1 Samuel 18-20

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 18

David and Jonathan. ¹ By the time David finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan’s life became bound up with David’s life; he loved him as his very self.^{(A) 2} Saul retained David on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house.^{(B) 3} Jonathan and David made a covenant, because Jonathan loved him as his very self. ⁴ Jonathan took off^[a] the cloak he was wearing and handed it over to David, along with his military dress, even his sword, bow, and belt.^{(C) 5} David then carried out successfully every mission on which Saul sent him. So Saul put him in charge of his soldiers; this met with the approval of the whole army, even Saul’s officers.

Saul’s Jealousy. ⁶ At the approach of Saul and David, on David’s return after striking down the Philistine, women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet Saul the king, singing and dancing, with tambourines, joyful songs, and stringed instruments.^{[b](D) 7} The women played and sang:

⁸ Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought: “They give David tens of thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.” ⁹ From that day on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

^10 (F)The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raged in his house. David was in attendance, playing the harp as at other times, while Saul was holding his spear. ¹¹ Saul poised the spear, thinking, “I will nail David to the wall!” But twice David escaped him. ¹² Saul then began to fear David because the Lord was with him but had turned away from Saul. ¹³ Saul sent him out of his presence and appointed him a field officer. So David led the people on their military expeditions ¹⁴ and prospered in all his ways, for the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Seeing how he prospered, Saul feared David. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, since he led them on their expeditions.^[c](G)

Saul Plots Against David. ¹⁷ Saul said to David, “Look, I will give you my older daughter, Merob, in marriage if you become my warrior and fight the battles of the Lord.” Saul thought, “I will not lay a hand on him. Let the hand of the Philistines strike him.”^{(H) 18} But David answered Saul: “Who am I? And who are my kindred or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” ¹⁹ But when the time came for Saul’s daughter Merob to be given to David, she was given as wife to Adriel the Meholathite instead.^(I)

²⁰ Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. When this was reported to Saul, he was pleased.^{(J) 21} He thought, “I will offer her to him as a trap, so that the hand of the Philistines may strike him.” So for the second time Saul said to David, “You shall become my son-in-law today.” ²² Saul then ordered his servants, “Speak to David privately and say: The king favors you, and all his officers love you. You should become son-in-law to the king.” ²³ But when Saul’s servants mentioned this to David, he said: “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law a trivial matter in your eyes? I am poor and insignificant.” ²⁴ When his servants reported David’s answer to him, ²⁵ Saul commanded them, “Say this to David: The king desires no other price for the bride than the foreskins of one hundred Philistines, that he may thus take vengeance on his enemies.” Saul intended to have David fall into the hands of the Philistines.^{(K) 26} When the servants reported this offer to David, he was pleased with the prospect of becoming the king’s son-in-law. Before the year was up, ²⁷ David arose and went with his men and slew two hundred Philistines. He brought back their foreskins and counted them out before the king that he might become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him his daughter Michal as wife. ²⁸ Then Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his own daughter Michal loved David. ²⁹ So Saul feared David all the more and was his enemy ever after.

³⁰ The Philistine chiefs continued to make forays, but each time they took the field, David was more successful against them than any of Saul’s other officers, and his name was held in great esteem.

Chapter 19

Persecution of David. ¹ Saul discussed his intention to kill David with his son Jonathan and with all his servants. But Saul’s son Jonathan, who was very fond of David,^{(L) 2} told him: “My father Saul is trying to kill you. Therefore, please be on your guard tomorrow morning; stay out of sight and remain in hiding. ³ I, however, will go out and stand beside my father in the countryside where you are, and will speak to him about you. If I learn anything, I will let you know.”

⁴ Jonathan then spoke well of David to his father Saul, telling him: “The king should not harm his servant David. He has not harmed you, but has helped you very much by his deeds.^{[d] 5} When he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord won a great victory for all Israel, you were glad to see it. Why, then, should you become guilty of shedding innocent blood by killing David without cause?”^{(M) 6} Saul heeded Jonathan’s plea and swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” ⁷ So Jonathan summoned David and repeated the whole conversation to him. He then brought David to Saul, and David served him as before.

David Escapes from Saul. ⁸ When war broke out again, David went out to fight against the Philistines and inflicted such a great defeat upon them that they fled from him. ^9 (N)Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with spear in hand while David was playing the harp nearby. ¹⁰ Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David eluded Saul, and the spear struck only the wall, while David got away safely.

¹¹ The same night, Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal informed him, “Unless you run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”^{[e] 12} Then Michal let David down through a window, and he made his escape in safety.^{(O) 13} Michal took the teraphim^[f] and laid it in the bed, putting a tangle of goat’s hair at its head and covering it with a blanket.^{(P) 14} When Saul sent officers to arrest David, she said, “He is sick.” ¹⁵ Saul, however, sent the officers back to see David and commanded them, “Bring him up to me in his bed, that I may kill him.” ¹⁶ But when the messengers entered, they found the teraphim in the bed, with the tangle of goat’s hair at its head. ¹⁷ Saul asked Michal: “Why did you lie to me like this? You have helped my enemy to get away!” Michal explained to Saul: “He threatened me, saying ‘Let me go or I will kill you.’”

David and Saul in Ramah. ¹⁸ When David got safely away, he went to Samuel in Ramah, informing him of all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to stay in Naioth.^{[g] 19} When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah, ²⁰ he sent officers to arrest David. But when they saw the band of prophets presided over by Samuel in a prophetic state, the spirit of God came upon them and they too fell into the prophetic ecstasy.^{(Q) 21} Informed of this, Saul sent other messengers, who also fell into the prophetic ecstasy. For the third time Saul sent messengers, but they too fell into a prophetic ecstasy.

Saul Among the Prophets. ²² Finally Saul went to Ramah himself. Arriving at the large cistern in Secu, he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” Someone answered, “At Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ As he walked from there to Naioth in Ramah, the spirit of God came upon him also, and he continued on, acting like a prophet until he reached Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ Then he, too, stripped himself of his garments and remained in a prophetic state in the presence of Samuel;^[h] all that day and night he lay naked. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”^(R)

Chapter 20

David Consults with Jonathan. ¹ David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went to Jonathan. “What have I done?” he asked him. “What crime or what offense does your father hold against me that he seeks my life?”^{(S) 2} Jonathan answered him: “Heaven forbid that you should die! My father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. Why, then, should my father conceal this from me? It cannot be true!” ³ But David replied: “Your father is well aware that I am favored with your friendship, so he has decided, ‘Jonathan must not know about this or he will be grieved.’ Nevertheless, as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.” ⁴ Jonathan then said to David, “I will do whatever you say.” ⁵ David answered: “Tomorrow is the new moon, when I should in fact dine with the king. Let me go and hide in the open country until evening.^{(T) 6} If it turns out that your father misses me, say, ‘David urged me to let him go on short notice to his city Bethlehem, because his whole clan is holding its seasonal sacrifice there.’^{(U) 7} If he says, ‘Very well,’ your servant is safe. But if he becomes quite angry, you can be sure he has planned some harm. ^8 (V)Do this kindness for your servant because of the Lord’s covenant into which you brought us: if I am guilty, kill me yourself! Why should you give me up to your father?” ⁹ But Jonathan answered: “Not I! If ever I find out that my father is determined to harm you, I will certainly let you know.” ¹⁰ David then asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father gives you a harsh answer?”

Mutual Agreement. ¹¹ Jonathan replied to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” When they were out in the open country together, ¹² Jonathan said to David: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, I will sound out my father about this time tomorrow. Whether he is well disposed toward David or not, I will inform you. ^13 (W)Should it please my father to bring any harm upon you, may the Lord do thus to Jonathan and more,^[i] if I do not inform you of it and send you on your way in peace. May the Lord be with you even as he was with my father. ¹⁴ Only this: if I am still alive, may you show me the kindness of the Lord. But if I die, ¹⁵ never cut off your kindness from my house. And when the Lord cuts off all the enemies of David from the face of the land, ¹⁶ the name of Jonathan must never be cut off from the family of David, or the Lord will make you answer for it.” ¹⁷ And in his love for David, Jonathan renewed his oath to him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

¹⁸ Jonathan then said to him: “Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, since your place will be vacant. ¹⁹ On the third day you will be missed all the more. Go to the spot where you hid on the other occasion and wait near the mound there.^{(X) 20} On the third day of the month I will shoot arrows to the side of it, as though aiming at a target. ²¹ I will then send my attendant to recover the arrows. If in fact I say to him, ‘Look, the arrow is this side of you; pick it up,’ come, for you are safe. As the Lord lives, there will be nothing to fear. ²² But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrow is beyond you,’ go, for the Lord sends you away. ²³ However, in the matter which you and I have discussed, the Lord shall be between you and me forever.” ²⁴ So David hid in the open country.

David’s Absence. On the day of the new moon, when the king sat down at the feast to dine, ²⁵ he took his usual place against the wall. Jonathan sat facing him, while Abner sat at the king’s side. David’s place was vacant. ^26 (Y)Saul, however, said nothing that day, for he thought, “He must have become unclean by accident.”^{[j] 27} On the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was still vacant. So Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to table yesterday or today?” ²⁸ Jonathan explained to Saul: “David pleaded with me to let him go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ ‘Please let me go,’ he begged, ‘for we are having a clan sacrifice in our city, and my brothers insist on my presence. Now then, if you think well of me, give me leave to visit my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.” ³⁰ But Saul grew angry with Jonathan and said to him: “Son of a rebellious woman, do I not know that, to your own disgrace and to the disgrace of your mother’s nakedness, you are the companion of Jesse’s son? ³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, you cannot make good your claim to the kingship!^[k] Now send for him, and bring him to me, for he must die.”^{(Z) 32} But Jonathan argued with his father Saul: “Why should he die? What has he done?” ³³ At this Saul brandished his spear to strike him, and thus Jonathan learned that his father was determined to kill David.^{(AA) 34} Jonathan sprang up from the table in a rage and ate nothing that second day of the month, because he was grieved on David’s account, and because his father had humiliated him.

Jonathan’s Farewell. ³⁵ The next morning Jonathan, accompanied by a young boy, went out into the field for his appointment with David. ³⁶ There he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows.” And as the boy ran, he shot an arrow past him. ³⁷ When the boy made for the spot where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called after him, “The arrow is farther on!” ³⁸ Again he called to the boy, “Hurry, be quick, don’t delay!” Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and brought it to his master. ³⁹ The boy suspected nothing; only Jonathan and David knew what was meant. ⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, take them to the city.” ⁴¹ When the boy had gone, David rose from beside the mound and fell on his face to the ground three times in homage. They kissed each other and wept aloud together. ^42 (AB)At length Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, in keeping with what the two of us have sworn by the name of the Lord: ‘The Lord shall be between you and me, and between your offspring and mine forever.’”