1 Samuel 20–21

20TH CHAPTER

David Makes a Promise to Jonathan

¹David fled from the pastures at Ramah, came to Jonathan, and asked, “What have I done? What crime am I guilty of? What sin have I committed against your father that he’s trying to kill me?” 

²Jonathan answered, “That’s unthinkable! You’re not going to die! My father does nothing without telling me, whether it’s important or not. Why should my father hide this from me? It’s just not that way.” 

³But David took an oath, saying, “Your father certainly knows that you support me, so he said ⸤to himself⸥, ‘Jonathan must not know about this. It will bring him distress.’ But I solemnly swear, as the Lord and you live, I’m only one step away from death.” 

⁴Jonathan said to David, “I’ll do whatever you say.” 

⁵David replied, “Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, when I should sit and eat at the king’s ⸤table⸥. But let me go and hide in the countryside for two more nights. ⁶If your father really misses me, tell him, ‘David repeatedly begged me to let him run to Bethlehem, his hometown, because his relatives are offering the annual sacrifice there.’ ⁷If he says, ‘Good!’ then I will be safe. But if he gets really angry, then you’ll know for sure that he has decided to harm me. ⁸Now, be kind to me. After all, you forced me into an agreement with the Lord. If I have committed any crime, kill me yourself. Why bother taking me to your father?” 

⁹Jonathan answered, “That’s unthinkable! If I knew for sure that my father had decided to harm you, I would have told you about it.” 

¹⁰Then David asked, “Who will tell me whether or not your father gives you a harsh answer?” 

¹¹Jonathan said, “Let’s go out into the country.” So they went out into the country. 

¹²“As the Lord God of Israel ⸤is my witness⸥,” Jonathan continued, “I’ll find out in the next two or three days how my father feels about you. If he does feel kindly toward you, then I will send someone to tell you. ¹³If my father plans to harm you and I fail to tell you and send you away safely, may the Lord harm me even more. May the Lord be with you as he used to be with my father. ¹⁴But as long as I live, ⸤promise me that you will⸥ show me kindness because of the Lord. And even when I die, ¹⁵never stop being kind to my family. The Lord will wipe each of David’s enemies off the face of the earth. ¹⁶At that time, if Jonathan’s name^ais cut off from David’s family, then may the Lord punish David’s house.”^b

¹⁷Once again Jonathan swore an oath to David because of his love for David. He loved David as much as ⸤he loved⸥ himself. ¹⁸“Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,” Jonathan told him, “and you will be missed when your seat is empty. ¹⁹The day after tomorrow you will be missed even more.So go to the place where you hid on that other occasion, and stay by the rock. ²⁰I will shoot three arrows from beside it toward a target. ²¹Then I will send out a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ Now, if I tell the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are next to you; get them,’ then come ⸤back with me⸥. You will be safe, and there will be no trouble. I swear it, as the Lord lives. ²²But if I tell the boy, ‘The arrows are next to you,’ then go, because the Lord has sent you away. ²³We have made a promise to each other, and the Lord is ⸤a witness⸥ between you and me forever.” 

²⁴So David hid in the countryside. When the New Moon Festival came, King Saul sat down to eat the festival meal. ²⁵He sat in his usual seat by the wall, while Jonathan stood. Abner sat beside Saul, but David’s place was empty. ²⁶Saul didn’t say anything that day, thinking, “Something has happened to him so that he’s unclean.^dHe must be unclean.” ²⁷But on the second day of the month, David’s place was still empty. 

Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?” 

²⁸Jonathan answered Saul, “David repeatedly begged me ⸤to let him go⸥ to Bethlehem. ²⁹David said to me ‘Please let me go. Our relatives will offer a sacrifice in the city, and my brother ordered me to be there. If you will permit it, please let me go to see my brothers.’ This is why he hasn’t come to your banquet.” 

³⁰Then Saul got angry with Jonathan. “Son of a crooked and rebellious woman!” he called Jonathan. “I know you’ve sided with Jesse’s son. You have no shame. ⸤You act⸥ as if you are your mother’s son but not mine.³¹As long as Jesse’s son lives on earth, neither you nor your right to be king is secure. Now, send some men to bring him to me. He’s a dead man!” 

³²Jonathan asked his father, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?” 

³³Saul raised his spear to strike him. Then Jonathan knew his father was determined to kill David. ³⁴Jonathan got up from the table very angry and ate nothing that second day of the month. He was worried sick about David because Jonathan had been humiliated by his own father. 

³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the country to the place he and David had agreed on. Jonathan had a young boy with him. ³⁶“Run,” he told the boy, “please find the arrows I shoot.” 

The boy ran, and Jonathan shot the arrow over him. ³⁷When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow ⸤had landed⸥, Jonathan called after him, “The arrows are next to you!” ³⁸Jonathan added, “Quick! Hurry up! Don’t stand there!” Jonathan’s young servant gathered the arrows and came to his master. ³⁹The boy had no idea what was going on, but Jonathan and David understood. ⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told the boy, “Take them back into town.” 

⁴¹When the boy had left, David came out from the south side ⸤of the rock⸥ and quickly bowed down three times with his face touching the ground. Then they kissed each other and cried together, but David cried the loudest. 

⁴²“Go in peace!” Jonathan told David. “We have both taken an oath in the Lord’s name, saying, ‘The Lord will be ⸤a witness⸥ between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’ ”^g

So David left, and Jonathan went into the city. 

21ST CHAPTER^a

David at Nob

¹David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was trembling as he went to meet David. “Why are you alone?” he asked David. “Why is no one with you?” 

²“The king ordered me to do something,” David answered the priest Ahimelech, “and he told me, ‘No one must know anything about this mission I’m sending you on and about the orders I’ve given you. I’ve stationed^bmy young men at a certain place.’ ” ³⸤David added,⸥ “Now, what do you have ⸤to eat⸥? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find.” 

⁴“I don’t have any ordinary bread,” the chief priest answered David. “But there is holy bread for the young men if they haven’t had sexual intercourse ⸤today⸥.” 

⁵David answered the priest, “Of course women have been kept away from us as usual when we go ⸤on a mission⸥. The young men’s bodies are kept holy even on ordinary campaigns. How much more then will their bodies be holy today?” 

⁶So the priest gave him holy ⸤bread⸥ because he only had the bread of the presence which had been taken from the Lord’s presence and replaced with warm bread that day. 

⁷That same day one of Saul’s servants who was obligated to stay in the Lord’s presence was there. His name was Doeg. A foreman for Saul’s shepherds, he was from Edom. 

⁸David asked Ahimelech, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I didn’t take either my spear or any other weapon because the king’s business was urgent.” 

⁹The chief priest answered, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Elah Valley, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the priestly ephod.^cIf you want to take it, take it. There’s no other weapon here.” 

David said, “There’s none like it. Let me have the sword.” 

David at Gath

¹⁰That day David left. He was ⸤still⸥ fleeing from Saul when he came to King Achish of Gath. ¹¹Achish’s officers asked, “Isn’t this David, the king of ⸤his⸥ country? He’s the one they used to sing about in the dances: 

‘Saul has defeated thousands 

but David tens of thousands.’ ” 

¹²When David realized what they had said, he was terrified of King Achish of Gath. ¹³So he changed his behavior ⸤when he was⸥ in their presence and acted insane ⸤as long as he was⸥ under their authority. He scribbled on the doors of the city gate and let his spit run down his beard. 

¹⁴Achish said to his officers, “Look at him! Don’t you see ⸤that he’s⸥ insane? Why bring him to me? ¹⁵Do I have such a shortage of lunatics that you bring this man so that he can show me he is insane? Does this man have to come into my house?”