I Samuelis 20
1 Fugit autem David de Naioth, quae est in Ramatha, veniensque locutus est coram Ionatha: Quid feci? quae est iniquitas mea, et quod peccatum meum in patrem tuum, quia quaerit animam meam?
Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?”
2 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.
“Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!”
3 Et iuravit rursum Davidi. Et ille ait: Scit profecto pater tuus quia inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, et dicet: Nesciat hoc Ionathas, ne forte tristetur. Quinimmo vivit Dominus, et vivit anima tua, quia uno tantum (ut ita dicam) gradu, ego morsque dividimur.
But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
4 Et ait Ionathas ad David: Quodcumque dixerit mihi anima tua, faciam tibi.
Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.”
5 Dixit autem David ad Ionathan: Ecce calendae sunt crastino, et ego ex more sedere soleo iuxta regem ad vescendum: dimitte ergo me ut abscondar in agro usque ad vesperam diei tertiae.
So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now.
6 Si respiciens requisierit me pater tuus, respondebis ei: Rogavit me David, ut iret celeriter in Bethlehem civitatem suam: quia victimae sollemnes ibi sunt universis contribulibus suis.
If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’
7 Si dixerit, Bene: pax erit servo tuo. si autem fuerit iratus, scito quia completa est malitia eius.
If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions.
8 Fac ergo misericordiam in servum tuum: quia foedus Domini me famulum tuum tecum inire fecisti. si autem est iniquitas aliqua in me, tu me interfice, et ad patrem tuum ne introducas me.
Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”
9 Et ait Ionathas: Absit hoc a me: neque enim fieri potest, ut si certe cognovero completam esse patris mei malitiam contra te, non annunciem tibi.
“Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”
10 Responditque David ad Ionathan: Quis renunciabit mihi, si quid forte responderit tibi pater tuus dure de me?
Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
11 Et ait Ionathas ad David: Veni, et egrediamur foras in agrum. Cumque exissent ambo in agrum,
“Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.” So the two of them went out into the field,
12 ait Ionathas ad David: Domine Deus Israel, si investigavero sententiam patris mei crastino vel perendie: et aliquid boni fuerit super David, et non statim misero ad te, et notum tibi fecero,
and Jonathan said, “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?
13 haec faciat Dominus Ionathae, et haec 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.
But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father.
14 Et si vixero, facies mihi misericordiam Domini: si vero mortuus fuero,
And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die,
15 non auferes misericordiam tuam a domo mea usque in sempiternum, quando eradicaverit Dominus inimicos David, unumquemque de terra: auferat Ionathan de domo sua, et requirat Dominus de manu inimicorum David.
and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
16 Pepigit ergo Ionathas foedus cum domo David: et requisivit Dominus de manu inimicorum David.
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.”
17 Et addidit Ionathas deierare David, eo quod diligeret illum: sicut enim animam suam, ita diligebat eum.
And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
18 Dixitque ad eum Ionathas: Cras calendae sunt, et requireris:
Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed if your seat is empty.
19 requiretur enim sessio tua usque perendie. Descendes ergo festinus, et venies in locum ubi celandus es in die qua operari licet, et sedebis iuxta lapidem, cui nomen est Ezel.
When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel.
20 Et ego tres sagittas mittam iuxta eum, et iaciam quasi exercens me ad signum.
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.
21 Mittam quoque et puerum, dicens ei: Vade, et affer mihi sagittas.
Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them,’ then come, because as surely as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger.
22 Si dixero puero: Ecce sagittae 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 sagittae citra te sunt: vade in pace, quia dimisit te Dominus.
But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away.
23 De verbo autem quod locuti sumus ego et tu, sit Dominus inter me et te usque in sempiternum.
And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.”
24 Absconditus est ergo David in agro, et venerunt calendae, et sedit rex ad comedendum panem.
So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat.
25 Cumque sedisset rex super cathedram suam (secundum consuetudinem) quae erat iuxta parietem, surrexit Ionathas, et sedit Abner ex latere Saul, vacuusque apparuit locus David.
He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner, but David’s place was empty.
26 Et non est locutus Saul quidquam in die illa: cogitabat enim quod forte evenisset ei, ut non esset mundus, nec purificatus.
Saul said nothing that day because he thought, “Something has happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”
27 Cumque illuxisset dies secunda post calendas, rursus apparuit vacuus locus David. Dixitque Saul ad Ionathan filium suum: Cur non venit filius Isai nec heri, nec hodie ad vescendum?
But on the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
28 Responditque Ionathas Sauli: Rogavit me obnixe, ut iret in Bethlehem,
Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,
29 et ait: Dimitte me, quoniam sacrificium sollemne 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.
saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he did not come to the king’s table.”
30 Iratus autem Saul adversum Ionathan, dixit ei: Fili mulieris virum ultro rapientis, numquid ignoro quia diligis filium Isai in confusionem tuam, et in confusionem ignominiosae matris tuae?
Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the disgrace of the mother who bore you?
31 Omnibus enim diebus, quibus filius Isai vixerit super terram, non stabilieris tu, neque regnum tuum. Itaque iam nunc mitte, et adduc eum ad me: quia filius mortis est.
For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”
32 Respondens autem Ionathas Sauli patri suo, ait: Quare morietur? quid fecit?
“Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”
33 Et arripuit Saul lanceam ut percuteret eum. Et intellexit Ionathas quod definitum esset a patre suo, ut interficeret David.
Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.
34 Surrexit ergo Ionathas a mensa in ira furoris, et non comedit in die calendarum secunda panem. Contristatus est enim super David, eo quod confudisset eum pater suus.
Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.
35 Cumque illuxisset mane, venit Ionathas in agrum iuxta placitum David, et puer parvulus cum eo,
In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him.
36 et ait ad puerum suum: Vade, et affer mihi sagittas, quas ego iacio. Cumque puer cucurrisset, iecit aliam sagittam trans puerum.
He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” And as the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.
37 Venit itaque puer ad locum iaculi, quod miserat Ionathas: et clamavit Ionathas post tergum pueri, et ait: Ecce ibi est sagitta porro ultra te.
When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”
38 Clamavitque iterum Ionathas post tergum pueri, dicens: Festina velociter, ne steteris. Collegit autem puer Ionathae sagittas, et attulit ad dominum suum:
Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
39 et quid ageretur, penitus ignorabat: tantummodo enim Ionathas et David rem noverant.
But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.
40 Dedit ergo Ionathas arma sua puero, et dixit ei: Vade, et defer in civitatem.
Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”
41 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.
When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.
42 Dixit ergo Ionathas ad David: Vade in pace: quaecumque iuravimus ambo in nomine Domini, dicentes: Dominus sit inter me et te, et inter semen tuum et semen meum usque in sempiternum. Et surrexit David, et abiit: sed et Ionathas ingressus est civitatem.
And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.
