Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to 1 Samuel 20
Close NASB

1 Samuel 20
New American Standard Bible

David and Jonathan’s Covenant

20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and he came and (A)said [a]to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?” 2 He said to him, “Far from it, you shall not die! Behold, my father does nothing either great or small [b]without informing me. So why would my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!” 3 Yet David (B)vowed again, [c]saying, “Your father is well aware that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Jonathan is not to know this, otherwise he will be worried.’ But indeed (C)as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is [d]just a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever [e]you say, I will do for you.” 5 So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is (D)the new moon, and I am obligated (E)to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go (F)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 requested leave of me to run to (G)Bethlehem, his city, because it is (H)the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’ 7 If he [f]says, ‘That is good,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, (I)be aware that he has decided on evil. 8 So deal kindly with your servant, for (J)you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But (K)if [g]I am guilty of wrongdoing, kill me yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?” 9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I in fact learn that my father has decided [h]to inflict harm on you, would I not inform you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will inform me [i]if your father answers you harshly?” 11 Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let’s go out to the field.” So both of them 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 [j]you, shall I not then send word to you and [k]inform you? 13 If it pleases my father to do you harm, (L)may the Lord do so to [l]me and more so, if I fail to [m]inform you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. And (M)may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14 And if I am still alive, will you not show me the faithfulness of the Lord, so that I do not die? 15 And (N)you shall never cut off your loyalty to 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 house of David, saying, “(O)May the Lord demand it from the hands of David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because (P)he loved him as he loved his own life.

18 Then Jonathan said to him, “(Q)Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed since 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 on that eventful day, and you shall remain beside the stone Ezel. 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target. 21 Then behold, I will send the boy, telling him, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come, because it is safe for you and there is nothing to harm you, as the Lord lives. 22 But if I [n]say to the youth, ‘(R)Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, because the Lord has sent you away. 23 (S)As for the [o]agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, (T)the Lord is between you and me forever.”

24 So David hid himself in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 Now the king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up and Abner sat down by Saul’s side; but (U)David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, because he thought, “It must have been an [p]accident; (V)he is not clean, undoubtedly he is not clean.” 27 But it came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty again; so Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 And Jonathan answered Saul, “(W)David earnestly requested leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has ordered me to attend. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ For this reason 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 perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For, [q]as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now then, send men and bring him to me, for (X)he is [r]doomed to die!” 32 But Jonathan replied to his father Saul and said to him, “(Y)Why must he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 Then (Z)Saul hurled his spear at him to strike and kill him; (AA)so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death. 34 Then Jonathan got up from the table in the heat of anger, and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, because he was worried about David since his father had insulted him.

35 Now it came about in the morning that Jonathan went out to the field at the time agreed upon with David, and a little boy was with him. 36 He said to his boy, “(AB)Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot.” The boy ran, and he shot [s]an arrow past him. 37 When the boy reached the location of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “(AC)Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38 Then Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” And Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came to his master. 39 But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.” 41 When the boy was gone, David got up from the south side, then he fell on his face to the ground and (AD)bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, until (AE)David wept immeasurably. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “(AF)Go [t]in safety, since we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘(AG)The Lord will be between me and you, and between my [u]descendants and your [v]descendants forever.’” [w]So David set out and went on his way, while Jonathan went into the city.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 20:1 Lit before
  2. 1 Samuel 20:2 Lit and he does not uncover my ear
  3. 1 Samuel 20:3 Lit and said
  4. 1 Samuel 20:3 Lit about
  5. 1 Samuel 20:4 Lit your soul says
  6. 1 Samuel 20:7 Lit says thus
  7. 1 Samuel 20:8 Lit guilt exists in me
  8. 1 Samuel 20:9 Lit evil to come on
  9. 1 Samuel 20:10 As in ancient versions; MT or what your father
  10. 1 Samuel 20:12 Lit David
  11. 1 Samuel 20:12 Lit uncover your ear
  12. 1 Samuel 20:13 Lit Jonathan
  13. 1 Samuel 20:13 Lit uncover your ear
  14. 1 Samuel 20:22 Lit say thus
  15. 1 Samuel 20:23 Lit word
  16. 1 Samuel 20:26 I.e., accident of ritual pollution
  17. 1 Samuel 20:31 Lit all the days which
  18. 1 Samuel 20:31 Lit a son of death
  19. 1 Samuel 20:36 Lit the
  20. 1 Samuel 20:42 Lit to peace
  21. 1 Samuel 20:42 Lit seed
  22. 1 Samuel 20:42 Lit seed
  23. 1 Samuel 20:42 Ch 21:1 in Heb
Close CEB

1 Samuel 20
Common English Bible

Jonathan and David’s friendship

20 David fled from the camps at Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father that he wants me dead?”

2 Jonathan said to him, “No! You are not going to die! Listen: My father doesn’t do anything big or small without telling me first. Why would my father hide this from me? It isn’t true!”

3 But David solemnly promised in response, “Your father knows full well that you like me. He probably said, ‘Jonathan must not learn about this or he’ll be upset.’[a] But I promise you—on the Lord’s life and yours!—that I am this close to death!”

4 “What do you want me to do?” Jonathan said to David. “I’ll do it.”

5 “Okay, listen,” David answered Jonathan. “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I’m supposed to sit with the king at the feast. Instead, let me go and I’ll hide in the field until nighttime.[b] 6 If your father takes note of my absence, tell him, ‘David begged my permission to run down to his hometown Bethlehem, because there is an annual sacrifice there for his whole family.’ 7 If Saul says ‘Fine,’ then I, your servant, am safe. But if he loses his temper, then you’ll know for certain that he intends to harm me. 8 So be loyal to your servant, because you’ve brought your servant into a sacred covenant[c] with you. If I’m guilty, then kill me yourself; just don’t take me back to your father.”

9 “Enough!” Jonathan replied. “If I can determine for certain that my father intends to harm you, of course I’ll tell you!”

10 “Who will tell me if your father responds harshly?” David asked Jonathan.

11 “Come on,” Jonathan said to David. “Let’s go into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. 12 Then Jonathan told David, “I pledge by the Lord God of Israel that I will question my father by this time tomorrow or on the third day. If he seems favorable toward David, I will definitely send word and make sure you know. 13 But if my father intends to harm you, then may the Lord deal harshly with me, Jonathan, and worse still if I don’t tell you right away so that you can escape safely. May the Lord be with you as he once was with my father. 14 If I remain alive, be loyal to me.[d] But if I die, 15 don’t ever stop being loyal to my household. Once the Lord has eliminated all of David’s enemies from the earth, 16 if Jonathan’s name is also eliminated, then the Lord will seek retribution from David!”[e]

17 So Jonathan again made a pledge to David[f] because he loved David as much as himself. 18 “Tomorrow is the festival of the new moon,” Jonathan told David. “You will be missed because your seat will be empty. 19 The day after tomorrow, go all the way to the spot where you hid on the day of the incident, and stay close to that mound.[g] 20 On the third day I will shoot an arrow to the side of the mound as if aiming at a target.[h] 21 Then I’ll send the servant boy, saying, ‘Go retrieve the arrow.’ If I yell to the boy, ‘Hey! The arrow is on this side of you. Get it!’ then you can come out because it will be safe for you. There won’t be any trouble—I make a pledge on the Lord’s life. 22 But if I yell to the young man, ‘Hey! The arrow is past you,’ then run for it, because the Lord has sent you away. 23 Either way, the Lord is witness[i] between us forever regarding the promise we made to each other.” 24 So David hid himself in the field.

When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. 25 He took his customary seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite him[j] while Abner sat beside Saul. David’s seat was empty. 26 Saul didn’t say anything that day because he thought, Perhaps David became unclean somehow. That must be it. 27 But on the next day, the second of the new moon, David’s seat was still empty. Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t Jesse’s son come to the table,[k] either yesterday or today?”

28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David begged my permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go because we have a family sacrifice there in town, and my brother has ordered me to be present. Please do me a favor and let me slip away so I can see my family.’ That’s why David hasn’t been at the king’s table.”

30 At that, Saul got angry at Jonathan. “You son of a stubborn, rebellious woman!” he said. “Do you think I don’t know how you’ve allied yourself with Jesse’s son? Shame on you and on the mother who birthed you![l] 31 As long as Jesse’s son lives on this earth, neither you nor your dynasty will be secure. Now have him brought to me because he’s a dead man!”

32 But Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should David be executed? What has he done?”

33 At that, Saul threw[m] his spear at Jonathan to strike him, and Jonathan realized that his father intended to kill David. 34 Jonathan got up from the table in a rage. He didn’t eat anything on the second day of the new moon because he was worried about David and because his father had humiliated him.

35 In the morning, Jonathan went out to the field for the meeting with David, and a young servant boy went with him. 36 He said to the boy, “Go quickly and retrieve the arrow that I shoot.” So the boy ran off, and he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy got to the spot where Jonathan shot the arrow, Jonathan yelled to him, “Isn’t the arrow past you?” 38 Jonathan yelled again to the boy, “Quick! Hurry up! Don’t just stand there!” So Jonathan’s servant boy gathered up the arrow and came back to his master. 39 The boy had no idea what had happened; only Jonathan and David knew. 40 Jonathan handed his weapons to the boy and told him, “Get going. Take these back to town.”

41 As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from behind the mound[n] and fell down, face on the ground, bowing low three times. The friends kissed each other, and cried with each other, but David cried hardest. 42 [o] Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace because the two of us made a solemn pledge in the Lord’s name when we said, ‘The Lord is witness between us and between our descendants forever.’” Then David got up and left, but Jonathan went back to town.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 20:3 LXX or he’ll tell David; cf 20:34
  2. 1 Samuel 20:5 LXX; MT until the third evening; cf 20:12, 19-20
  3. 1 Samuel 20:8 MT the Lord’s covenant
  4. 1 Samuel 20:14 LXX; MT show me the Lord’s faithful love
  5. 1 Samuel 20:16 20:14-16 follows LXX.
  6. 1 Samuel 20:17 LXX; MT Jonathan made David pledge.
  7. 1 Samuel 20:19 LXX; MT to the stone Ezel; cf 20:41
  8. 1 Samuel 20:20 Correction; MT arrows (plural here and in 20:21-22, 36, 38 Qere)
  9. 1 Samuel 20:23 LXX; MT lacks witness; also in 20:42.
  10. 1 Samuel 20:25 LXX; MT Jonathan arose
  11. 1 Samuel 20:27 LXX, DSS (4QSamb); MT to the feast
  12. 1 Samuel 20:30 Or and shame on your mother’s nakedness.
  13. 1 Samuel 20:33 LXX; MT pointed
  14. 1 Samuel 20:41 LXX; MT beside the south
  15. 1 Samuel 20:42 21:1 in Heb
Next
1 Samuel 19
1 Samuel 21
Next
dropdown
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible