1 Samuel 19–20

Chapter 19

¹And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David. ²But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill thee; and now, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secret place and hide thyself; ³and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and will speak of thee with my father: and see what it is, and tell thee. ⁴And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against thee; for also what he did was very advantageous to thee; ⁵for he put his life in hand, and smote the Philistine, and Jehovah wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou didst see it, and didst rejoice; why then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, in slaying David without cause? ⁶And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, As Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death! ⁷Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan declared to him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as previously.

⁸And there was war again; and David went forth and fought with the Philistines, and smote them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him. ⁹And an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul. And he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David played with his hand. ¹⁰And Saul sought to smite David and the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the spear into the wall. And David fled, and escaped that night.

¹¹And Saul sent messengers to David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning; and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be put to death. ¹²And Michal let David down through a window; and he went, and fled and escaped. ¹³And Michal took the image, and laid it in the bed, and put the net of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with the coverlet. ¹⁴And Saul sent messengers to take David, and she said, He is sick. ¹⁵And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may put him to death. ¹⁶And the messengers came in, and behold, the image was in the bed, and the net of goats’ hair at its head. ¹⁷Then Saul said to Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I slay thee?

¹⁸And David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. ¹⁹And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth by Ramah. ²⁰Then Saul sent messengers to take David; and they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as president over them; and the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. ²¹And it was told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. ²²Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Sechu; and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, at Naioth by Ramah. ²³And he went thither to Naioth by Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth by Ramah. ²⁴And he himself also stripped off his clothes, and prophesied, himself also, before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

Chapter 20

¹And David fled from Naioth by Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity, and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeks my life? ²And he said to him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, and not apprise me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. ³And David swore again and again, and said, Thy father certainly knows that I have found favour in thy sight: and he has thought, Jonathan shall not know this, lest he be grieved; but truly as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. ⁴And Jonathan said to David, What thy soul may say, I will even do it for thee. ⁵And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. ⁶If thy father should actually miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. ⁷If he say thus, It is well, —thy servant shall have peace; but if he be very wroth, be sure that evil is determined by him. ⁸Deal kindly then with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee; but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?

⁹And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for, if I knew with certainty that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, would I not tell it thee? ¹⁰Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? ¹¹And Jonathan said to David, Come and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. ¹²And Jonathan said to David, Jehovah, God of Israel, when I sound my father about this time to-morrow, or the next day, and behold, there be good toward David, and I then send not to thee, and apprise thee of it, ¹³Jehovah do so and much more to Jonathan. Should it please my father to do thee evil, then I will apprise thee of it, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and Jehovah be with thee, as he has been with my father. ¹⁴And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of Jehovah, that I die not, ¹⁵but thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever, no, not when Jehovah cuts off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth. ¹⁶And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let Jehovah even require it at the hand of David’s enemies! ¹⁷And Jonathan caused David to swear again, by the love he had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. ¹⁸And Jonathan said to him, To-morrow is the new moon; and thou wilt be missed, for thy seat will be empty; ¹⁹but on the third day thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself on the day of the business, and abide by the stone Ezel. ²⁰And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. ²¹And behold, I will send the lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come, for there is peace for thee, and it is nothing; as Jehovah liveth. ²²But if I say thus to the youth: Behold, the arrows are beyond thee, —go thy way; for Jehovah sends thee away. ²³And as to the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Jehovah is between me and thee for ever.

²⁴And David hid himself in the field; and it was the new moon, and the king sat at table to eat. ²⁵And the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty. ²⁶And Saul said nothing that day; for he thought, Something has befallen him, that he is not clean: surely he is not clean. ²⁷And it came to pass the next day after the new moon, the second day of the month, as David’s place was empty, that Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse come to table, neither yesterday nor to-day? ²⁸And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem, ²⁹and said, Let me go, I pray thee; for we have a family sacrifice in the city; and my brother himself has commanded me to be there; and now, if I have found favour in thy sight, let me go away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. He has therefore not come to the king’s table. ³⁰And Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame and to the shame of thy mother’s nakedness? ³¹For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. And now send and fetch him to me, for he must die. ³²And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he be put to death? what has he done? ³³Then Saul cast the spear at him to smite him; and Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death. ³⁴And Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no meat the second day of the new moon; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

³⁵And it came to pass in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field, to the place agreed on with David, and a little lad with him. ³⁶And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. The lad ran, and he shot the arrow beyond him. ³⁷And when the lad came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad and said, Is not the arrow away beyond thee? ³⁸And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not! And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. ³⁹And the lad knew nothing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. ⁴⁰And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city. ⁴¹The lad went, and David arose from the side of the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times; and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. ⁴²And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have both of us sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah be between me and thee, and…