CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>1 Samuel 20 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_samuel/20.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_samuel/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > 1 Samuel 20</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_samuel/19.htm" title="1 Samuel 19">◄</a> 1 Samuel 20 <a href="../1_samuel/21.htm" title="1 Samuel 21">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Jonathan Helps David Escape</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_1"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.1" class="v9_20_1">1</span>David escaped from Prophets Village. Then he ran to see Jonathan and asked, “Why does your father Saul want to kill me? What have I done wrong?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_2"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.2" class="v9_20_2">2</span>“My father can't be trying to kill you! He never does anything without telling me about it. Why would he hide this from me? It can't be true!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_3"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.3" class="v9_20_3">3</span>“Jonathan, I swear it's true! But your father knows how much you like me, and he didn't want to break your heart. That's why he didn't tell you. I swear by the living <span class="nd">Lord</span> and by your own life that I'm only one step ahead of death.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_4"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.4" class="v9_20_4">4</span>Then Jonathan said, “Tell me what to do, and I'll do it.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_5"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.5" class="v9_20_5">5</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.5!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> David answered:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_20_5">Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.5!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and I'm supposed to eat dinner with your father. But instead, I'll hide in a field until the evening of the next day. </span><span class="v9_20_6"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.6" class="v9_20_6">6</span>If Saul wonders where I am, tell him, “David asked me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem, so he could take part in a sacrifice his family makes there every year.”</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_20_7"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.7" class="v9_20_7">7</span>If your father says it's all right, then I'm safe. But if he gets angry, you'll know he wants to harm me. </span><span class="v9_20_8"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.8" class="v9_20_8">8</span>Be kind to me. After all, it was your idea to promise the <span class="nd">Lord</span> that we would always be loyal friends. If I've done anything wrong, kill me yourself, but don't hand me over to your father.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_9"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.9" class="v9_20_9">9</span>“Don't worry,” Jonathan said. “If I find out that my father wants to kill you, I'll certainly let you know.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_10"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.10" class="v9_20_10">10</span>“How will you do that?” David asked.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_11"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.11" class="v9_20_11">11</span>“Let's go out to this field, and I'll tell you,” Jonathan answered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_11">When they got there, </span><span class="v9_20_12"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.12" class="v9_20_12">12</span>Jonathan said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_20_12">I swear by the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel, that two days from now I'll know what my father is planning. Of course I'll let you know if he's friendly toward you. </span><span class="v9_20_13"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.13" class="v9_20_13">13</span>But if he wants to harm you, I promise to tell you and help you escape. And I ask the <span class="nd">Lord</span> to punish me severely if I don't keep my promise.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_20_13">I pray that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will bless you, just as he used to bless my father. </span><span class="v9_20_14"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.14-1Sam.20.15" class="v9_20_14">14-15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.14-1Sam.20.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Someday the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will wipe out all of your enemies. Then if I'm still alive, please be as kind to me as the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has been. But if I'm dead, be kind to my family.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_16"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.16" class="v9_20_16">16</span>Jonathan and David made an agreement that even David's descendants would have to keep.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.16!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Then Jonathan said, “I pray that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will take revenge on your descendants if they break our promise.”<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.16!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_17"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.17" class="v9_20_17">17</span>Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself, so he asked David to promise once more that he would be a loyal friend. </span><span class="v9_20_18"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.18" class="v9_20_18">18</span>After this Jonathan said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_20_18">Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, and people will wonder where you are, because your place at the table will be empty. </span><span class="v9_20_19"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.19" class="v9_20_19">19</span>By the day after tomorrow, everyone will think you've been gone a long time.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.19!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Then go to the place where you hid before and stay beside Going-Away Rock.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.19!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v9_20_20"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.20" class="v9_20_20">20</span>I'll shoot three arrows at a target off to the side of the rock, </span><span class="v9_20_21"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.21" class="v9_20_21">21</span>and send my servant to find the arrows.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_20_21">You'll know if it's safe to come out by what I tell him. If it is safe, I swear by the living <span class="nd">Lord</span> that I'll say, “The arrows are on this side of you! Pick them up!” </span><span class="v9_20_22"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.22" class="v9_20_22">22</span>But if it isn't safe, I'll say to the boy, “The arrows are farther away!” This will mean that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> wants you to leave, and you must go. </span><span class="v9_20_23"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.23" class="v9_20_23">23</span>But he will always watch us to make sure that we keep the promise we made to each other.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_24"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.24" class="v9_20_24">24</span>So David hid there in the field.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_24">During the New Moon Festival, Saul sat down to eat </span><span class="v9_20_25"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.25" class="v9_20_25">25</span>by the wall, just as he always did. Jonathan sat across from him,<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.25!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and Abner sat next to him. But David's place was empty. </span><span class="v9_20_26"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.26" class="v9_20_26">26</span>Saul didn't say anything that day, because he was thinking, “Something must have happened to make David unfit to be at the Festival.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.26!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Yes, something must have happened.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_27"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.27" class="v9_20_27">27</span>The day after the New Moon Festival, when David's place was still empty, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn't that son of Jesse come to eat with us? He wasn't here yesterday, and he still isn't here today!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_28"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.28-1Sam.20.29" class="v9_20_28">28-29</span>Jonathan answered, “The reason David hasn't come to eat with you is that he begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Please let me go. My family is offering a sacrifice, and my brother told me I have to be there. Do me this favor and let me slip away to see my brothers.’ ”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_30"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.30" class="v9_20_30">30</span>Saul was furious with Jonathan and yelled, “You're no son of mine, you traitor! I know you've chosen to be loyal to that son of Jesse. You should be ashamed of yourself! And your own mother should be ashamed that you were ever born. </span><span class="v9_20_31"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.31" class="v9_20_31">31</span>You'll never be safe, and your kingdom will be in danger as long as that son of Jesse is alive. Turn him over to me now! He deserves to die!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_32"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.32" class="v9_20_32">32</span>“Why do you want to kill David?” Jonathan asked. “What has he done?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_33"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.33" class="v9_20_33">33</span>Saul threw his spear at Jonathan and tried to kill him. Then Jonathan was sure that his father really did want to kill David. </span><span class="v9_20_34"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.34" class="v9_20_34">34</span>Jonathan was angry and hurt that his father had insulted David<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.34!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> so terribly. He got up, left the table, and didn't eat anything all that day.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_35"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.35" class="v9_20_35">35</span>In the morning, Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a servant boy along </span><span class="v9_20_36"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.36" class="v9_20_36">36</span>and told him, “When I shoot the arrows, you run and find them for me.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_36">The boy started running, and Jonathan shot an arrow so that it would go beyond him. </span><span class="v9_20_37"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.37" class="v9_20_37">37</span>When the boy got near the place where the arrow had landed, Jonathan shouted, “Isn't the arrow on past you?” </span><span class="v9_20_38"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.38" class="v9_20_38">38</span>Jonathan shouted to him again, “Hurry up! Don't stop!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_38">The boy picked up the arrows and brought them back to Jonathan, </span><span class="v9_20_39"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.39" class="v9_20_39">39</span>but he had no idea about what was going on. Only Jonathan and David knew. </span><span class="v9_20_40"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.40" class="v9_20_40">40</span>Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him, “Take these back into town.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_41"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.41" class="v9_20_41">41</span>After the boy had gone, David got up from beside the mound<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.41!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and bowed very low three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.41!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> each other and cried, but David cried louder. </span><span class="v9_20_42"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.42" class="v9_20_42">42</span>Jonathan said, “Take care of yourself. And remember, we each have asked the <span class="nd">Lord</span> to watch and make sure that we and our descendants keep our promise forever.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_42">David left and Jonathan went back to town.</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.5 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">New Moon Festival: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The first day of the month, when Israelites offered special sacrifices to the <char style="nd">Lord</char> and had special sacred meals.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.16 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Jonathan … keep: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or, continuing Jonathan's statement to David, “You and your descendants must not kill off my descendants.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.16 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">I pray … promise: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “I pray that the <char style="nd">Lord</char> take revenge on you if you break our promise!”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.19 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">By … time: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.19 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Going-Away Rock: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “Ezel Rock”; one ancient translation “that mound” (see 20.41).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.25 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sat … him: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation; Hebrew “stood up.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.26 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">unfit … Festival: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">During the New Moon Festival a sacred meal was served that could only be eaten by people who were properly prepared. Some of the things that could make a person unfit are listed in Leviticus 7.20,21; 15.2,31; 22.4-8; Deuteronomy 23.10,11.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.34 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">insulted David: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “insulted him” (that is, Jonathan).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.41 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the mound: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation; Hebrew “from the south side.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.41 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">kissed: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">A common way of greeting or saying goodbye in biblical times (see Mark 14.44).</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. Discover .BIBLE resources for your ministry at <a href="http://www.get.bible/cev">www.get.bible/cev</a></span></p><br /><br /><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /><br /><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../1_samuel/19.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="1 Samuel 19"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="1 Samuel 19" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../1_samuel/21.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="1 Samuel 21"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="1 Samuel 21" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/1_samuel/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchapnoad.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>