20:1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my guilt, and how have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life.”

20:2 He said to him, “By no means are you going to die! My father does nothing¹ large or small without making me aware of it.² Why would my father hide this matter from me? It just won’t happen!”

20:3 Taking an oath, David again³ said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact that I have found favor with you, and he has thought,⁴ ‘Don’t let Jonathan be aware of this, lest he be grieved.’ But as surely as both the LORD and you live, there is about one step between me and death!” 20:4 Jonathan replied to David, “Tell me what I can do for you.”⁵

20:5 David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am expected to sit at meal with the king. But you send me away so that I can hide in the field until the third evening from now. 20:6 If your father happens to miss me you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go to his city Bethlehem, for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’ 20:7 If he should then say, ‘Okay,’⁶ then everything is safe for your servant. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided on evil. 20:8 You should display kindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. If there is iniquity in me, you yourself put me to death. Why bother taking me to your father?”

20:9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I were at all aware that my father had decided on evil to come to you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?” 20:10 David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me whether your father answers you harshly?” 20:11 Jonathan said to David, “Come on. Let’s go out to the field.”

When the two of them had gone out to the field, 20:12 Jonathan said to David, “By the LORD God of Israel, I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? 20:13 But if my father is inclined to do you harm, may the LORD do all this and more to Jonathan, if I don’t let you know. I will send word to you and you will go safely on your way. May the LORD be with you, as he was with my father. 20:14 And if I am still alive, don’t fail to show to me the kindness of the LORD, so that I may not die. 20:15 And don’t 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.”

20:16 So Jonathan entered into a covenant with the house of David saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies to account.” 20:17 Jonathan once again took an oath with David, because he loved him. For he loved him like he loved himself. 20:18 Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty. 20:19 When you have stayed three days, you should go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on the day of the deed. Stay near the stone Ezel. 20:20 I will shoot three arrows in its vicinity, as though I were shooting at a target. 20:21 Then I will send the boy out saying, “Go and find the arrows.” If I should say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of where you are;⁷ get them,’ then come. For as the LORD lives, things will be okay for you and there will no problem. 20:22 But if I should say to the young man, “Look, the arrows are on the other side of you,’⁸ get away. For in that case the LORD has sent you away. 20:23 And with regard to the matter that you and I discussed, may the LORD be between us⁹ forever!”

20:24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. 20:25 When the king sat down by the wall where he usually sat, Jonathan was opposite him, and Abner sat at Saul’s side. But David’s place was vacant. 20:26 However, Saul said nothing about it¹⁰ that day, for he thought,¹¹ “Something has happened leaving him ceremonially unclean. He must be unclean.” 20:27 But on the morrow, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was still vacant. So Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has Jesse’s son not come to the meal yesterday or today?”

20:28 Jonathan replied to Saul, “David urgently requested of me that he go to Bethlehem. 20:29 He said, ‘Permit me to go,¹² for we are having a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother has advised me to be there. So now if I have found favor with you, let me have leave to see my brothers.’ For that reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

20:30 Saul became angry with Jonathan¹³ and said to him, “You son of a bitch!¹⁴ Don’t I realize that to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness you have chosen this son of Jesse? 20:31 For as long as¹⁵ this son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. Now, send and bring him to me. For he is as good as dead!”¹⁶

20:32 Jonathan responded to his father Saul, “Why should he die? What has he done?” 20:33 But Saul hurled the spear at him so as to strike him down. Then Jonathan was convinced that his father had decided to kill David. 20:34 So Jonathan go up from the table enraged. He did not eat food on that second day of the new moon, for he was grieved over David, in that his father had humiliated David.¹⁷

20:35 In the morning Jonathan, along with a young boy, went out to the field to meet David. 20:36 He said to his boy, “Run, find the arrows that I am about to shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot the arrow beyond him. 20:37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called after the boy saying, “Isn’t the arrow further beyond you?” 20:38 Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Go faster! Don’t pause!” So Jonathan’s boy retrieved the arrow and came to his master. 20:39 Now the boy did not understand any of this. Only Jonathan and David understood the matter. 20:40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy who was with him. He said to him, “Go, take these things back to the city.”

20:41 When the boy had left, David got up from beside the mound,¹⁸ fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and they both wept, but especially David. 20:42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the LORD saying, ‘The LORD will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’”