew not anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.40 And Jonathan gave his weapons unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah shall be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed, for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

1 SAMUEL 20

Jonathan Helps //David Escape

1 David escaped from Prophets Village. Then he ran to see Jonathan and asked, “Why does your father Saul want to kill me? What have I done wrong?”

2 “My father can't be trying to kill you! He never does anything without telling me about it. Why would he hide this from me? It can't be true!”

3 “Jonathan, I swear it's true! But your father knows how much you like me, and he didn't want to break your heart. That's why he didn't tell you. I swear by the living [Lord] and by your own life that I'm only one step ahead of death.”

4 Then Jonathan said, “Tell me what to do, and I'll do it.”

5  t David answered:
Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, t and I'm supposed to eat dinner with your father. But instead, I'll hide in a field until the evening of the next day.

6 If Saul wonders where I am, tell him, “David asked me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem, so he could take part in a sacrifice his family makes there every year.”
7 If your father says it's all right, then I'm safe. But if he gets angry, you'll know he wants to harm me.

8 Be kind to me. After all, it was your idea to promise the [Lord] that we would always be loyal friends. If I've done anything wrong, kill me yourself, but don't hand me over to your father.

9 “Don't worry,” Jonathan said. “If I find out that my father wants to kill you, I'll certainly let you know.”

10 “How will you do that?” David asked.

11 “Let's go out to this field, and I'll tell you,” Jonathan answered.
When they got there,

12 Jonathan said:
I swear by the [Lord] God of Israel, that two days from now I'll know what my father is planning. Of course I'll let you know if he's friendly toward you.

13 But if he wants to harm you, I promise to tell you and help you escape. And I ask the [Lord] to punish me severely if I don't keep my promise.
I pray that the [Lord] will bless you, just as he used to bless my father.

14-15 t Someday the [Lord] will wipe out all of your enemies. Then if I'm still alive, please be as kind to me as the [Lord] has been. But if I'm dead, be kind to my family.

16 Jonathan and David made an agreement that even David's descendants would have to keep.t Then Jonathan said, “I pray that the [Lord] will take revenge on your descendants if they break our promise.”t
17 Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself, so he asked David to promise once more that he would be a loyal friend.

18 After this Jonathan said:
Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, and people will wonder where you are, because your place at the table will be empty. 19 By the day after tomorrow, everyone will think you've been gone a long time.t Then go to the place where you hid before and stay beside Going-Away Rock.t 20 I'll shoot three arrows at a target off to the side of the rock,

21 and send my servant to find the arrows.
You'll know if it's safe to come out by what I tell him. If it is safe, I swear by the living [Lord] that I'll say, “The arrows are on this side of you! Pick them up!” 22 But if it isn't safe, I'll say to the boy, “The arrows are farther away!” This will mean that the [Lord] wants you to leave, and you must go.

23 But he will always watch us to make sure that we keep the promise we made to each other.

24 So David hid there in the field.
During the New Moon Festival, Saul sat down to eat 25 by the wall, just as he always did. Jonathan sat across from him, t and Abner sat next to him. But David's place was empty.

26 Saul didn't say anything that day, because he was thinking, “Something must have happened to make David unfit to be at the Festival.t Yes, something must have happened.”

27 The day after the New Moon Festival, when David's place was still empty, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn't that son of Jesse come to eat with us? He wasn't here yesterday, and he still isn't here today!”

28-29 Jonathan answered, “The reason David hasn't come to eat with you is that he begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Please let me go. My family is offering a sacrifice, and my brother told me I have to be there. Do me this favor and let me slip away to see my brothers.’ ”
30 Saul was furious with Jonathan and yelled, “You're no son of mine, you traitor! I know you've chosen to be loyal to that son of Jesse. You should be ashamed of yourself! And your own mother should be ashamed that you were ever born.

31 You'll never be safe, and your kingdom will be in danger as long as that son of Jesse is alive. Turn him over to me now! He deserves to die!”

32 “Why do you want to kill David?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”
33 Saul threw his spear at Jonathan and tried to kill him. Then Jonathan was sure that his father really did want to kill David.

34 Jonathan was angry and hurt that his father had insulted Davidt so terribly. He got up, left the table, and didn't eat anything all that day.
35 In the morning, Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a servant boy along

36 and told him, “When I shoot the arrows, you run and find them for me.”
The boy started running, and Jonathan shot an arrow so that it would go beyond him. 37 When the boy got near the place where the arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted, “Isn't the arrow on past you?”

38 Jonathan shouted to him again, “Hurry up! Don't stop!”
The boy picked up the arrows and brought them back to Jonathan, 39 but he had no idea about what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew.

40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him, “Take these back into town.”
41 After the boy had gone, David got up from beside the moundt and bowed very low three times. Then he and Jonathan kissedt each other and cried, but David cried louder.

42 Jonathan said, “Take care of yourself. And remember, we each have asked the [Lord] to watch and make sure that we and our descendants keep our promise forever.”
David left and Jonathan went back to town.