1 Samuel 20

1But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he seeketh my life?

1And David went in flight from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my crime and my sin against your father that he is attempting to take my life?

2And he said to him: (God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do nothing, great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be.

2And he said to him, Far be the thought: you will not be put to death: see, my father does nothing, great or small, without giving me word of it: would he keep this secret from me? It is not so.

3And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death.

3But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death.

4And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee.

4Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you.

5And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day.

5And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening.

6If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem, his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all of his tribe.

6And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year.

7If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.

7If he says, It is well, your servant will be at peace: but if he is angry, then it will be clear to you that he has an evil purpose in mind against me.

8Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father.

8So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father?

9And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee.

9And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it?

10And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?

10Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer?

11And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into the field,

11And Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go out into the country. And the two of them went out together into the open country.

12Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father's mind, to morrow, or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee,

12And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news?

13May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan, and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou mayst go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.

13May the Lord's punishment be on Jonathan, if it is my father's pleasure to do you evil and I do not give you word of it and send you away so that you may go in peace: and may the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.

14And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die,

14And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death!

15Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the hands of David's enemies.

15And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David's haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth.

16Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David's enemies.

16And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible.

17And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul.

17And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul.

18And Jonathan said to him: To morrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed:

18Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat.

19For thy seat will be empty till after to morrow. So thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou must he hid, on the day when it is lawful to work, and thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel.

19And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there.

20And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark.

20And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark.

21And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows.

21And I will send my boy to have a look for the arrow. And if I say to him, See, the arrow is on this side of you; take it up! then you may come; for there is peace for you and no evil, by the living Lord.

22If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on this side of thee, take them up: come thou to me, because there is peace to thee, and there is no evil, as the Lord liveth. But if I shall speak thus to the boy: Behold the arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the Lord hath sent thee away.

22But if I say to the boy, See, the arrow has gone past you: then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away.

23And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me forever.

23As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever.

24So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.

24So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast.

25And when the king sat down upon his chair, (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place appeared empty.

25And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat.

26And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified.

26But Saul said nothing that day, for his thought was, Something has taken place making him unclean; it is clear that he is not clean.

27And when the second day after the new moon was come, David's place appeared empty again. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat neither yesterday, nor to day?

27And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today?

28And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem.

28And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem,

29And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacrifice in the city, one of my brethren hath sent for me: and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will go quickly, and see my brethren. For this cause he came not to the king's table.

29Saying, Our family is making an offering in the town, and my brothers have given me orders to be there: so now, if I have grace in your eyes, let me go away and see my brothers. This is why he has not come to the king's table.

30Then Saul being angry against Jonathan, said to him: Thou son of a woman that is the ravisher of a man, do I not know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy own confusion, and to the confusion of thy shameless mother?

30Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother?

31For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son of death.

31For while the son of Jesse is living on the earth, your position is unsafe and your kingdom is in danger. So make him come here to me, for it is certainly right for him to be put to death.

32And Jonathan answering Saul, his father, said: Why shall he die? What hath he done?

32And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? What has he done?

33And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to kill David.

33And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father's purpose was to put David to death.

34So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to confusion.

34So Jonathan got up from the table, burning with wrath, and took no part in the feast the second day of the month, being full of grief for David because his father had put shame on him.

35And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him.

35Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him.

36And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow beyond the boy.

36And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him.

37The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot: and Jonathan cried after the boy, and said: Behold the arrow is there further beyond thee.

37And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you?

38And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make haste speedily, stand not. And Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and brought them to his master:

38And Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan's boy got the arrow and came back to his master.

39And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

39But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it.

40Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into the city.

40And Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Take these and go back to the town.

41And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place, which was toward the south, and falling on his face to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one another, they wept together; but David more.

41And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David's grief was the greater.

42And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all stand that we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying: The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever.

42And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for we two have taken an oath, in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed for ever. Then David went away, and Jonathan went into the town.

43And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

43(not in this translation)