1 Samuel 20
Arrows Shot to Say Farewell
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David and Jonathan Take Counsel
20:1David escaped from Nauath in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my wrong, and how have I sinned before your father, that he seeks my soul?”
20:2Jonathan said to him, “By no means shall that happen to you! You certainly shall not die. Look, my father will certainly do nothing great or small without uncovering my ear. Why would my father hide this matter? It is not so.”
20:3David answered Jonathan and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes. He says, ‘Let Jonathan not know this, lest he refuse.’ But as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, as I said, the space between me and death has been filled.”
20:4Jonathan said to David, “What does your soul desire, and what shall I do for you?”
20:5David said to Jonathan, “Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I will certainly not sit with the king to eat. Let me go, so that I may hide in the plain until evening.
20:6If your father inquires after me, say, ‘David earnestly asked my leave to run to Bethlehem, his city, because the yearly sacrifice for the whole tribe is there.’
20:7If he says, ‘Good,’ there is peace for your servant. But if he answers you harshly, know that evil has been determined by him.
20:8Show mercy to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with yourself. If there is wrong in your servant, put me to death yourself. Why do you bring me to your father in this way?”
20:9Jonathan said, “By no means shall that happen to you! If I know that evil has been determined by my father to come upon you—and if not—I will report it to you in your cities.”
20:10David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers harshly?”
20:11Jonathan said to David, “Go and remain in the field.” Both of them went out to the field.
The Covenant Between Jonathan and David
20:12Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, knows that I will question my father when the time comes a third time. If there is good concerning David, shall I not send to you in the field?
20:13May God do so to Jonathan, and more besides, for I will bring the evils upon you, uncover your ear, and send you away, and you shall go in peace. The Lord will be with you as He was with my father.
20:14While I am still alive, you shall show mercy to me; and if I indeed die,
20:15you shall never remove your mercy from my house. And may it not be, when the Lord removes David’s enemies, every one, from the face of the earth,
20:16that Jonathan’s name be removed from David’s house. May the Lord seek out David’s enemies.”
20:17Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved the soul of the one who loved him.
The Sign of the Three Shafts
20:18Jonathan said, “Tomorrow is the new moon. You will be sought, because your seat will be inspected.
20:19You shall do so a third time and look about, and come to your place where you hid on the working day. Stay beside that ergab.
20:20I will do so three times with the shafts, hurling them toward the amattari.
20:21Then I will send the little boy, saying, ‘Come, find the shaft for me.’ If I say to the little boy, ‘Here, the shaft is on this side of you; take it,’ come, for there is peace for you and no danger, as the Lord lives.
20:22If I say to the young man, ‘Here, the shaft is beyond you,’ go, for the Lord has sent you away.
20:23As for the word we have spoken, you and I, look, the Lord is a witness between me and you forever.”
The Empty Place at the New Moon
20:24David hid in the field. The month arrived, and the king came to the table to eat.
20:25The king sat on his seat as usual, on the seat by the wall, and preceded Jonathan. Abner sat beside Saul, and David’s place was inspected.
20:26Saul said nothing that day, for he said, “It is an occurrence; he appears not to be clean, for he has not been purified.”
20:27The next day of the month, the second day, David’s place was inspected. Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has Jesse’s son not come to the table, either yesterday or today?”
20:28Jonathan answered Saul and said to him, “David asked my leave to go to Bethlehem, his city.
20:29He said, ‘Please send me away, for we have a sacrifice of the tribe in the city, and my brothers have commanded me. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
20:30Saul burned with great anger against Jonathan and said to him, “Son of deserting girls! Do I not know that you are a companion of Jesse’s son, to your shame and the shame of your mother’s exposure?
20:31As long as Jesse’s son lives on the earth, your kingship will not be established. Now send and fetch the young man, for this one is a son of death.”
20:32Jonathan answered Saul, “Why should he die? What has he done?”
20:33Saul raised the spear against Jonathan to put him to death. Jonathan knew that this evil had been determined by his father: to put David to death.
20:34Jonathan sprang up from the table in furious anger and ate no bread on the second day of the month, for he was crushed over David, because his father had determined against him.
The Shaft Beyond the Boy
20:35In the morning Jonathan went out to the field, as he had arranged, for the testimony of David, and a little boy was with him.
20:36He said to the little boy, “Run, find for me the shafts I am hurling.” The little boy ran, and he hurled the shaft and sent it past.
20:37The little boy came to the place of the shaft Jonathan had hurled. Jonathan shouted after the young man and said, “There, the shaft is beyond you.”
20:38Jonathan shouted after his little boy, saying, “Quickly! Hurry! Do not stand still!” Jonathan’s little boy gathered the shafts for his master.
20:39The little boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
20:40Jonathan gave his equipment to his little boy and said to his little boy, “Go, enter the city.”
20:41When the little boy had entered, David rose from the ergab, fell on his face, and bowed to him three times. Each kissed the other and wept with the other, until a great completion.
20:42Jonathan said, “Go in peace, since the two of us have sworn in the Lord’s name, saying, ‘The Lord shall be a witness between me and you, and between my seed and your seed, forever.’”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.