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1 Samuel 20-21
Amplified Bible
1 Samuel 20-21
Amplified Bible
David and Jonathan’s Covenant
20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah and he came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my [a]guilt? What is my sin before (against) your father, that he is seeking my life?” 2 Jonathan said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing [b]important or insignificant without telling me. So why would he hide this thing from me? It is not so!” 3 But David vowed again, saying “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be worried.’ But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5 David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon [observance], and I should sit at the table to eat [the sacrificial meal] with the king; but let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission from me to go to Bethlehem, his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the entire family.’ 7 If he says, ‘All right,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, then be certain that he has decided on evil. 8 Therefore show kindness to your servant, because you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is iniquity (guilt) in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father [to be killed]?” 9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from [happening to] you! In fact, if I indeed learn that my father has decided to harm you, would I not tell you about it?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11 Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field [to talk].” So they went out to the field.
12 Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward [c]you, shall I not then send word to you and make it known to you? 13 But if it pleases my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more if I do not let you know about it and send you away, so that you may go in [d]safety. And [e]may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness and faithfulness of the Lord, [f]so that I will not die? 15 You shall never cut off your lovingkindness and faithfulness from my house, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the [g]house of David. [[h]He added,] “May [i]the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies. [that is, hold them accountable for any harm they inflict on David].” 17 Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, for Jonathan loved him as himself.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon [festival], and you will be missed because your seat will be empty. 19 When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself [j]on that eventful day [when my father tried to kill you], and shall stay by the stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a target. 21 And I will send a boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come [back to my father’s table]; for it is [k]safe for you and there is [l]no danger, as the Lord lives. 22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away. 23 As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever [making sure that we each keep our word].”
24 So David hid in the field; and when the New Moon [festival] came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 The king sat on his seat as on previous occasions, on his seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up, and Abner [his commander] sat down by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “It is an incident [of some kind] and [m]he is not [ceremonially] clean—surely he is unclean.” 27 But on the next day, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was empty [again]; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go because our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
Saul Is Angry with Jonathan
30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a [n]wayward, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse [over me] to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you [as heir to the throne] nor your kingdom will be established. So now, send [someone] and bring him to me, for he [o]must die.” 32 Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why must he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down, so Jonathan knew [without any doubt] that his father had decided to put David to death. 34 Then Jonathan stood up from the table in the heat of anger, and ate no food on that second day of the new moon (month), for he grieved and worried about David because his father had dishonored him.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the meeting with David, and a young boy was with him. 36 And he said to his boy, “Run, please find the arrows which I am about to shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow past him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called to him, “Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called out after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came back to his master. 39 But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. 40 Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.” 41 As soon as the boy was gone, David got up from the south side [beside the mound of stones] and fell on his face to the ground [in submission and respect], and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more. 42 Jonathan told David, “Go [p]in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours forever.’” [q]Then he stood and left, while Jonathan went into the city.
David Takes Consecrated Bread
21 Then David went to [r]Nob to [s]Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling [in fear] to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has told me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter for which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you. I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3 Now what [food] do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 4 The priest answered David, “There is no ordinary (unconsecrated) bread on hand, but there is [t]consecrated bread; [you may have it] if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 David answered the priest, “Be assured that [u]women have been kept from us in these three days since I set out, and the [v]bodies of the young men were consecrated (ceremonially clean), although it was an ordinary (unconsecrated) journey; so how much more will their vessels be holy today?” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the [w]Presence which was removed from before the Lord in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.
8 David said to Ahimelech, “Do you not have a sword or spear here on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my [other] weapons with me, because the king’s business was urgent.” 9 Then the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, do so. For there is no other here except for it.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”
10 Then David arose and fled from Saul that day, and went to Achish king of [x]Gath. 11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing in praise of this one as they danced, saying,
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
12 David took these words to heart and was greatly afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So [fearing for his life] he changed his behavior in their sight, and acted insanely in their hands, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see that the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you bring this one to behave like a madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 20:1 Or iniquity.
- 1 Samuel 20:2 Lit great or small.
- 1 Samuel 20:12 Lit David.
- 1 Samuel 20:13 Lit shalom.
- 1 Samuel 20:13 With this statement Jonathan acknowledges that David has been anointed king.
- 1 Samuel 20:14 To secure his throne a new king would usually kill anyone who was a potential rival for the throne. Jonathan is asking assurance that he will not be assassinated after David becomes king.
- 1 Samuel 20:16 This covenant was binding not only on David and Jonathan, but also on their descendants.
- 1 Samuel 20:16 This may have been the additional vow mentioned in v 17.
- 1 Samuel 20:16 Jonathan was aligning himself with David against all of David’s enemies, including Saul.
- 1 Samuel 20:19 Lit on the day of the doing.
- 1 Samuel 20:21 Lit shalom.
- 1 Samuel 20:21 Lit nothing.
- 1 Samuel 20:26 Saul assumed that David had come into contact with a source of ritual pollution, such as a corpse, and was for that reason temporarily disqualified from participating in the New Moon Festival.
- 1 Samuel 20:30 The vulgar language of this Hebrew idiom demeaned Jonathan, not his mother, and Saul implied that she was ashamed of giving birth to him.
- 1 Samuel 20:31 Lit is a son of death.
- 1 Samuel 20:42 Lit in shalom.
- 1 Samuel 20:42 In Hebrew, this is v 1 of the next chapter making the versification different throughout ch 21.
- 1 Samuel 21:1 The city of the priests was located on Mt. Scopus about a mile northeast of Jerusalem.
- 1 Samuel 21:1 Ahimelech was also known as Ahijah.
- 1 Samuel 21:4 I.e. the bread of the Presence (showbread) was an offering dedicated to God and was to be eaten only by the priests. The ancient rabbis maintained that any law may be superseded to save life, and that David’s life was in danger from hunger.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 I.e. intimate contact with women.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Lit vessels, a euphemism for the human body.
- 1 Samuel 21:6 Lit Face.
- 1 Samuel 21:10 This was a dangerous place to go since it was not only one of the Philistine’s five major cities, but also the former home of Goliath.
1 Samuel 20-21
New International Version
1 Samuel 20-21
New International Version
David and Jonathan
20 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(A) your father, that he is trying to kill me?”(B)
2 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!”
3 But David took an oath(C) 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.”
4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”
5 So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast,(D) and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide(E) in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission(F) to hurry to Bethlehem,(G) his hometown, because an annual(H) sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper,(I) you can be sure that he is determined(J) to harm me. 8 As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant(K) with you before the Lord. If I am guilty, then kill(L) me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”
9 “Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”
10 David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
11 “Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.
12 Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound(M) 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? 13 But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely,(N) if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with(O) you as he has been with my father. 14 But show me unfailing kindness(P) like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family(Q)—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
16 So Jonathan(R) made a covenant(S) with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.(T)” 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath(U) out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty.(V) 19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid(W) when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows(X) to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 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. 22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond(Y) you,’ then you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. 23 And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the Lord is witness(Z) between you and me forever.”
24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast(AA) came, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,[a] and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty.(AB) 26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.(AC)” 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?”
28 Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission(AD) to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice(AE) 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.”
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? 31 As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom(AF) will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”
32 “Why(AG) should he be put to death? What(AH) has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended(AI) to kill David.
34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond(AJ) you?” 38 Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 (The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”
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.(AK) Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.
42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace,(AL) for we have sworn friendship(AM) with each other in the name of the Lord,(AN) saying, ‘The Lord is witness(AO) between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.(AP)’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.[b]
David at Nob
21 [c]David went to Nob,(AQ) to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled(AR) when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”
4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread(AS) on hand; however, there is some consecrated(AT) bread here—provided the men have kept(AU) themselves from women.”
5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual(AV) whenever[d] I set out. The men’s bodies are holy(AW) even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,(AX) since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg(AY) the Edomite,(AZ) Saul’s chief shepherd.
8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.”
9 The priest replied, “The sword(BA) of Goliath(BB) the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah,(BC) is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.”
David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
David at Gath
10 That day David fled from Saul and went(BD) to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”(BE)
12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane(BF) in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 20:25 Septuagint; Hebrew wall. Jonathan arose
- 1 Samuel 20:42 In Hebrew texts this sentence (20:42b) is numbered 21:1.
- 1 Samuel 21:1 In Hebrew texts 21:1-15 is numbered 21:2-16.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Or from us in the past few days since
Psalm 34
Amplified Bible
Psalm 34
Amplified Bible
The Lord, a Provider and the One Who Rescues Me.
A Psalm of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out, and he went away.
34 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
The humble and downtrodden will hear it and rejoice.
3
O [a]magnify the Lord with me,
And let us lift up His name together.
4
I sought the Lord [on the authority of His word], and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.(A)
5
They looked to Him and were radiant;
Their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.
6
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him from all his troubles.
7
The [b]angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience],
And He rescues [each of] them.(B)
8
O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.(C)
9
O [reverently] fear the Lord, you His saints (believers, holy ones);
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
10
The young lions lack [food] and grow hungry,
But they who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.
11
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you to fear the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience].
12
Who is the man who desires life
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13
Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14
Turn away from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
15
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous [those with moral courage and spiritual integrity]
And His ears are open to their cry.
16
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.(D)
17
When the righteous cry [for help], the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their distress and troubles.
18
The Lord is near to the heartbroken
And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).
19
Many hardships and perplexing circumstances confront the righteous,
But the Lord rescues him from them all.
20
He keeps all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.(E)
21
Evil will cause the death of the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be held guilty and will be condemned.
22
The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
Footnotes
- Psalm 34:3 The ancient rabbis applied this verse specifically to the saying of grace after a meal and instituted the practice of zimmum (“invitation”) as a religious duty for three or more men who had eaten together. They were to invite one another to say the blessing. One then said the blessing and the others were required to say “Amen” in voices no louder than that of the speaker of the blessing, based on the word together. It was also taught that all the participants in the blessing receive a reward from God.
- Psalm 34:7 See note Gen 16:7.
Psalm 34
New International Version
Psalm 34
New International Version
Psalm 34[a][b]
Of David. When he pretended to be insane(A) before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
1 I will extol the Lord at all times;(B)
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory(C) in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.(D)
3 Glorify the Lord(E) with me;
let us exalt(F) his name together.
4 I sought the Lord,(G) and he answered me;
he delivered(H) me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;(I)
their faces are never covered with shame.(J)
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.(K)
7 The angel of the Lord(L) encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers(M) them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;(N)
blessed is the one who takes refuge(O) in him.
9 Fear the Lord,(P) you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.(Q)
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.(R)
11 Come, my children, listen(S) to me;
I will teach you(T) the fear of the Lord.(U)
12 Whoever of you loves life(V)
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue(W) from evil
and your lips from telling lies.(X)
14 Turn from evil and do good;(Y)
seek peace(Z) and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord(AA) are on the righteous,(AB)
and his ears are attentive(AC) to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against(AD) those who do evil,(AE)
to blot out their name(AF) from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears(AG) them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close(AH) to the brokenhearted(AI)
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Footnotes
- Psalm 34:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
- Psalm 34:1 In Hebrew texts 34:1-22 is numbered 34:2-23.
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