Parallel Bible results for "1 samuel 20"

1 Samuel 20

New Revised Standard NRS

1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, "What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin against your father that he is trying to take my life?"

2 He said to him, "Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me; and why should my father hide this from me? Never!"

3 But David also swore, "Your father knows well that you like me; and he thinks, "Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.' But truly, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death."

4 Then Jonathan said to David, "Whatever you say, I will do for you."

5 David said to Jonathan, "Tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the meal; but let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening.

6 If your father misses me at all, then say, "David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.'

7 If he says, "Good!' it will be well with your servant; but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him.

8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?"

9 Jonathan said, "Far be it from you! If I knew that it was decided by my father that evil should come upon you, would I not tell you?"

10 Then David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?"

11 Jonathan replied to David, "Come, let us go out into the field." So they both went out into the field.

12 Jonathan said to David, "By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you?

13 But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you, and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.

14 If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die,

15 never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth."

16 Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the Lord seek out the enemies of David."

17 Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life.

18 Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, because your place will be empty.

19 On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there.

20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.

21 Then I will send the boy, saying, "Go, find the arrows.' If I say to the boy, "Look, the arrows are on this side of you, collect them,' then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger.

22 But if I say to the young man, "Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then go; for the Lord has sent you away.

23 As for the matter about which you and I have spoken, the Lord is witness between you and me forever."

24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat.

25 The king sat upon his seat, as at other times, upon the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood, while Abner sat by Saul's side; but David's place was empty.

26 Saul did not say anything that day; for he thought, "Something has befallen him; he is not clean, surely he is not clean."

27 But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, "Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast, either yesterday or today?"

28 Jonathan answered Saul, "David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem;

29 he said, "Let me go; for our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, let me get away, and see my brothers.' For this reason he has not come to the king's table."

30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan. 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?

31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die."

32 Then Jonathan answered his father Saul, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"

33 But Saul threw his spear at him to strike him; so Jonathan knew that it was the decision of his father to put David to death.

34 Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, and because his father had disgraced him.

35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him was a little boy.

36 He said to the boy, "Run and find the arrows that I shoot." As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called after the boy and said, "Is the arrow not beyond you?"

38 Jonathan called after the boy, "Hurry, be quick, do not linger." So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master.

39 But the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.

40 Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said to him, "Go and carry them to the city."

41 As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more.

42 Then Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, "The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, forever.' " He got up and left; and Jonathan went into the city.

The Message Bible MSG

1 David got out of Naioth in Ramah alive and went to Jonathan. "What do I do now? What wrong have I inflicted on your father that makes him so determined to kill me?"

2 "Nothing," said Jonathan. "You've done nothing wrong. And you're not going to die. Really, you're not! My father tells me everything. He does nothing, whether big or little, without confiding in me. So why would he do this behind my back? It can't be."

3 But David said, "Your father knows that we are the best of friends. So he says to himself, 'Jonathan must know nothing of this. If he does, he'll side with David.' But it's true - as sure as God lives, and as sure as you're alive before me right now - he's determined to kill me."

4 Jonathan said, "Tell me what you have in mind. I'll do anything for you."

5 David said, "Tomorrow marks the New Moon. I'm scheduled to eat dinner with the king. Instead, I'll go hide in the field until the evening of the third.

6 If your father misses me, say, 'David asked if he could run down to Bethlehem, his hometown, for an anniversary reunion, and worship with his family.'

7 If he says, 'Good!' then I'm safe. But if he gets angry, you'll know for sure that he's made up his mind to kill me.

8 Oh, stick with me in this. You've entered into a covenant of God with me, remember! If I'm in the wrong, go ahead and kill me yourself. Why bother giving me up to your father?"

9 "Never!" exclaimed Jonathan. "I'd never do that! If I get the slightest hint that my father is fixated on killing you, I'll tell you."

10 David asked, "And whom will you get to tell me if your father comes back with a harsh answer?"

11 "Come outside," said Jonathan. "Let's go to the field." When the two of them were out in the field,

12 Jonathan said, "As God, the God of Israel, is my witness, by this time tomorrow I'll get it out of my father how he feels about you. Then I'll let you know what I learn.

13 May God do his worst to me if I let you down! If my father still intends to kill you, I'll tell you and get you out of here in one piece. And God be with you as he's been with my father!

14 If I make it through this alive, continue to be my covenant friend. And if I die,

15 keep the covenant friendship with my family - forever. And when God finally rids the earth of David's enemies, stay loyal to Jonathan!"

16

17 Jonathan repeated his pledge of love and friendship for David. He loved David more than his own soul!

18 Jonathan then laid out his plan: "Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you'll be missed when you don't show up for dinner.

19 On the third day, when they've quit expecting you, come to the place where you hid before, and wait beside that big boulder.

20 I'll shoot three arrows in the direction of the boulder.

21 Then I'll send off my servant, 'Go find the arrows.' If I yell after the servant, 'The arrows are on this side! Retrieve them!' that's the signal that you can return safely - as God lives, not a thing to fear!

22 But if I yell, 'The arrows are farther out!' then run for it - God wants you out of here!

23 Regarding all the things we've discussed, remember that God's in on this with us to the very end!"

24 David hid in the field. On the holiday of the New Moon, the king came to the table to eat.

25 He sat where he always sat, the place against the wall, with Jonathan across the table and Abner at Saul's side. But David's seat was empty.

26 Saul didn't mention it at the time, thinking, "Something's happened that's made him unclean. That's it - he's probably unclean for the holy meal."

27 But the day after the New Moon, day two of the holiday, David's seat was still empty. Saul asked Jonathan his son, "So where's that son of Jesse? He hasn't eaten with us either yesterday or today."

28 Jonathan said, "David asked my special permission to go to Bethlehem.

29 He said, 'Give me leave to attend a family reunion back home. My brothers have ordered me to be there. If it seems all right to you, let me go and see my brothers.' That's why he's not here at the king's table."

30 Saul exploded in anger at Jonathan: "You son of a slut! Don't you think I know that you're in cahoots with the son of Jesse, disgracing both you and your mother?

31 For as long as the son of Jesse is walking around free on this earth, your future in this kingdom is at risk. Now go get him. Bring him here. From this moment, he's as good as dead!"

32 Jonathan stood up to his father. "Why dead? What's he done?"

33 Saul threw his spear at him to kill him. That convinced Jonathan that his father was fixated on killing David.

34 Jonathan stormed from the table, furiously angry, and ate nothing the rest of the day, upset for David and smarting under the humiliation from his father.

35 In the morning, Jonathan went to the field for the appointment with David. He had his young servant with him.

36 He told the servant, "Run and get the arrows I'm about to shoot." The boy started running and Jonathan shot an arrow way beyond him.

37 As the boy came to the area where the arrow had been shot, Jonathan yelled out, "Isn't the arrow farther out?"

38 He yelled again, "Hurry! Quickly! Don't just stand there!" Jonathan's servant then picked up the arrow and brought it to his master.

39 The boy, of course, knew nothing of what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew.

40 Jonathan gave his quiver and bow to the boy and sent him back to town.

41 After the servant was gone, David got up from his hiding place beside the boulder, then fell on his face to the ground - three times prostrating himself! And then they kissed one another and wept, friend over friend, David weeping especially hard.

42 Jonathan said, "Go in peace! The two of us have vowed friendship in God's name, saying, 'God will be the bond between me and you, and between my children and your children forever!'"