| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What is my offense? How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!" | 1David now fled from Naioth in Ramah and found Jonathan. “What have I done?” he exclaimed. “What is my crime? How have I offended your father that he is so determined to kill me?” |
| 2Jonathan said to him, "By no means are you going to die! My father does nothing large or small without making me aware of it. Why would my father hide this matter from me? It just won't happen!" | 2“That’s not true!” Jonathan protested. “You’re not going to die. He always tells me everything he’s going to do, even the little things. I know my father wouldn’t hide something like this from me. It just isn’t so!” |
| 3Taking an oath, David again said, "Your father is very much aware of the fact that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, 'Don't let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.' But as surely as the LORD lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!" | 3Then David took an oath before Jonathan and said, “Your father knows perfectly well about our friendship, so he has said to himself, ‘I won’t tell Jonathan—why should I hurt him?’ But I swear to you that I am only a step away from death! I swear it by the LORD and by your own soul!” |
| 4Jonathan replied to David, "Tell me what I can do for you." | 4“Tell me what I can do to help you,” Jonathan exclaimed. |
| 5David said to Jonathan, "Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now. | 5David replied, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. I’ve always eaten with the king on this occasion, but tomorrow I’ll hide in the field and stay there until the evening of the third day. |
| 6If your father happens to miss me, you should say, 'David urgently requested me to let him go to his city Bethlehem, for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.' | 6If your father asks where I am, tell him I asked permission to go home to Bethlehem for an annual family sacrifice. |
| 7If he should then say, 'That's fine,' then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided to harm me. | 7If he says, ‘Fine!’ you will know all is well. But if he is angry and loses his temper, you will know he is determined to kill me. |
| 8You must be loyal to your servant, for you have made a covenant with your servant in the LORD's name. If I am guilty, you yourself kill me! Why bother taking me to your father?" | 8Show me this loyalty as my sworn friend—for we made a solemn pact before the LORD—or kill me yourself if I have sinned against your father. But please don’t betray me to him!” |
| 9Jonathan said, "Far be it from you to suggest this! If I were at all aware that my father had decided to harm you, wouldn't I tell you about it?" | 9“Never!” Jonathan exclaimed. “You know that if I had the slightest notion my father was planning to kill you, I would tell you at once.” |
| 10David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?" | 10Then David asked, “How will I know whether or not your father is angry?” |
| 11Jonathan said to David, "Come on. Let's go out to the field." When the two of them had gone out into the field, | 11“Come out to the field with me,” Jonathan replied. And they went out there together. |
| 12Jonathan said to David, "The LORD God of Israel is my witness. I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? | 12Then Jonathan told David, “I promise by the LORD, the God of Israel, that by this time tomorrow, or the next day at the latest, I will talk to my father and let you know at once how he feels about you. If he speaks favorably about you, I will let you know. |
| 13But if my father intends to do you harm, may the LORD do all this and more to Jonathan, if I don't let you know and send word to you so you can go safely on your way. May the LORD be with you, as he was with my father. | 13But if he is angry and wants you killed, may the LORD strike me and even kill me if I don’t warn you so you can escape and live. May the LORD be with you as he used to be with my father. |
| 14While I am still alive, extend to me the loyalty of the LORD, or else I will die! | 14And may you treat me with the faithful love of the LORD as long as I live. But if I die, |
| 15Don't ever cut off your loyalty to my family, not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth | 15treat my family with this faithful love, even when the LORD destroys all your enemies from the face of the earth.” |
| 16and called David's enemies to account." So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David. | 16So Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, saying, “May the LORD destroy all your enemies!” |
| 17Jonathan once again took an oath with David, because he loved him. In fact Jonathan loved him as much as he did his own life. | 17And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. |
| 18Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty. | 18Then Jonathan said, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. You will be missed when your place at the table is empty. |
| 19On the third day you should go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself the day this all started. Stay near the stone Ezel. | 19The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid before, and wait there by the stone pile. |
| 20I will shoot three arrows near it, as though I were shooting at a target. | 20I will come out and shoot three arrows to the side of the stone pile as though I were shooting at a target. |
| 21When I send a boy after them, I will say, "Go and find the arrows." If I say to the boy, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them,' then come back. For as surely as the LORD lives, you will be safe and there will no problem. | 21Then I will send a boy to bring the arrows back. If you hear me tell him, ‘They’re on this side,’ then you will know, as surely as the LORD lives, that all is well, and there is no trouble. |
| 22But if I say to the boy, "Look, the arrows are on the other side of you,' get away. For in that case the LORD has sent you away. | 22But if I tell him, ‘Go farther—the arrows are still ahead of you,’ then it will mean that you must leave immediately, for the LORD is sending you away. |
| 23With regard to the matter that you and I discussed, the LORD is the witness between us forever!" | 23And may the LORD make us keep our promises to each other, for he has witnessed them.” |
| 24So David hid in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. | 24So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon festival began, the king sat down to eat. |
| 25The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him and Abner at his side. But David's place was vacant. | 25He sat at his usual place against the wall, with Jonathan sitting opposite him and Abner beside him. But David’s place was empty. |
| 26However, Saul said nothing about it that day, for he thought, "Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean." | 26Saul didn’t say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, “Something must have made David ceremonially unclean.” |
| 27But the next morning, the second day of the new moon, David's place was still vacant. So Saul said to his son Jonathan, "Why has Jesse's son not come to the meal yesterday or today?" | 27But when David’s place was empty again the next day, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse been here for the meal either yesterday or today?” |
| 28Jonathan replied to Saul, "David urgently requested that he be allowed to go to Bethlehem. | 28Jonathan replied, “David earnestly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem. |
| 29He said, 'Permit me to go, for we are having a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother urged me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go to see my brothers.' For that reason he has not come to the king's table." | 29He said, ‘Please let me go, for we are having a family sacrifice. My brother demanded that I be there. So please let me get away to see my brothers.’ That’s why he isn’t here at the king’s table.” |
| 30Saul became angry with Jonathan and said to him, "You stupid traitor! Don't I realize that to your own disgrace and to the disgrace of your mother's nakedness you have chosen this son of Jesse? | 30Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!” he swore at him. “Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? |
| 31For as long as this son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. Now, send some men and bring him to me. For he is as good as dead!" | 31As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!” |
| 32Jonathan responded to his father Saul, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?" | 32“But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?” |
| 33Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan in order to strike him down. So Jonathan was convinced that his father had decided to kill David. | 33Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. |
| 34Jonathan got up from the table enraged. He did not eat any food on that second day of the new moon, for he was upset that his father had humiliated David. | 34Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and refused to eat on that second day of the festival, for he was crushed by his father’s shameful behavior toward David. |
| 35The next morning Jonathan, along with a young servant, went out to the field to meet David. | 35The next morning, as agreed, Jonathan went out into the field and took a young boy with him to gather his arrows. |
| 36He said to his servant, "Run, find the arrows that I am about to shoot." As the servant ran, Jonathan shot the arrow beyond him. | 36“Start running,” he told the boy, “so you can find the arrows as I shoot them.” So the boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. |
| 37When the servant came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called out to the servant, "Isn't the arrow further beyond you?" | 37When the boy had almost reached the arrow, Jonathan shouted, “The arrow is still ahead of you. |
| 38Jonathan called out to the servant, "Hurry! Go faster! Don't delay!" Jonathan's servant retrieved the arrow and came back to his master. | 38Hurry, hurry, don’t wait.” So the boy quickly gathered up the arrows and ran back to his master. |
| 39(Now the servant did not understand any of this. Only Jonathan and David knew what was going on.) | 39He, of course, suspected nothing; only Jonathan and David understood the signal. |
| 40Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him. He said to him, "Go, take these things back to the city." | 40Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him to take them back to town. |
| 41When the servant had left, David got up from beside the mound, knelt with his face to the ground, and bowed three times. Then they kissed each other and they both wept, especially David. | 41As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from where he had been hiding near the stone pile. Then David bowed three times to Jonathan with his face to the ground. Both of them were in tears as they embraced each other and said good-bye, especially David. |
| 42Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the LORD saying, 'The LORD will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.'" Then David got up and left, while Jonathan went back to the city. | 42At last Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn loyalty to each other in the LORD’s name. The LORD is the witness of a bond between us and our children forever.” Then David left, and Jonathan returned to the town. |
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