1 SamuelChapter 20

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¹Then David ran away from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What wrong have I done? How have I sinned against your father? Why is he trying to kill me?" ²"Far from it!" Jonathan said. "You won't die. My father doesn't do anything, big or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this from me? It isn't true!" ³But David made a promise again. "Your father knows very well that you like me," he said. "And he has said, 'Jonathan must not know about this, or it will hurt him.' But as surely as the LORD lives, and as surely as you live, I am only one step away from death." ⁴Jonathan said to David, "I'll do anything you want me to do for you." ⁵So David told him, "Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast. I'm supposed to eat with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the third day. ⁶Your father may notice that I'm gone. If he does, tell him, 'David begged me to let him hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown. His whole clan is offering its yearly sacrifice there.' ⁷If he says, 'Good,' then I, your servant, am safe. But if he gets very angry, you'll know he plans to harm me. ⁸So be kind to me, your servant, because you made a covenant with me before the LORD. If I have done wrong, kill me yourself! Why should you hand me over to your father?" ⁹"Never!" Jonathan said. "If I ever found out that my father planned to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?" ¹⁰Then David asked Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?" ¹¹"Come," Jonathan said. "Let's go out to the field." So the two of them went out into the field. ¹²Jonathan said, "I promise by the LORD, the God of Israel. By this time tomorrow or the next day, I'll find out what my father is thinking. If he feels good toward you, won't I send for you and tell you? ¹³But my father may plan to harm you. If so, and I don't tell you and send you away safely, may the LORD punish me very hard. May the LORD be with you, just as he has been with my father. ¹⁴And as long as I live, show me the LORD's faithful love, so that I won't die. ¹⁵And never stop showing your faithful love to my family. Don't stop even when the LORD wipes out every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth." ¹⁶So Jonathan made a covenant with the family of David. He said, "May the LORD make David's enemies pay." ¹⁷Jonathan had David make his promise again, because he loved him. Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. ¹⁸Then Jonathan said to David, "Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. People will notice you're gone, because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹After three days, hurry down to the place where you hid when this trouble began. Wait beside the stone Ezel. ²⁰I'll shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target. ²¹Then I'll send a boy and say, 'Go, find the arrows!' I may say to him, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you. Bring them here.' If I say that, then come. As surely as the LORD lives, you'll be safe. There will be no danger. ²²But I may say to the boy, 'Look, the arrows are past you.' If I say that, then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away. ²³And remember what you and I have talked about. The LORD is a witness between you and me forever." ²⁴So David hid in the field. When the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. ²⁵He sat in his usual seat by the wall. Jonathan sat across from him, and Abner sat next to Saul. But David's seat was empty. ²⁶Saul didn't say anything that day. He thought, "Something must have happened to David to make him unclean for the feast. Surely he is unclean." ²⁷But the next day, the second day of the month, David's seat was still empty. Saul asked his son Jonathan, "Why hasn't the son of Jesse come to the meal? He didn't come yesterday or today." ²⁸Jonathan answered, "David begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. ²⁹He said, 'Please let me go. Our clan is offering a sacrifice in the town. My brother told me to be there. So if you are pleased with me, please let me go and see my brothers.' That's why he hasn't come to the king's table." ³⁰Then Saul burned with anger at Jonathan. He said to him, "You son of a twisted and rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse? It brings shame on you. And it brings shame on the mother who gave birth to you! ³¹As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, you and your kingdom will never be secure. Now send for him and bring him to me. He must die!" ³²"Why should he be put to death?" Jonathan asked. "What has he done?" ³³Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father had made up his mind to kill David. ³⁴Jonathan got up from the table, burning with anger. He didn't eat any food that second day of the month. He was hurt because his father had treated David so shamefully. ³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the field to meet David as they had planned. A small boy was with him. ³⁶He said to the boy, "Run and find the arrows I shoot." As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow past him. ³⁷The boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had landed. Then Jonathan called out to him, "Isn't the arrow past you?" ³⁸Jonathan shouted, "Hurry! Go fast! Don't stop!" So the boy picked up the arrow and came back to his master. ³⁹The boy didn't know anything about it. Only Jonathan and David knew the plan. ⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He said, "Go, take them back to town." ⁴¹After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone. He bowed down with his face to the ground three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and cried together. But David cried the most. ⁴²Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace. The two of us have made a promise in the name of the LORD. We said, 'May the LORD be a witness between you and me. And may he be a witness between your children and mine forever.'" Then David got up and left, and Jonathan went back into the town.