1 Samuel 20-22

Contemporary English Version

Jonathan Helps David Escape

20 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 (A) David answered:

Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,^[a] 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 (B) 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.^[b] Then Jonathan said, “I pray that the Lord will take revenge on your descendants if they break our promise.”^[c]

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.^[d] Then go to the place where you hid before and stay beside Going-Away Rock.^{[e] 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,^[f] 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.^[g] 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 David^[h] 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 mound^[i] and bowed very low three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed^[j] 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.

Ahimelech Helps David

21 ^(C) David went to see Ahimelech, a priest who lived in the town of Nob. Ahimelech was trembling with fear as he came out to meet David. “Why are you alone?” Ahimelech asked. “Why isn't anyone else with you?”

² “I'm on a mission for King Saul,” David answered. “He ordered me not to tell anyone what the mission is all about, so I ordered my soldiers to stay somewhere else. ³ Do you have any food you can give me? Could you spare five loaves of bread?”

⁴ “The only bread I have is the sacred bread,” the priest told David. “You can have it if your soldiers didn't sleep with women last night.”^[k]

⁵ “Of course we didn't sleep with women,” David answered. “I never let my men do that when we're on a mission. They have to be acceptable to worship God even when we're on a regular mission, and today we're on a special mission.”

^6 (D) The only bread the priest had was the sacred bread that he had taken from the place of worship after putting out the fresh loaves. So he gave it to David.

⁷ It so happened that one of Saul's officers was there, worshiping the Lord that day. His name was Doeg the Edomite,^[l] and he was the strongest of^[m] Saul's shepherds.

⁸ David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or a sword? I had to leave so quickly on this mission for the king that I didn't bring along my sword or any other weapons.”

^9 (E) The priest answered, “The only sword here is the one that belonged to Goliath the Philistine. You were the one who killed him in Elah Valley, and so you can take his sword if you want to. It's wrapped in a cloth behind the statue.”

“It's the best sword there is,” David said. “I'll take it!”

David Tries To Find Safety in Gath

¹⁰ David kept on running from Saul that day until he came to Gath,^[n] where he met with King Achish. ^11 (F) The officers of King Achish were also there, and they asked Achish, “Isn't David a king back in his own country? Don't the Israelites dance and sing,

^12 (G) David thought about what they were saying, and it made him afraid of Achish. ^13 (H) So right there in front of everyone, he pretended to be insane. He acted confused and started making scratches on the doors of the town gate, while drooling in his beard.

¹⁴ “Look at him!” Achish said to his officers. “You can see he's crazy. Why did you bring him to me? ¹⁵ I have enough crazy people without your bringing another one here. Keep him away from my palace!”

People Join David

22 ^(I) When David escaped from the town of Gath, he went to Adullam Cave. His brothers and the rest of his family found out where he was, and they followed him there. ² A lot of other people joined him too. Some were in trouble, others were angry or in debt, and David was soon the leader of 400 men.

³ David left Adullam Cave and went to the town of Mizpeh in Moab, where he talked with the king of Moab. “Please,” David said, “let my father and mother stay with you until I find out what God will do with me.” ⁴ So he brought his parents to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him while David was in hiding.

⁵ One day the prophet Gad told David, “Don't stay here! Go back to Judah.” David then left and went to Hereth Forest.

Saul Kills the Priests of the Lord

⁶ Saul was sitting under a small tree on top of the hill at Gibeah when he heard that David and his men had been located. Saul was holding his spear, and his officers were standing in front of him. ⁷ He told them:

Listen to me! You belong to the Benjamin tribe,^[o] so if that son of Jesse ever becomes king, he won't give you fields or vineyards. He won't make you officers in charge of thousands or hundreds as I have done. ⁸ But you're all plotting against me! Not one of you told me that my own son Jonathan had made an agreement with him. Not one of you cared enough to tell me that Jonathan had helped one of my officers^[p] rebel. Now that son of Jesse is trying to ambush me.

^9 (J) Doeg the Edomite was standing with the other officers and spoke up, “When I was in the town of Nob, I saw that son of Jesse. He was visiting the priest Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. ¹⁰ Ahimelech talked to the Lord for him, then gave him food and the sword that had belonged to Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Saul sent a message to Ahimelech and his whole family of priests at Nob, ordering them to come to him. When they came, ¹² Saul told them, “Listen to me, you son of Ahitub.”

“Certainly, Your Majesty,” Ahimelech answered.

¹³ Saul demanded, “Why did you plot against me with that son of Jesse? You helped him rebel against me by giving him food and a sword, and by talking with God for him. Now he's trying to ambush me!”

¹⁴ “Your Majesty, none of your officers is more loyal than David!” Ahimelech replied. “He's your son-in-law and the captain of your bodyguard. Everyone in your family respects him. ¹⁵ This isn't the first time I've talked with God for David, and it's never made you angry before! Please don't accuse me or my family like this. I have no idea what's going on!”

¹⁶ “Ahimelech,” Saul said, “you and your whole family are going to die.”

¹⁷ Saul shouted to his bodyguards, “These priests of the Lord helped David! They knew he was running away, but they didn't tell me. Kill them!”

But the king's officers would not attack the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸ Saul turned to Doeg, who was from Edom, and said, “Kill the priests!”

On that same day, Doeg killed 85 priests. ¹⁹ Then he attacked the town of Nob, where the priests had lived, and he killed everyone there—men, women, children, and babies. He even killed their cattle, donkeys, and sheep.

Only Abiathar Escapes from Nob

²⁰ Ahimelech's son Abiathar was the only one who escaped. He ran to David ²¹ and told him, “Saul has murdered the Lord's priests at Nob!”

²² David answered, “That day when I saw Doeg, I knew he would tell Saul! Your family died because of me. ²³ Stay here. Isn't the same person trying to kill both of us? Don't worry! You'll be safe here with me.”