1 Samuel
1 Samuel 20
King James Version · tap any highlighted word for context
1 Samuel 20 — Scripture text (King James Version)
And fled from in , and came and said before , What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? 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. And sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not 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. Then said unto , Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. And said unto , Behold, to morrow is the , 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. If thy father at all miss me, then say, earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. If he say thus, It is ; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? And 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? Then said to , Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? And said unto , Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. And said unto , O LORD God of , when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward , and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee; The LORD do so and much more to : 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. And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: 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 every one from the face of the earth. So made a with the house of , saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of ’s enemies. And caused to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. Then said to , To morrow is the : and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. 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 . And I will shoot three arrows the side thereof, as though I shot at a . And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth. 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. And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever. So hid himself in the field: and when the was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and arose, and sat by ’s side, and ’s place was empty. Nevertheless spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. And it came to pass the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that ’s place was empty: and said unto his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? And answered , earnestly asked leave of me to go to : 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. Then ’s anger was kindled against , and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of 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. And answered his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? And cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby knew that it was determined of his father to slay . So arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for , because his father had done him shame. And it came to pass in the morning, that went out into the field at the time appointed with , and a little lad with him. 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. And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which had shot, cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? And cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And ’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. But the lad knew not any thing: only and knew the matter. And gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. And as soon as the lad was gone, arose out of a place toward the south, and fell his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until exceeded. And said to , 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 went into the city.