1 Samuel 20 – NIV & NIRV

New International Version

1 Samuel 20:1-42

David and Jonathan

1Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?”

2“Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!”

3But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”

4Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”

5So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ 7If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. 8As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the Lord. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”

9“Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”

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

11“Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.

12Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. 14But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

16So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.” 17And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

18Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 20I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 21Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the Lord lives, you are safe; there is no danger. 22But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. 23And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the Lord is witness between you and me forever.”

24So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. 25He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,20:25 Septuagint; Hebrew wall. Jonathan arose and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.” 27But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”

28Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

30Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 31As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”

32“Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. 33But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.

34Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.

35In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” 38Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39(The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”

41After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.

42Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’ ” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.20:42 In Hebrew texts this sentence (20:42b) is numbered 21:1.

New International Reader’s Version

1 Samuel 20:1-42

David and Jonathan

1David was in Naioth at Ramah. He ran away from there to where Jonathan was. He asked him, “What have I done? What crime have I committed? I haven’t done anything to harm your father. So why is he trying to kill me?”

2“That will never happen!” Jonathan replied. “You aren’t going to die! My father doesn’t do anything at all without letting me know. So why would he hide this from me? He isn’t going to kill you!”

3But David strongly disagreed. He said, “Your father knows very well that you are pleased with me. He has said to himself, ‘I don’t want Jonathan to know I’m planning to kill David. If he finds out, he’ll be very sad.’ But I’m very close to being killed. And that’s just as sure as the Lord and you are alive.”

4Jonathan said to David, “I’ll do anything you want me to do for you.”

5So David said, “Tomorrow is the time for the New Moon feast. I’m supposed to eat with the king. But let me go and hide in the field. I’ll stay there until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6Your father might miss me. If he does, then tell him, ‘David begged me to let him hurry home to Bethlehem. A yearly sacrifice is being offered there for his whole family group.’ 7Your father might say, ‘That’s all right.’ If he does, it will mean I’m safe. But he might become very angry. If he does, you can be sure he’s made up his mind to harm me. 8Please be kind to me. You have made a covenant with me in front of the Lord. If I’m guilty, kill me yourself! Don’t hand me over to your father!”

9“I would never do that!” Jonathan said. “Suppose I had even the smallest clue that my father had made up his mind to harm you. Then I would tell you.”

10David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you in a mean way?”

11“Come on,” Jonathan said. “Let’s go out to the field.” So they went there together.

12Then Jonathan spoke to David. He said, “I promise you that I’ll find out what my father is planning to do. I’ll find out by this time the day after tomorrow. The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness. Suppose my father has kind feelings toward you. Then I’ll send you a message and let you know. 13But suppose he wants to harm you. And I don’t let you know about it. Suppose I don’t help you get away in peace. Then may the Lord punish me greatly. May he be with you, just as he has been with my father. 14But always be kind to me, just as the Lord is. Be kind to me as long as I live. Then I won’t be killed. 15And never stop being kind to my family. Don’t stop even when the Lord has cut off every one of your enemies from the face of the earth.”

16So Jonathan made a covenant of friendship with David and his family. He said, “May the Lord hold David’s enemies responsible for what they’ve done.” 17Jonathan had David promise his friendship again because he loved him. In fact, Jonathan loved David just as he loved himself.

18Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the time for the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat at the table will be empty. 19Go to the place where you hid when all this trouble began. Go there the day after tomorrow, when evening is approaching. There’s a stone out there called Ezel. 20Wait by it. I’ll shoot three arrows to one side of the stone. I’ll pretend I’m practicing my shooting. 21Then I’ll send a boy out there. I’ll tell him, ‘Go and find the arrows.’ Suppose I say to him, ‘The arrows are on this side of you. Bring them here.’ Then come. That will mean you are safe. You won’t be in any danger. And that’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. 22But suppose I tell the boy, ‘The arrows are far beyond you.’ Then go. That will mean the Lord is sending you away. 23And remember what we talked about. Remember that the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”

24So David hid in the field. When the time for the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. 25He sat in his usual place by the wall. Jonathan sat across from him. Abner sat next to Saul. But David’s place was empty. 26Saul didn’t say anything that day. He said to himself, “Something must have happened to David to make him ‘unclean.’ That must be why he isn’t here.” 27But the next day, David’s place was empty again. It was the second day of the month. Finally, Saul spoke to his son Jonathan. He said, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal? He hasn’t been here yesterday or today.”

28Jonathan replied, “David begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Let me go. Our family is offering a sacrifice in the town. My brother has ordered me to be there. Are you pleased with me? If you are, let me go and see my brothers.’ That’s why he hasn’t come to eat at your table.”

30Saul became very angry with Jonathan. He said to him, “You are an evil son. You have refused to obey me. I know that you are on the side of Jesse’s son. You should be ashamed of that. And your mother should be ashamed of having a son like you. 31You will never be king as long as Jesse’s son lives on this earth. And you will never have a kingdom either. So send someone to bring the son of Jesse to me. He must die!”

32“Why do you want to put him to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?” 33But Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father wanted to kill David.

34So Jonathan got up from the table. He was very angry. On that second day of the feast, he refused to eat. He was very sad that his father was treating David so badly.

35The next morning Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a young boy with him. 36He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow far beyond him. 37The boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen. Then Jonathan shouted to him, “The arrow went far beyond you, didn’t it?” 38He continued, “Hurry up! Run fast! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39The boy didn’t know what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told him, “Go back to town. Take the weapons with you.”

41After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone. He bowed down in front of Jonathan with his face to the ground. He did it three times. Then they kissed each other and cried. But David cried more than Jonathan did.

42Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace. In the name of the Lord we’ve promised to be friends. We have said, ‘The Lord is a witness between you and me. He’s a witness between your children and my children forever.’ ” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.