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1 Samuel 20:1-42 — David and Jonathan

1Sam.20.1-42

¹Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my guilt, and what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?” ²He said to him, “Far from it! You will not die. Look, my father does nothing, great or small, without revealing it to me. Why should my father hide this matter from me? It is not so.” ³But David swore again and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, 'Jonathan must not know this, or he will be grieved.' Yet as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is only a step between me and death.” ⁴Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” ⁵David said to Jonathan, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am expected to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening.” ⁶If your father notices that I am missing, then say, 'David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem, his city, because the yearly sacrifice for the whole family is there.' ⁷If he says, 'Good,' then there is peace for your servant; but if he becomes angry, know that evil has been determined by him. ⁸So show kindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant with you into a covenant of the LORD. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?" ⁹Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that my father had determined to bring evil upon you, would I not tell you?” ¹⁰Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” ¹¹Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out to the field.” So both of them went out into the field. ¹²And Jonathan said to David, "The LORD, the God of Israel, is witness: when I have sounded out my father by this time tomorrow, or the third day, if there is goodwill toward David, and if I do not then send word to you and disclose it to you— ¹³may the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if my father intends evil toward you and I do not disclose it to you and send you away, so that you may go in peace. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father. ¹⁴And if I am still alive, will you not show me the kindness of the LORD, so that I do not die? ¹⁵And do not cut off your kindness from my house forever, not even when the LORD cuts off the enemies of David, every one of them, 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 again made David swear because of his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. ¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹On the third day go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on the day of this matter, and remain beside 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 the boy, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I plainly say to the boy, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; take them,' then come, for there is peace for you and nothing is wrong, as the LORD lives. ²²But if I say to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are farther on,' then go, for the LORD has sent you away. ²³And concerning the matter that you and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever." ²⁴So David hid himself in the field. And when the New Moon came, the king sat down to the meal to eat. ²⁵The king sat on his seat, as he usually did, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan rose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. ²⁶Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something has happened; he is not clean. Surely he is not clean.” ²⁷But on the next day, the second day of the month, David's place was still empty. So Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” ²⁸Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.” ²⁹He said, 'Please let me go, for we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me slip away and see my brothers.' That is why he has not come to the king's table. ³⁰Then Saul's anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse and 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? ³¹For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. So now send and bring him to me, for he is doomed to die." ³²Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” ³³Then Saul hurled the spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father had determined to put David to death. ³⁴Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved over David because his father had humiliated him. ³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointed meeting with David, and a little boy was with him. ³⁶He said to his boy, “Run, find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot the arrow beyond him. ³⁷When the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Isn't the arrow farther on?” ³⁸And Jonathan called after the boy, “Quickly! Hurry! Do not stop!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. ³⁹But the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David understood the matter. ⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy who was with him and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.” ⁴¹As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the mound on the south side and fell with his face to the ground and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and wept with one another, until David wept the more. ⁴²And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace , because we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, 'May the LORD be between you and me, and between my offspring and your offspring forever.'”

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4/11/2026

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