The Bible - read online Recovery Version | First Samuel, chapter 20

1 Sam. 20 :1 20:1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said to Jonathan, What have I done? What is my iniquity, or what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?

1 Sam. 20 :2 20:2 And he said to him, Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing great or small that he does not disclose to me. So why should my father hide this matter from me? Such would not happen.

1 Sam. 20 :3 20:3 Then David swore again and said, Your father fully knows that I have found favor in your sight; so he says, Do not let Jonathan know about this; otherwise, he will be grieved. But truly as Jehovah ^alives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.

1 Sam. 20 :4 20:4 And Jonathan said to David, Whatever you say, I will do for you.

1 Sam. 20 :5 20:5 And David said to Jonathan, It is the ^anew moon tomorrow, and I am to sit with the king at the meal. But let me go, and I will hide myself in the field until the following evening.

1 Sam. 20 :6 20:6 If your father misses me at all, you shall say, David earnestly asked leave of me to run to ^aBethlehem his city, for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all his family.

1 Sam. 20 :7 20:7 If he says in this way, Fine; then your servant will have peace. But if he becomes angry at all, know that evil has been determined by him.

1 Sam. 20 :8 20:8 Deal kindly then with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a ^acovenant of Jehovah with you. But if there is any iniquity in me, you kill me. Why then should you bring me to your father?

1 Sam. 20 :9 20:9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from you! For if I knew at all that evil has been determined by my father to come upon you, would I not tell it to you?

1 Sam. 20 :10 20:10 Then David said to Jonathan, Who will tell me whether or not your father has responded to you harshly?

1 Sam. 20 :11 20:11 And Jonathan said to David, Come and let us go out into the field. And they both went out into the field.

1 Sam. 20 :12 20:12 And Jonathan said to David, By Jehovah, the God of Israel: When I search out my father about this time tomorrow, or on the following day, and if he is good toward David, I will surely send word to you and disclose it to you.

1 Sam. 20 :13 20:13 May Jehovah do so to Jonathan, and even more, if it pleases my father to do you evil, and I do not disclose it to you and send you away to go in peace. And may Jehovah be ^awith you as He was with my father.

1 Sam. 20 :14 20:14 And while I am still alive, do show me the ^alovingkindness of Jehovah, that I may not die;

1 Sam. 20 :15 20:15 And never cut off your lovingkindness from my house, not even when Jehovah has cut off David’s enemies to the man from the face of the earth.

1 Sam. 20 :16 20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, And Jehovah will require it at the hand of David’s enemies.

1 Sam. 20 :17 20:17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he ^aloved him as he loved his own soul.

1 Sam. 20 :18 20:18 Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon; and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty.

1 Sam. 20 :19 20:19 And when you have waited three days, you shall go far down and come to the place where you hid yourself while all this was happening; and you shall remain at the stone Ezel.

1 Sam. 20 :20 20:20 And I will shoot three arrows to its side, as though I were shooting at a mark.

1 Sam. 20 :21 20:21 And just then I will send a boy, saying, Go; find the arrows. If I say to the boy, The arrows are there to this side of you; gather them; then come, for you have peace and there is no problem, as Jehovah lives.

1 Sam. 20 :22 20:22 But if I speak in this way to the young man, The ^aarrows are there beyond you; then go, for Jehovah has sent you away.

1 Sam. 20 :23 20:23 And concerning this matter that I and you have spoken of, it is Jehovah who is ^abetween me and you forever.

1 Sam. 20 :24 20:24 So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat at the meal to eat.

1 Sam. 20 :25 20:25 And the king sat on his seat as at other times, on his seat near the wall; and Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat down beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.

1 Sam. 20 :26 20:26 But Saul said nothing that day about it, for he thought, Something has happened to him; he is ^anot clean; surely he is not clean.

1 Sam. 20 :27 20:27 And on the day after the new moon, the second day, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has the son of Jesse come neither yesterday nor today to the meal?

1 Sam. 20 :28 20:28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David asked leave of me earnestly to go to ^aBethlehem.

1 Sam. 20 :29 20:29 And he said, Let me go, I beg you; for our family has a sacrifice in that city, and my brother commanded me to be there. So now if I have found favor in your sight, let me slip away to see my brothers. Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.

1 Sam. 20 :30 20:30 And Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?

1 Sam. 20 :31 20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. Now therefore send someone and bring him to me, for he is as good as dead.

1 Sam. 20 :32 20:32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, Why must he be put to death? What has he done?

1 Sam. 20 :33 20:33 But Saul threw his spear at him in order to ^astrike him down. So Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.

1 Sam. 20 :34 20:34 And Jonathan rose up from the table in burning anger and did not eat any food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved about David because his father had shamed him.

1 Sam. 20 :35 20:35 Then in the morning Jonathan went forth to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him.

1 Sam. 20 :36 20:36 And he said to his boy, Run and find the arrows that I am shooting. While the boy was running, he shot the ^aarrow beyond him.

1 Sam. 20 :37 20:37 And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, The arrow is there beyond you.

1 Sam. 20 :38 20:38 And Jonathan called out to the boy, Hurry up quickly; do not stay there. And Jonathan’s boy gathered the arrows and came to his master.

1 Sam. 20 :39 20:39 And the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

1 Sam. 20 :40 20:40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to his boy and said to him, Go; bring them to the city.

1 Sam. 20 :41 20:41 And when the boy went, David rose up from his hiding place toward the south and fell on his face to the ground; and he bowed himself three times. And they kissed each other; and they wept for each other, but David more greatly.

1 Sam. 20 :42 20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, because both of us have sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, May Jehovah be ^abetween me and you and between my seed and your seed forever. Then ¹David rose up and left, and Jonathan went into the city.