Ii Samuelis 1
1 Factum est autem, postquam mortuus est Saul, ut David reverteretur a caede Amalec, et maneret in Siceleg duos dies.
After the death of Saul, David returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.
2 In die autem tertia apparuit homo veniens de castris Saul veste conscissa, et pulvere conspersus caput. et ut venit ad David, cecidit super faciem suam, et adoravit.
On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.
3 Dixitque ad eum David: Unde venis? Qui ait ad eum: De castris Israel fugi.
“Where have you come from?” David asked. “I have escaped from the Israelite camp,” he replied.
4 Et dixit ad eum David: Quod est verbum quod factum est? indica mihi. Qui ait: Fugit populus ex praelio, et multi corruentes e populo mortui sunt: sed et Saul et Ionathas filius eius interierunt.
“What was the outcome?” David asked. “Please tell me.” “The troops fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”
5 Dixitque David ad adolescentem, qui nunciabat ei: Unde scis quia mortuus est Saul, et Ionathas filius eius?
Then David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”
6 Et ait adolescens, qui nunciabat ei: Casu veni in montem Gelboe, et Saul incumbebat super hastam suam: porro currus et equites appropinquabant ei,
“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him.
7 et conversus post tergum suum, vidensque me vocavit. Cui cum respondissem: Adsum:
When he turned around and saw me, he called out and I answered, ‘Here I am!’
8 dixit mihi: Quisnam es tu? Et aio ad eum: Amalecites ego sum.
‘Who are you?’ he asked. So I told him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’
9 Et locutus est mihi: Sta super me, et interfice me: quoniam tenent me angustiae, et adhuc tota anima mea in me est.
Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for agony has seized me, but my life still lingers.’
10 Stansque super eum, occidi illum: sciebam enim quod vivere non poterat post ruinam: et tuli diadema quod erat in capite eius, et armillam de brachio illius, et attuli ad te dominum meum huc.
So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”
11 Apprehendens autem David vestimenta sua scidit, omnesque viri, qui erant cum eo,
Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.
12 et planxerunt, et fleverunt, et ieiunaverunt usque ad vesperam super Saul, et super Ionathan filium eius, et super populum Domini, et super domum Israel, eo quod corruissent gladio.
They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
13 Dixitque David ad iuvenem qui nunciaverat ei: Unde es tu? Qui respondit: Filius hominis advenae Amalecitae ego sum.
And David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I am the son of a foreigner,” he answered. “I am an Amalekite.”
14 Et ait ad eum David: Quare non timuisti mittere manum tuam ut occideres christum Domini?
So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”
15 Vocansque David unum de pueris suis, ait: Accedens irrue in eum. Qui percussit illum, et mortuus est.
Then David summoned one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him!” So the young man struck him down, and he died.
16 Et ait ad eum David: Sanguis tuus super caput tuum: os enim tuum locutum est adversum te, dicens: Ego interfeci christum Domini.
For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
17 Planxit autem David planctum huiuscemodi super Saul, et super Ionathan filium eius,
Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,
18 (et praecepit ut docerent filios Iuda arcum, sicut scriptum est in Libro iustorum.) Et ait: Considera Israel pro his, qui mortui sunt super excelsa tua vulnerati.
and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:
19 Inclyti, Israel, super montes tuos interfecti sunt: quo modo ceciderunt fortes?
“Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!
20 Nolite annunciare in Geth, neque annuncietis in compitis Ascalonis: ne forte laetentur filiae Philisthiim, ne exultent filiae incircumcisorum.
Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
21 Montes Gelboe, nec ros, nec pluvia veniant super vos, neque sint agri primitiarum: quia ibi abiectus est clypeus fortium, clypeus Saul, quasi non esset unctus oleo.
O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.
22 A sanguine interfectorum, ab adipe fortium, sagitta Ionathae numquam rediit retrorsum, et gladius Saul non est reversus inanis.
From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not retreat, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.
23 Saul et Ionathas amabiles, et decori in vita sua, in morte quoque non sunt divisi: aquilis velociores, leonibus fortiores.
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, were not divided in death. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
24 Filiae Israel super Saul flete, qui vestiebat vos coccino in deliciis, qui praebebat ornamenta aurea cultui vestro.
O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and luxury, who decked your garments with ornaments of gold.
25 Quo modo ceciderunt fortes in praelio? Ionathas in excelsis tuis occisus est?
How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
26 Doleo super te frater mi Ionatha decore nimis, et amabilis super amorem mulierum. Sicut mater unicum amat filium suum, ita ego te diligebam.
I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were delightful to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.
27 Quo modo ceciderunt robusti, et perierunt arma bellica?
How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war have perished!”
