And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan the son of Saul loved David exceedingly.

Locutus est autem Saul ad Jonathan filium suum, et ad omnes servos suos, ut occiderent David. Porro Jonathas filius Saul diligebat David valde:

Once, Saul gave the word to Jonathan and to all his servants that they must put David to death. But Saul’s son Jonathan, who loved David well,

And Jonathan told David, saying: Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: wherefore look to thyself, I beseech thee, in the morning, and thou shalt abide in a secret place and shalt be hid.

et indicavit Jonathas David, dicens: Quærit Saul pater meus occidere te: quapropter observa te, quæso, mane: et manebis clam, et absconderis.

told him of the design; My father Saul, he said, means thy death; be on the watch tomorrow, keep apart, and hide thyself.

And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art: and I will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall see, I will tell thee.

Ego autem egrediens stabo juxta patrem meum in agro, ubicumque fueris: et ego loquar de te ad patrem meum, et quodcumque videro, nuntiabo tibi.

Out in the open fields, close to thy hiding-place, I will stand talking to my father and will speak to him of thee; and afterwards I will tell thee what I have learned.

And Jonathan spoke good things of David to Saul his father: and said to him: Sin not, O king, against thy servant, David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and his works are very good towards thee.

Locutus est ergo Jonathas de David bona ad Saul patrem suum: dixitque ad eum: Ne pecces rex in servum tuum David, quia non peccavit tibi, et opera ejus bona sunt tibi valde.

So Jonathan pleaded David’s cause with his father Saul; Do no wrong he said, to thy servant David, that has done thee no wrong, but is much thy benefactor.

And he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Why therefore wilt thou sin against innocent blood by killing David, who is without fault?

Et posuit animam suam in manu sua, et percussit Philisthæum, et fecit Dominus salutem magnam universo Israëli: vidisti, et lætatus es. Quare ergo peccas in sanguine innoxio, interficiens David, qui est absque culpa?

Did he not put his life in peril, that day when he slew the Philistine, and the Lord gave the whole army of Israel a great victory? Thou wast there to see it, and rejoice at it; and wilt thou bring on thyself the guilt of blood wrongfully shed, by slaying David, who is innocent of fault?

And when Saul heard this he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth he shall not be slain.

Quod cum audisset Saul, placatus voce Jonathæ, juravit: Vivit Dominus, quia non occidetur.

Saul listened to the plea of Jonathan, and relented; As the Lord is a living God, said he, no harm shall befall him.

Then Jonathan called David and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day before.

Vocavit itaque Jonathas David, et indicavit ei omnia verba hæc: et introduxit Jonathas David ad Saul, et fuit ante eum sicut fuerat heri et nudiustertius.

So Jonathan called to David, and told him all that had passed; then he brought him back into Saul’s presence, where he remained as he had been ever wont.

And the war began again, and David went out and fought against the Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled from his face.

Motum est autem rursum bellum: et egressus David, pugnavit adversum Philisthiim: percussitque eos plaga magna, et fugerunt a facie ejus.

And when war broke out afresh, David went into battle against the Philistines, and won a great victory, putting them to rout.

And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and he sat in his house, and held a spear in his hand: and David played with his hand.

Et factus est spiritus Domini malus in Saul: sedebat autem in domo sua, et tenebat lanceam: porro David psallebat manu sua.

One day, Saul was sitting in his house, lance in hand, with the evil spirit upon him, divinely sent; and David was playing the harp before him.

And Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And David slipt away out of the presence of Saul: and the spear missed him, and was fastened in the wall, and David fled and escaped that night.

Nisusque est Saul configere David lancea in pariete, et declinavit David a facie Saul: lancea autem casso vulnere perlata est in parietem, et David fugit, et salvatus est nocte illa.

He tried to pin David to the wall, and David escaped from his presence, while the lance stuck in the wall, baulked of its aim. That night, David fled for his life;

Saul therefore sent his guards to David’s house to watch him, that he might be killed in the morning. And when Michol David’s wife had told him this, saying: Unless thou save thyself this night, to morrow thou wilt die,

Misit ergo Saul satellites suos in domum David, ut custodirent eum, et interficeretur mane. Quod cum annuntiasset David Michol uxor sua, dicens: Nisi salvaveris te nocte hac, cras morieris:

Saul had sent armed men to his house to make sure of him, for on the morrow he must die. But Michol, David’s wife, warned him that death awaited him next day if he did not escape then and there,

She let him down through a window. And he went and fled away and escaped.

deposuit eum per fenestram. Porro ille abiit et aufugit, atque salvatus est.

and let him down from a window. So David made good his escape that night;

And Michol took an image and laid it on the bed, and put a goat’s skin with the hair at the head of it, and covered it with clothes.

Tulit autem Michol statuam, et posuit eam super lectum, et pellem pilosam caprarum posuit ad caput ejus, et operuit eam vestimentis.

meanwhile, Michol brought out a sacred image and laid it in his bed, with goat’s hair at its head, and coverlets wrapped about it;

And Saul sent officers to seize David: and it was answered that he was sick.

Misit autem Saul apparitores, qui raperent David: et responsum est quod ægrotaret.

when Saul’s pursuivants came to fetch David, they were told that he lay sick.

And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain.

Rursumque misit Saul nuntios ut viderent David, dicens: Afferte eum ad me in lecto, ut occidatur.

But now they were sent back again to find David and bring him with them, bed and all, to die in Saul’s presence;

And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a goat’s skin at his head.

Cumque venissent nuntii, inventum est simulacrum super lectum, et pellis caprarum ad caput ejus.

so they found, when they came in, an image lying on the bed, with goat’s hair at the head of it.

And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and let my enemy go and flee away? And Michol answered Saul: Because he said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee.

Dixitque Saul ad Michol: Quare sic illusisti mihi, et dimisisti inimicum meum ut fugeret? Et respondit Michol ad Saul: Quia ipse locutus est mihi: Dimitte me, alioquin interficiam te.

What is this trick thou hast played on me, Saul asked, helping my enemy to escape? Why, answered Michol, he threatened to kill me if I did not let him go.

But David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel in Ramatha, and told him all that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth.

David autem fugiens salvatus est, et venit ad Samuel in Ramatha, et nuntiavit ei omnia quæ fecerat sibi Saul: et abierunt ipse et Samuel, et morati sunt in Najoth.

So David reached safety, and went to Ramatha to find Samuel, and tell him of Saul’s doings; and they retired, both of them, to live at the Naioth.

And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth in Ramatha.

Nuntiatum est autem Sauli a dicentibus: Ecce David in Najoth in Ramatha.

Saul, when he heard from common report that David was there at Ramatha, in the Naioth,

So Saul sent officers to take David: and when they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel presiding over them, the spirit of the Lord came also upon them, and they likewise began to prophesy.

Misit ergo Saul lictores, ut raperent David: qui cum vidissent cuneum prophetarum vaticinantium, et Samuelem stantem super eos, factus est etiam spiritus Domini in illis, et prophetare cœperunt etiam ipsi.

sent pursuivants there to seize him. But all they found was a company of prophets standing there in ecstasy, with Samuel, their leader, at their head; and with that, the spirit of the Lord fell on the pursuivants, and they were carried away in ecstasy like the rest.

And when this was told Saul, he sent other messengers: but they also prophesied. And again Saul sent messengers the third time: and they prophesied also. And Saul being exceedingly angry,

Quod cum nuntiatum esset Sauli, misit et alios nuntios: prophetaverunt autem et illi. Et rursum misit Saul tertios nuntios: qui et ipsi prophetaverunt. Et iratus iracundia Saul,

When Saul heard the news, and sent fresh messengers, these too fell into ecstasy, and the like happened when he sent a third time; so, in high displeasure,

Went also himself to Ramatha, and came as far as the great cistern, which is in Socho, and he asked, and said: In what place are Samuel and David? And it was told him: Behold they are in Najoth in Ramatha.

abiit etiam ipse in Ramatha, et venit usque ad cisternam magnam quæ est in Socho, et interrogavit, et dixit: In quo loco sunt Samuel et David? Dictumque est ei: Ecce in Najoth sunt in Ramatha.

Saul took the road for Ramatha himself. When he reached the Great Well at Socho, he asked where Samuel and David were, and was told they were at the Naioth in Ramatha,

And he went to Najoth in Ramatha, and the spirit of the Lord came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied till he came to Najoth in Ramatha.

Et abiit in Najoth in Ramatha, et factus est etiam super eum spiritus Domini, et ambulabat ingrediens, et prophetabat usque dum veniret in Najoth in Ramatha.

so to the Naioth in Ramatha he went; and on him, too, the spirit of the Lord fell as he journeyed. Still in ecstasy he made his way to the Naioth in Ramatha,

And he stripped himself also of his garments, and prophesied with the rest before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and night. This gave occasion to a proverb: What! is Saul too among the prophets?

Et expoliavit etiam ipse se vestimentis suis, et prophetavit cum ceteris coram Samuele, et cecidit nudus tota die illa et nocte. Unde et exivit proverbium: Num et Saul inter prophetas?

where he stripped off his garments and stood before Samuel in ecstasy with the rest; all that day and that night he lay on the ground naked. And so the proverb went abroad, Has Saul, too, turned prophet?