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1 Samuel 20
Legacy Standard Bible

David and Jonathan’s Covenant

20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and (A)said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?” 2 And he said to him, “Far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without revealing it in my ear. So why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!” 3 Yet David (B)swore again, [a]saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly (C)as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, there is [b]hardly a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your soul says, I will do for you.” 5 So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is (D)the new moon, and I ought (E)to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, (F)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 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 [c]says, ‘It is good,’ your servant will have peace; but if he is very angry, (I)know that he has decided on evil. 8 Therefore show lovingkindness to your servant, for (J)you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you. But (K)if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I should indeed come to know that evil has been decided by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you about it?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me [d]if your father answers you harshly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out to the field.

12 Then Jonathan said to David, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have examined my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good feeling toward David, shall I not then send to you and reveal it in your ear? 13 If it please my father to do you harm, (L)may Yahweh do so to Jonathan and more also, if I do not reveal it in your ear and send you away, that you may go in peace. And (M)may Yahweh be with you as He has been with my father. 14 And if I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness of Yahweh, that I may not die? 15 (N)You shall not cut off your lovingkindness from my house forever, not even when Yahweh cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan cut a covenant with the house of David, saying, “(O)May Yahweh require it at the hands of David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David swear again because of his love for him, because (P)he loved him as he loved his own soul.

18 Then Jonathan said to him, “(Q)Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed because your seat will be missing. 19 When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place [e]where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain by the stone Ezel. 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I sent them towards a target. 21 And behold, I will send the young man, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the young man, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come, for there is peace for you and [f]no harm, as Yahweh lives. 22 But if I [g]say to the youth, ‘(R)Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, for Yahweh has sent you away. 23 (S)As for the [h]agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, (T)Yahweh is between you and me forever.”

24 So David hid in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 And the king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat down by Saul’s side, but (U)David’s place was missing. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not speak anything that day, for he said, “It is an accident; (V)he is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 Now it happened the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was missing; so Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan then answered Saul, “(W)David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem, 29 and he said, ‘Please send me on my way, since our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to attend. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me get away 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 [i]as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. So now, send and bring him to me, for (X)he [j]must surely die.” 32 But Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, “(Y)Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 Then (Z)Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down; (AA)so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death. 34 Then Jonathan arose from the table in burning anger and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved over David because his father had dishonored him.

35 Now it happened in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field for the appointment with David, and a very young man was with him. 36 And he said to his young man, “(AB)Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot.” As the young man was running, he shot [k]an arrow past him. 37 When the young man reached the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the lad and said, “(AC)Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38 And Jonathan called after the young man, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” And Jonathan’s young man gathered up the arrow and came to his master. 39 But the young man did not know of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his young man and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.” 41 When the young man was gone, David rose from the south side and fell on his [l]face to the ground and (AD)bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, but (AE)David wept more. 42 And Jonathan said to David, “(AF)Go in peace, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of Yahweh, saying, ‘(AG)Yahweh will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed forever.’” [m]Then he rose and departed, while Jonathan went into the city.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 20:3 Lit and said
  2. 1 Samuel 20:3 Lit about
  3. 1 Samuel 20:7 Lit says thus
  4. 1 Samuel 20:10 Lit or what
  5. 1 Samuel 20:19 Or on the next working day, to the place where you will hide yourself
  6. 1 Samuel 20:21 Lit there is nothing
  7. 1 Samuel 20:22 Lit say thus
  8. 1 Samuel 20:23 Lit word
  9. 1 Samuel 20:31 Lit all the days which
  10. 1 Samuel 20:31 Lit is a son of death
  11. 1 Samuel 20:36 Lit the
  12. 1 Samuel 20:41 Lit nose
  13. 1 Samuel 20:42 Ch 21:1 in Heb
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1 Samuel 20
Holman Christian Standard Bible

Jonathan Protects David

20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done?(A) What did I do wrong? How have I sinned against your father so that he wants to take my life?”

2 Jonathan said to him, “No, you won’t die. Listen, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without telling me.[a] So why would he hide this matter from me? This can’t be true.”

3 But David said, “Your father certainly knows that you have come to look favorably on me. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.’” David also swore, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”(B)

4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

5 So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon,(C) and I’m supposed to sit down and eat with the king.(D) Instead, let me go, and I’ll hide in the field until the third night.(E) 6 If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to quickly go to his town Bethlehem(F) for an annual sacrifice(G) there involving the whole clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions. 8 Deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the Lord.(H) If I have done anything wrong,(I) then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?”

9 “No!” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

10 So David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

11 He answered David, “Come on, let’s go out to the field.” So both of them went out to the field. 12 “By the Lord, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?[b] 13 If my father intends to bring evil on you, may God punish Jonathan and do so severely(J) if I do not tell you[c] and send you away so you may go in peace. May the Lord be with you,(K) just as He was with my father. 14 If I continue to live, treat me with the Lord’s faithful love, but if I die, 15 don’t ever withdraw your faithful love from my household—not even when the Lord cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”(L) 16 Then Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David,(M) saying, “May the Lord hold David’s enemies accountable.”[d](N) 17 Jonathan once again swore to David[e] in his love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.(O)

18 Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the New Moon;(P) you’ll be missed because your seat will be empty. 19 The following day hurry down and go to the place where you hid on the day this incident began and stay beside the rock Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target. 21 Then I will send the young man and say, ‘Go and find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you—get them,’ then come, because as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem. 22 But if I say this to the youth: ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you!’(Q) then go, for the Lord is sending you away. 23 As for the matter you and I have spoken about,(R) the Lord will be a witness[f] between you and me forever.”(S) 24 So David hid in the field.

At the New Moon, the king sat down to eat the meal. 25 He sat at his usual place on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat facing him[g] and Abner took his place beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.(T) 26 Saul did not say anything that day because he thought, “Something unexpected has happened; he must be ceremonially unclean—yes, that’s it, he is unclean.”(U)

27 However, the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

28 Jonathan answered, “David asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem.(V) 29 He said, ‘Please let me go because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if you are pleased with me, let me go so I can see my brothers.’ That’s why he didn’t come to the king’s table.”

30 Then Saul became angry with Jonathan and shouted, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you are siding with Jesse’s son to your own shame and to the disgrace of your mother?[h] 31 Every day Jesse’s son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me—he deserves to die.”(W)

32 Jonathan answered his father back: “Why is he to be killed? What has he done?”(X)

33 Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him,(Y) so he knew that his father was determined to kill David.(Z) 34 He got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the New Moon, for he was grieved because of his father’s shameful behavior toward David.

35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointed meeting with David. A small young man was with him. 36 He said to the young man, “Run and find the arrows I’m shooting.”(AA) As the young man ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37 He came to the location of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, but Jonathan called to him and said, “The arrow is beyond you, isn’t it?”(AB) 38 Then Jonathan called to him, “Hurry up and don’t stop!” Jonathan’s young man picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 He did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. 40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the young man who was with him and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

41 When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell with his face to the ground, and bowed three times.(AC) Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.(AD)

42 Jonathan then said to David, “Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of the Lord when we said: The Lord will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.”[i](AE) Then David left, and Jonathan went into the city.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 20:2 Lit without uncovering my ear
  2. 1 Samuel 20:12 Lit and uncover your ear
  3. 1 Samuel 20:13 Lit will uncover your ears
  4. 1 Samuel 20:16 Lit Lord require it from the hand of David’s enemies
  5. 1 Samuel 20:17 LXX; MT reads Jonathan once again made David swear
  6. 1 Samuel 20:23 LXX; MT omits a witness
  7. 1 Samuel 20:25 Text emended; MT reads Jonathan got up
  8. 1 Samuel 20:30 Lit your mother’s genitals
  9. 1 Samuel 20:42 The last sentence of v. 42 is 1Sm 21:1 in Hb.
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