I Samuelis 20
1 fugit autem David de Nahioth quae erat in Rama veniensque locutus est coram Ionathan 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 quicquam 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 David et ille ait scit profecto pater tuus quia inveni gratiam in oculis tuis et dicet nesciat hoc Ionathan 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 Ionathan 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 kalendae 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 requisierit me pater tuus respondebis ei rogavit me David ut iret celeriter in Bethleem civitatem suam quia victimae sollemnes ibi sunt universis contribulibus eius
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 conpleta 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 in me aliqua iniquitas 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 Ionathan absit hoc a te neque enim fieri potest ut si certo cognovero conpletam patris mei esse malitiam contra te non adnuntiem 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 nuntiabit mihi si quid forte responderit tibi pater tuus dure
Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
11 et ait Ionathan ad David veni egrediamur 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 Ionathan ad David Domine Deus Israhel 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 Ionathan et haec augeat 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 auferas misericordiam tuam a domo mea usque in sempiternum quando eradicaverit Dominus inimicos David unumquemque de terra
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 foedus Ionathan 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 Ionathan deierare David eo quod diligeret illum sicut animam enim 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 Ionathan cras kalendae 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 est nomen 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 adfer 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 ultra te sunt vade 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 fuimus 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 kalendae 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 Ionathan 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 quicquam 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 inluxisset dies secunda post kalendas rursum vacuus apparuit 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 et respondit Ionathan Sauli rogavit me obnixe ut iret in Bethleem
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 adversus 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 Ionathan Sauli patri suo ait quare moritur 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 Ionathan quod definitum esset patri 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 Ionathan a mensa in ira furoris et non comedit in die kalendarum 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 inluxisset mane venit Ionathan 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 adfer 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 Ionathan et clamavit Ionathan 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 Ionathan post tergum pueri festina velociter ne steteris collegit autem puer Ionathae sagittas et adtulit 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 Ionathan et David rem noverant
But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.
40 dedit igitur Ionathan arma sua puero et dixit ei vade defer in civitatem
Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”
41 cumque abisset puer surrexit David de loco qui vergebat ad austrum et cadens pronus in terram adoravit tertio et osculantes 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 Ionathan ad David vade in pace quaecumque iuravimus ambo in nomine Domini dicentes Dominus sit inter me et te et inter semen meum et semen tuum usque in sempiternum et surrexit et abiit sed et Ionathan 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.
