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<!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 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><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="../">GNT</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">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">Jonathan Helps David</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_1"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.1" class="v9_20_1">1</span>Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and went to Jonathan. “What have I done?” he asked. “What crime have I committed? What wrong have I done to your father to make him want to kill me?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_2"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.2" class="v9_20_2">2</span>Jonathan answered, “God forbid that you should die! My father tells me everything he does, important or not, and he would not hide this from me. It just isn't so!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_3"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.3" class="v9_20_3">3</span>But David answered,<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.3!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> “Your father knows very well how much you like me, and he has decided not to let you know what he plans to do, because you would be deeply hurt. I swear to you by the living <span class="nd">Lord</span> that I am only a step away from death!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_4"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.4" class="v9_20_4">4</span>Jonathan said, “I'll do anything you want.”</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> “Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,” David replied, “and I am supposed to eat with the king. But if it's all right with you, I will go and hide in the fields until the evening of the day after tomorrow. </span><span class="v9_20_6"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.6" class="v9_20_6">6</span>If your father notices that I am not at the table, tell him that I begged your permission to hurry home to Bethlehem, since it's the time for the annual sacrifice there for my whole family. </span><span class="v9_20_7"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.7" class="v9_20_7">7</span>If he says, ‘All right,’ I will be safe; but if he becomes angry, you will know that he is determined to harm me. </span><span class="v9_20_8"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.8" class="v9_20_8">8</span>Please do me this favor, and keep the sacred promise you made to me. But if I'm guilty, kill me yourself! Why take me to your father to be killed?”</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 even think such a thing!” Jonathan answered. “If I knew for sure that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_10"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.10" class="v9_20_10">10</span>David then asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you angrily?”</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 the fields,” Jonathan answered. So they went, </span><span class="v9_20_12"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.12" class="v9_20_12">12</span>and Jonathan said to David, “May the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel be our witness!<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.12!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> At this time tomorrow and on the following day I will question my father. If his attitude toward you is good, I will send you word. </span><span class="v9_20_13"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.13" class="v9_20_13">13</span>If he intends to harm you, may the <span class="nd">Lord</span> strike me dead if I don't let you know about it and get you safely away. May the <span class="nd">Lord</span> be with you as he was with my father! </span><span class="v9_20_14"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.14" class="v9_20_14">14</span>And if I remain alive, please keep your sacred promise and be loyal to me; but if I die,<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.14!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v9_20_15"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.15" class="v9_20_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> show the same kind of loyalty to my family forever. And when the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has completely destroyed all your enemies, </span><span class="v9_20_16"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.16" class="v9_20_16">16</span>may our promise to each other still be unbroken. If it is broken, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will punish you.”<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.16!f.1" 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>Once again Jonathan made David promise to love him, for Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself. </span><span class="v9_20_18"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.18" class="v9_20_18">18</span>Then Jonathan said to him, “Since tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, your absence will be noticed if you aren't at the meal. </span><span class="v9_20_19"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.19" class="v9_20_19">19</span>The day after tomorrow your absence will be noticed<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.19!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> even more; so go to the place where you hid yourself the other time, and hide behind the pile of stones there.<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 will then shoot three arrows at it, as though it were a target. </span><span class="v9_20_21"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.21" class="v9_20_21">21</span>Then I will tell my servant to go and find them. And if I tell him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them,’ that means that you are safe and can come out. I swear by the living <span class="nd">Lord</span> that you will be in no danger. </span><span class="v9_20_22"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.22" class="v9_20_22">22</span>But if I tell him, ‘The arrows are on the other side of you,’ then leave, because the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is sending you away. </span><span class="v9_20_23"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.23" class="v9_20_23">23</span>As for the promise we have made to each other, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will make sure that we will keep it forever.”</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 in the fields. At the New Moon Festival, King Saul came to the meal </span><span class="v9_20_25"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.25" class="v9_20_25">25</span>and sat in his usual place by the wall. Abner sat next to him, and Jonathan sat across the table from him.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.25!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> David's place was empty, </span><span class="v9_20_26"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.26" class="v9_20_26">26</span>but Saul said nothing that day, because he thought, “Something has happened to him, and he is not ritually pure.” </span><span class="v9_20_27"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.27" class="v9_20_27">27</span>On the following day, the day after the New Moon Festival, David's place was still empty, and Saul asked Jonathan, “Why didn't David come to the meal either yesterday or today?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_28"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.28" class="v9_20_28">28</span>Jonathan answered, “He begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. </span><span class="v9_20_29"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.29" class="v9_20_29">29</span>‘Please let me go,’ he said, ‘because our family is celebrating the sacrificial feast in town, and my brother ordered me to be there. So then, if you are my friend, let me go and see my relatives.’ That is why he isn't in his place at your table.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_20_30"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.30" class="v9_20_30">30</span>Saul became furious with Jonathan and said to him, “How rebellious and faithless your mother was! Now I know you are taking sides with David and are disgracing yourself and that mother of yours! </span><span class="v9_20_31"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.31" class="v9_20_31">31</span>Don't you realize that as long as David is alive, you will never be king of this country? Now go and bring him here—he must 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 should he die?” Jonathan replied. “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>At that, Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, and Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. </span><span class="v9_20_34"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.34" class="v9_20_34">34</span>Jonathan got up from the table in a rage and ate nothing that day—the second day of the New Moon Festival. He was deeply distressed about David, because Saul had insulted him. </span><span class="v9_20_35"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.35" class="v9_20_35">35</span>The following morning Jonathan went to the fields to meet David, as they had agreed. He took a young boy with him </span><span class="v9_20_36"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.36" class="v9_20_36">36</span>and said to him, “Run and find the arrows I'm going to shoot.” The boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. </span><span class="v9_20_37"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.37" class="v9_20_37">37</span>When the boy reached the place where the arrow had fallen, Jonathan shouted to him, “The arrow is farther on! </span><span class="v9_20_38"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.38" class="v9_20_38">38</span>Don't just stand there! Hurry up!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master, </span><span class="v9_20_39"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.39" class="v9_20_39">39</span>not knowing what it all meant; 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 to take them back to 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 left, David got up from behind the pile of stones,<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.41!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> fell on his knees and bowed with his face to the ground three times. Both he and Jonathan were crying as they kissed each other; David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.20.41!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v9_20_42"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.20.42" class="v9_20_42">42</span>Then Jonathan said to David, “God be with you. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> will make sure that you and I, and your descendants and mine, will forever keep the sacred promise we have made to each other.” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.3: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation </char><char style="fq" closed="false">answered; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">made a vow again.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.12: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation </char><char style="fq" closed="false">be our witness; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew does not have these words.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.14: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some ancient translations </char><char style="fq" closed="false">if I die; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">that I may not die.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.16: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Verses 15-16 in Hebrew are unclear.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.19: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some ancient translations </char><char style="fq" closed="false">your absence will be noticed; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">go down.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.19: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probable text </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the pile of stones there; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the Ezel Stone.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.25: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sat across the table from him; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">stood up.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.41: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probable text </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the pile of stones; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the south.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.41: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probable text </char><char style="fq" closed="false">David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew unclear.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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