The First Book of Samuel Otherwise Called The First Book of the Kings 20

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¹ And David fled from Naioth in 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 seeketh my life ⚑

² And he said unto him God forbid thou shalt not die behold my father will do nothing either great or small but that he will shew it me and why should my father hide this thing from me it is not so ⚑

³ And David sware moreover and said Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes and he saith Let not Jonathan know this lest he be grieved but truly as the LORD liveth and as thy soul liveth there is but a step between me and death ⚑

⁴ Then said Jonathan unto David Whatsoever thy soul desireth I will even do it for thee ⚑

⁵ And David said unto Jonathan Behold to morrow is the 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 unto the third day at even ⚑

⁶ If thy father at all miss me then say David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family ⚑

⁷ If he say thus It is well thy servant shall have peace but if he be very wroth then be sure that evil is determined by him ⚑

⁸ Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee notwithstanding if there be in me iniquity slay me thyself for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father ⚑

⁹ And Jonathan said Far be it from thee for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee then would not I tell it thee ⚑

¹⁰ Then said David to Jonathan Who shall tell me or what if thy father answer thee roughly ⚑

¹¹ And Jonathan said unto David Come and let us go out into the field And they went out both of them into the field ⚑

¹² And Jonathan said unto David O LORD God of Israel when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time or the third day and behold if there be good toward David and I then send not unto thee and shew it thee ⚑

¹³ The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan but if it please my father to do thee evil then I will shew it thee and send thee away that thou mayest go in peace and the LORD be with thee as he hath been with my father ⚑

¹⁴ And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD that I die not ⚑

¹⁵ But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever no not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth ⚑

¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David saying Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies ⚑

¹⁷ And Jonathan caused David to swear again because he loved him for he loved him as he loved his own soul ⚑

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David To morrow is the new moon and thou shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty ⚑

¹⁹ And when thou hast stayed three days then thou shalt go down quickly and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand and shalt remain by the stone Ezel ⚑

²⁰ And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof as though I shot at a mark ⚑

²¹ And behold I will send a lad saying Go find out the arrows If I expressly say unto the lad Behold the arrows are on this side of thee take them then come thou for there is peace to thee and no hurt as the LORD liveth ⚑

²² But if I say thus unto the young man Behold the arrows are beyond thee go thy way for the LORD hath sent thee away ⚑

²³ And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of behold the LORD be between thee and me for ever ⚑

²⁴ So David hid himself in the field and when the new moon was come the king sat him down to eat meat ⚑

²⁵ And the king sat upon his seat as at other times even upon a seat by the wall and Jonathan arose and Abner sat by Saul’s side and David’s place was empty ⚑

²⁶ Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day for he thought Something hath befallen him he is not clean surely he is not clean ⚑

²⁷ And it came to pass on the morrow which was the second day of the month that David’s place was empty and Saul said unto Jonathan his son Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat neither yesterday nor to day ⚑

²⁹ And he said Let me go I pray thee for our family hath a sacrifice in the city and my brother he hath commanded me to be there and now if I have found favour in thine eyes let me get away I pray thee and see my brethren Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table ⚑

³⁰ Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan and he said unto him Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion and unto the confusion of thy other’s nakedness ⚑

³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground thou shalt not be established nor thy kingdom Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me for he shall surely die ⚑

³² And Jonathan answered Saul his father and said unto him Wherefore shall he be slain what hath he done ⚑

³³ And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David ⚑

³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and did eat no meat the second day of the month for he was grieved for David because his father had done him shame ⚑

³⁵ And it came to pass in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David and a little lad with him ⚑

³⁶ And he said unto his lad Run find out now the arrows which I shoot And as the lad ran he shot an arrow beyond him ⚑

³⁷ And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot Jonathan cried after the lad and said Is not the arrow beyond thee ⚑

⁴⁰ And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad and said unto him Go carry them to the city ⚑

⁴¹ And as soon as the lad was gone David arose out of a place toward 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 ⚑

⁴² And Jonathan said to David Go in peace forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD saying The LORD be between me and thee and between my seed and thy seed for ever And he arose and departed and Jonathan went into the city ⚑

King James Version (1769) with Apocrypha · Crosswire Bible Society / eBible.org (standard text of 1769) · Public Domain

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · public domain