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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
4 Et ait Ionathas ad David: Quodcumque dixerit mihi anima tua, faciam tibi.
And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee.
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.
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.
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 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.
7 Si dixerit, Bene: pax erit servo tuo. si autem fuerit iratus, scito quia completa est malitia eius.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
10 Responditque David ad Ionathan: Quis renunciabit mihi, si quid forte responderit tibi pater tuus dure de me?
And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?
11 Et ait Ionathas ad David: Veni, et egrediamur foras in agrum. Cumque exissent ambo in agrum,
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,
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,
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,
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.
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.
14 Et si vixero, facies mihi misericordiam Domini: si vero mortuus fuero,
And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I 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.
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.
16 Pepigit ergo Ionathas foedus cum domo David: et requisivit Dominus de manu inimicorum David.
Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David’s enemies.
17 Et addidit Ionathas deierare David, eo quod diligeret illum: sicut enim animam suam, ita diligebat eum.
And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul.
18 Dixitque ad eum Ionathas: Cras calendae sunt, et requireris:
And Jonathan said to him: Tomorrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed:
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.
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.
20 Et ego tres sagittas mittam iuxta eum, et iaciam quasi exercens me ad signum.
And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark.
21 Mittam quoque et puerum, dicens ei: Vade, et affer mihi sagittas.
And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows.
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.
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.
23 De verbo autem quod locuti sumus ego et tu, sit Dominus inter me et te usque in sempiternum.
And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.
24 Absconditus est ergo David in agro, et venerunt calendae, et sedit rex ad comedendum panem.
So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.
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.
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.
26 Et non est locutus Saul quidquam in die illa: cogitabat enim quod forte evenisset ei, ut non esset mundus, nec purificatus.
And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified.
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?
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?
28 Responditque Ionathas Sauli: Rogavit me obnixe, ut iret in Bethlehem,
And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly 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.
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.
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 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?
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 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.
32 Respondens autem Ionathas Sauli patri suo, ait: Quare morietur? quid fecit?
And Jonathan answering Saul his father, said: Why shall he die: what hath he done?
33 Et arripuit Saul lanceam ut percuteret eum. Et intellexit Ionathas quod definitum esset a patre suo, ut interficeret David.
And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father 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.
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.
35 Cumque illuxisset mane, venit Ionathas in agrum iuxta placitum David, et puer parvulus cum eo,
And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field, according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him.
36 et ait ad puerum suum: Vade, et affer mihi sagittas, quas ego iacio. Cumque puer cucurrisset, iecit aliam sagittam trans puerum.
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.
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.
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.
38 Clamavitque iterum Ionathas post tergum pueri, dicens: Festina velociter, ne steteris. Collegit autem puer Ionathae sagittas, et attulit ad dominum suum:
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:
39 et quid ageretur, penitus ignorabat: tantummodo enim Ionathas et David rem noverant.
And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 Dedit ergo Ionathas arma sua puero, et dixit ei: Vade, et defer in civitatem.
Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into 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.
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.
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: 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.
