1 Samuel 20
1 But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he seeketh my life?
Fugit autem David de Najoth, quæ est in Ramatha, veniensque locutus est coram Jonatha: Quid feci? quæ est iniquitas mea, et quod peccatum meum in patrem tuum, quia quærit animam meam?
2 And he said to him: God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do nothing great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be.
Qui dixit ei: Absit, non morieris: neque enim faciet pater meus quidquam grande vel parvum, nisi prius indicaverit mihi: hunc ergo celavit me pater meus sermonem tantummodo? nequaquam erit istud.
3 And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death.
Et juravit rursum Davidi. Et ille ait: Scit profecto pater tuus quia inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, et dicet: Nesciat hoc Jonathas, ne forte tristetur. Quinimmo vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, quia uno tantum (ut ita dicam) gradu ego morsque dividimur.
4 And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee.
Et ait Jonathas ad David: Quodcumque dixerit mihi anima tua, faciam tibi.
5 And David said to Jonathan: Behold tomorrow is the new moon, and I according to custom am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day.
Dixit autem David ad Jonathan: Ecce calendæ sunt crastino, et ego ex more sedere soleo juxta regem ad vescendum: dimitte ergo me ut abscondar in agro usque ad vesperam diei tertiæ.
6 If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all his tribe.
Si respiciens requisierit me pater tuus, respondebis ei: Rogavit me David ut iret celeriter in Bethlehem civitatem suam, quia victimæ solemnes ibi sunt universis contribulibus suis.
7 If he shall say, It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.
Si dixerit: Bene: pax erit servo tuo. Si autem fuerit iratus, scito quia completa est malitia ejus.
8 Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father.
Fac ergo misericordiam in servum tuum, quia fœdus Domini me famulum tuum tecum inire fecisti: si autem est iniquitas aliqua in me, tu me interfice, et ad patrem tuum ne introducas me.
9 And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee.
Et ait Jonathas: Absit hoc a te: neque enim fieri potest, ut si certe cognovero completam esse patris mei malitiam contra te, non annuntiem tibi.
10 And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?
Responditque David ad Jonathan: Quis renuntiabit mihi, si quid forte responderit tibi pater tuus dure de me?
11 And Jonathan said to David: Come and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into the field,
Et ait Jonathas ad David: Veni, et egrediamur foras in agrum. Cumque exissent ambo in agrum,
12 Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father’s mind, tomorrow or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee,
ait Jonathas ad David: Domine Deus Israël, si investigavero sententiam patris mei crastino vel perendie, et aliquid boni fuerit super David, et non statim misero ad te, et notum tibi fecero,
13 May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
hæc faciat Dominus Jonathæ, et hæc addat. Si autem perseveraverit patris mei malitia adversum te, revelabo aurem tuam, et dimittam te, ut vadas in pace, et sit Dominus tecum, sicut fuit cum patre meo.
14 And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die,
Et si vixero, facies mihi misericordiam Domini: si vero mortuus fuero,
15 Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies.
non auferes misericordiam tuam a domo mea usque in sempiternum, quando eradicaverit Dominus inimicos David, unumquemque de terra: auferat Jonathan de domo sua, et requirat Dominus de manu inimicorum David.
16 Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David’s enemies.
Pepigit ergo Jonathas fœdus cum domo David: et requisivit Dominus de manu inimicorum David.
17 And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul.
Et addidit Jonathas dejerare David, eo quod diligeret illum: sicut enim animam suam, ita diligebat eum.
18 And Jonathan said to him: Tomorrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed:
Dixitque ad eum Jonathas: Cras calendæ sunt, et requireris:
19 For thy seat will be empty till after tomorrow. So thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place, where thou must be hid on the day when it is lawful to work, and thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel.
requiretur enim sessio tua usque perendie. Descendes ergo festinus, et venies in locum ubi celandus es in die qua operari licet, et sedebis juxta lapidem cui nomen est Ezel.
20 And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark.
Et ego tres sagittas mittam juxta eum, et jaciam quasi exercens me ad signum.
21 And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows.
Mittam quoque et puerum, dicens ei: Vade, et affer mihi sagittas.
22 If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on this side of thee, take them up: come thou to me, because, there is peace to thee, and there is no evil, as the Lord liveth. But if I shall speak thus to the boy: Behold the arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the Lord hath sent thee away.
Si dixero puero: Ecce sagittæ intra te sunt, tolle eas: tu veni ad me, quia pax tibi est, et nihil est mali, vivit Dominus. Si autem sic locutus fuero puero: Ecce sagittæ ultra te sunt: vade in pace, quia dimisit te Dominus.
23 And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.
De verbo autem quod locuti sumus ego et tu, sit Dominus inter me et te usque in sempiternum.
24 So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.
Absconditus est ergo David in agro, et venerunt calendæ, et sedit rex ad comedendum panem.
25 And when the king sat down upon his chair (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place appeared empty.
Cumque sedisset rex super cathedram suam (secundum consuetudinem) quæ erat juxta parietem, surrexit Jonathas, et sedit Abner ex latere Saul: vacuusque apparuit locus David.
26 And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified.
Et non est locutus Saul quidquam in die illa: cogitabat enim quod forte evenisset ei, ut non esset mundus, nec purificatus.
27 And when the second day after the new moon was come, David’s place appeared empty again. And Saul said to Jonathan his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat neither yesterday nor today?
Cumque illuxisset dies secunda post calendas, rursus apparuit vacuus locus David. Dixitque Saul ad Jonathan filium suum: Cur non venit filius Isai nec heri nec hodie ad vescendum?
28 And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem,
Responditque Jonathas Sauli: Rogavit me obnixe ut iret in Bethlehem,
29 And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacrifice in the city, one of my brethren hath sent for me: and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will go quickly, and see my brethren. For this cause he came not to the king’s table.
et ait: Dimitte me, quoniam sacrificium solemne est in civitate, unus de fratribus meis accersivit me: nunc ergo si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, vadam cito, et videbo fratres meos. Ob hanc causam non venit ad mensam regis.
30 Then Saul being angry against Jonathan said to him: Thou son of a woman that is the ravisher of a man, do I not know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy own confusion and to the confusion of thy shameless mother?
Iratus autem Saul adversum Jonathan, dixit ei: Fili mulieris virum ultro rapientis, numquid ignoro quia diligis filium Isai in confusionem tuam, et in confusionem ignominiosæ matris tuæ?
31 For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son of death.
Omnibus enim diebus quibus filius Isai vixerit super terram, non stabilieris tu, neque regnum tuum. Itaque jam nunc mitte, et adduc eum ad me: quia filius mortis est.
32 And Jonathan answering Saul his father, said: Why shall he die: what hath he done?
Respondens autem Jonathas Sauli patri suo, ait: Quare morietur? quid fecit?
33 And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to kill David.
Et arripuit Saul lanceam ut percuteret eum. Et intellexit Jonathas quod definitum esset a patre suo, ut interficeret David.
34 So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to confusion.
Surrexit ergo Jonathas a mensa in ira furoris, et non comedit in die calendarum secunda panem. Contristatus est enim super David, eo quod confudisset eum pater suus.
35 And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field, according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him.
Cumque illuxisset mane, venit Jonathas in agrum juxta placitum David, et puer parvulus cum eo.
36 And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow beyond the boy.
Et ait ad puerum suum: Vade, et affer mihi sagittas quas ego jacio. Cumque puer cucurrisset, jecit aliam sagittam trans puerum.
37 The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot: and Jonathan cried after the boy, and said: Behold the arrow is there further beyond thee.
Venit itaque puer ad locum jaculi quod miserat Jonathas: et clamavit Jonathas post tergum pueri, et ait: Ecce ibi est sagitta porro ultra te.
38 And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make haste speedily, stand not. And Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows, and brought them to his master:
Clamavitque iterum Jonathas post tergum pueri, dicens: Festina velociter, ne steteris. Collegit autem puer Jonathæ sagittas, et attulit ad dominum suum:
39 And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
et quid ageretur, penitus ignorabat, tantummodo enim Jonathas et David rem noverant.
40 Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into the city.
Dedit ergo Jonathas arma sua puero, et dixit ei: Vade, et defer in civitatem.
41 And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place, which was towards the south, and falling on his face to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one another, they wept together, but David more.
Cumque abiisset puer, surrexit David de loco qui vergebat ad austrum, et cadens pronus in terram, adoravit tertio: et osculantes se alterutrum, fleverunt pariter, David autem amplius.
42 And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all stand that 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 David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
Dixit ergo Jonathas ad David: Vade in pace: quæcumque juravimus ambo in nomine Domini, dicentes: Dominus sit inter me et te, et inter semen meum et semen tuum usque in sempiternum. Et surrexit David, et abiit: sed et Jonathas ingressus est civitatem.
