Old/New Testament

19 Soothly Saul spake to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David;

² certainly Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David greatly. And Jonathan showed to David, and said, Saul, my father, seeketh to slay thee; wherefore, I beseech, keep thyself tomorrow early; and thou shalt dwell privily, and thou shalt be hid. (but Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly loved David. And Jonathan told David, My father Saul seeketh to kill thee; and so, I beseech thee, be careful tomorrow morning; remain thou in secret, and be thou hid.)

³ And I shall go out, and stand beside my father in the field, wherever he shall be; and I shall speak of thee to my father, and whatever thing I shall see/and whatever thing I shall understand of him, I shall tell thee (and whatever I shall learn from him, I shall tell thee).

⁴ Then Jonathan spake good things of David to Saul, his father, and said to him, King, do thou not sin against thy servant David, for he hath not sinned to thee, and his works be full good to thee; (Then Jonathan spoke good things about David to his father Saul, and said to him, O king, do not thou sin against thy servant David, for he hath not sinned against thee, and his works be very good towards thee;)

⁵ and he putted his life in his hand, and he killed the Philistine. And the Lord made great help to all Israel; thou sawest, and were glad; why therefore sinnest thou in guiltless blood, and wilt slay David, that is without guilt? (and he put his life in his hands, and he killed the Philistine. And the Lord won a great victory for all Israel; thou sawest this, and wast glad; and so why sinnest thou against innocent blood, and wilt kill David, who is without guilt?)

⁶ And when Saul had heard this, he was pleased with the speaking of Jonathan, and he swore, (As) The Lord liveth, for David shall not be slain.

⁷ And so Jonathan called David, and showed to him all these words (and told him all these things). And Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him as [he was] yesterday and the third day ago.

⁸ Forsooth (the) battle was moved again; and David went out, and fought against the Philistines, and he smote them with a great wound/with great fierceness, and they fled from his face.

⁹ And the evil spirit of the Lord was made upon Saul (And then again an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul); and he sat in his house, and held a spear; certainly David harped with his hand.

¹⁰ And Saul enforced to preen, that is pierce, with the spear (right through) David in(to) the wall; and David bowed [aside] from the face of Saul; and the spear without hurt of David was fixed into the wall; and David fled, and so he was saved in that night. (And Saul endeavoured to preen David with the spear, that is, to pierce right through him, into the wall; but David veered away from the spear thrown by Saul; and it was fixed into the wall without hurting him; and David fled, and so he was saved that night.)

¹¹ Therefore Saul sent his knights in the night into the house of David, that they should keep him, and that he should be slain in the morrowtide. And when Michal, the wife of David, had told this to David, and said, If thou savest not thee in this night, thou shalt die tomorrow; (And so Saul sent his sergeants in the night to David’s house, to keep watch over him, and then to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told this to David, and said, If thou savest not thyself this night, thou shalt die tomorrow;)

¹² and she let him down by a window. And David went, and fled thence, and (so) he was saved.

¹³ And Michal took an image (And Michal took an idol), and laid it on the bed of David, and she put a rough goatskin at the head thereof, and covered it with clothes.

¹⁴ Forsooth Saul sent sergeants, that should ravish David, and it was answered, that he was sick. (Then when Saul’s sergeants entered to take hold of David, she said that he was sick.)

¹⁵ And again Saul sent messengers, that they should see David, and he said, Bring ye him to me in the bed, that he be slain. (And Saul sent the men back to see David for themselves, and he said, Bring ye him to me in his bed, and then I shall kill him myself!)

¹⁶ And when the messengers had come, a simulacrum was found on the bed, and skins of goat at the head thereof. (And when the men had come in, they found the idol on the bed, with a goatskin at its head.)

¹⁷ And Saul said to Michal, Why scornedest thou me so (Why hast thou so scorned me), and deliveredest mine enemy, (so) that he fled? And Michal answered to Saul, For he spake to me, and said, Deliver thou me, (or) else I shall slay thee.

¹⁸ Forsooth David fled, and was saved; and he came to Samuel into Ramah, and told to him all things which Saul had done to him; and he and Samuel went, and dwelled in Naioth.

¹⁹ And it was told to Saul of men (And some men told this to Saul), saying to him, Lo! David is in Naioth in Ramah.

²⁰ Therefore Saul sent men-slayers, that they should ravish (from) thence David; and when they had seen the company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing over them, the Spirit of the Lord was made in them, and they also began to prophesy. (And so Saul sent some men-killers to take hold of David there; and when they had seen the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing at their head, the Spirit of the Lord was made upon them, and they also began to prophesy.)

²¹ And when this was told to Saul, he sent also other messengers; soothly and they prophesied. And again Saul sent the third messengers, and they prophesied. (And when this was told to Saul, he sent other men; and they also prophesied. And a third time Saul sent even more men, and they also prophesied.)

²² And Saul was wroth with irefulness; and he also went into Ramah (and then he went to Ramah), and he came unto the great cistern which is in Sechu, and he asked, and said, In what place be Samuel and David? And it was said to him, Lo! they be in Naioth in Ramah.

²³ And he went (thither) into Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of the Lord was made also on him (And he went on toward Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of the Lord was also made upon him); and he went (on), and entered, and prophesied, till the while he came into Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴ And Saul also unclothed him(self) of his clothes, and he prophesied with other men before Samuel, and he prophesied naked all that day and night. Wherefore a common saying went out, Whether and Saul be among [the] prophets? (And so a common saying went out, Is Saul now also among the prophets?)

20 Forsooth David fled from Naioth, which is in Ramah, and came and spake before Jonathan (and came and said to Jonathan), What have I done? what is my wickedness, and what is my sin against thy father, for (that) he seeketh my life?

² And Jonathan said to him, Far be it from thee, thou shalt not die, for my father shall not do anything great either little, no but he show first to me; therefore, (would) my father (have) kept privy from me this word only, forsooth it shall not be. And again he swore to David. (And Jonathan said to him, Far be it from thee, thou shalt not die, for my father shall not do anything great or small, no but first he tell it to me; would my father have only kept secret this word from me? no, it is not so. And again he swore to David.)

³ And David said, Truly thy father knoweth, that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he shall say, Jonathan know not this, lest peradventure he be sorry; certainly the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, for, that I say so, I and death be parted only by one degree. (And David said, Truly thy father knoweth that I have found favour in thy sight, and he shall say, I will not let Jonathan know this, lest he become angry, or upset; truly, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I say that I and death be separated by only one degree.)

⁴ And Jonathan said to David, Whatever thing thy soul shall say to me, I shall do it to thee. (And Jonathan said to David, Whatever thou shalt ask me, I shall do it for thee.)

⁵ And David said to Jonathan, Lo! calends be tomorrow, that is the feast of the new moon, and by custom I am wont to sit by the king to eat; therefore suffer thou me, that I be hid in the field till to [the] eventide of the third day (but instead, allow me to hide in the field until the evening of the third day).

⁶ And if thy father beholdeth, and asketh after me, thou shalt answer to him, David prayed me, that he might go at once into Bethlehem, his city, for solemn sacrifices be now there to all [the] men of his lineage (for now is the time of the annual sacrifice there for all the men of his family).

⁷ If he saith, Well, peace shall be to thy servant; forsooth if he is wroth, know thou, that his malice is filled. (And if he saith, Fine, then peace shall be to thy servant; but if he is angry, then know thou, that he is determined to harm me.)

⁸ Therefore do thou mercy into thy servant, for thou hast made me thy servant to make with thee (a) bond of peace of the Lord; but if any wickedness is in me, slay thou me, and bring thou not in me to thy father. (And so do thou mercy with me, thy servant, for thou hast made a covenant with me before the Lord; but if there is any wickedness in me, then thou kill me, and do not bring me in to thy father.)

⁹ And Jonathan said, Far be this from me, for it may not be done, that I tell (it) not to thee, if I know certainly, that the malice of my father is filled against thee. (And Jonathan said, Far be this from me, for it will not be done, that I do not tell it to thee, if I know with certainty, that my father is determined to harm thee.)

¹⁰ And David answered to Jonathan, Who shall tell me, if in case thy father answereth hard [to thee] anything of me? (And David asked Jonathan, Who shall tell me, if thy father saith anything hard to thee about me?)

¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, Come thou, and go we forth into the field. And when they both had gone into the field,

¹² Jonathan said (out loud) to David, Thou Lord God of Israel, if I inquire the sentence of my father tomorrow, either in the next day after (O Lord God of Israel, if I inquire about my father’s thoughts tomorrow, or the next day), and any good thing be said of thee, (David,) and I send not at once to thee, and make it known to thee,

¹³ God do these things to Jonathan, and add these (other) things. And if the malice of my father continue against thee, I shall show it to thine ear (I shall tell it to thee), and I shall deliver thee, (so) that thou go in peace; and the Lord be with thee, as he was with my father.

¹⁴ And if I live, do thou the mercies of the Lord to me; forsooth if I am dead, (And while I live, do thou the Lord’s mercies to me; but if I should die,)

¹⁵ take thou not away thy mercy from mine house unto without end; and if I do it not, when the Lord shall draw out by the root the enemies of David, each man from the land, take he away Jonathan from his house, and seek the Lord of the hand of the enemies of David. (take thou not away thy mercy from my family forevermore; and even when the Lord shall draw out David’s enemies by the root, yea, each man from the land, let the Lord call David to account, if he and his household, or his family, no longer be my friends.)

¹⁶ Therefore Jonathan made [a] bond of peace with the house of David, and the Lord sought (it) of the hand of [the] enemies of David. (And so Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the Lord seek justice for me at the hands of David’s enemies.)

¹⁷ And Jonathan added to swear steadfastly to David, for he loved him; for he loved so David, as his own soul. (And Jonathan added to steadfastly swear to David, for he loved him; yea, he loved David as much as his own life.)

¹⁸ And Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the first day of the month, that is solemn (and that is a feast day), and thou shalt be sought (after);

¹⁹ and thy sitting shall be asked (of) till after the morrow. Therefore thou shalt go down hastily, and thou shalt come into a place, where thou shalt be hid in the day, when it is leaveful to work (while this business is at hand); and thou shalt sit beside the stone, that is called Ezel.

²⁰ And I shall shoot three arrows beside that stone, and I shall cast (those) as (if) exercising, either playing me at a sign. (And I shall shoot three arrows toward that stone, and I shall shoot them as if I were aiming at a mark, or at a target.)

²¹ I shall send my child, and I shall say to him, Go thou, and bring to me the arrows. If I say to the child, Lo! the arrows be on this side (of) thee, take thou those; then come thou to me, for peace is to thee, and nothing is of evil, the Lord liveth. (And I shall send my boy, and I shall say to him, Go thou, and bring me the arrows. Now if I say to the boy, Lo! the arrows be on this side of thee, take thou them; then come thou to me, for all is well for thee, and nothing is of evil, as the Lord liveth.)

²² But if I speak thus to the child, Lo! the arrows be beyond thee; go thou in peace, for the Lord hath delivered thee. (But if I speak thus to the boy, Lo! the arrows be beyond thee; then go thou away to save thy own life, for the Lord hath sent thee away.)

²³ Certainly of the word that thou and I have spoken, that is, of the bond of peace betwixt us and our heirs (that is, of the covenant between us and our heirs), the Lord be witness betwixt me and thee till into without end.

²⁴ Therefore David was hid in the field; and the calends/the solemn feast came, and the king sat to eat bread (and the king sat down to eat his meal).

²⁵ And when the king had set on his chair (as) by custom, which chair was beside the wall, Jonathan rose, and sat after Abner, and Abner sat at the side of Saul, and the place of David appeared void (and David’s place was empty).

²⁶ And Saul spake not anything in that day; for he thought, that in hap it befelled to him, that he was not clean, neither purified. (And Saul did not say anything about David that day; for he thought perhaps it befell that David was not clean, or purified.)

²⁷ And when the second day after the calends had shined, again the place of David appeared void. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why cometh not the son of Jesse, neither yesterday, neither today, to eat? (And when the second day came after that the new moon had shone, again David’s place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why cometh not the son of Jesse to eat, not yesterday, or today?)

²⁸ And Jonathan answered to Saul, He prayed me meekly that he should go into Bethlehem (He humbly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem);

²⁹ and he said, Suffer thou me, for solemn sacrifice is (now) in my city; one of my brethren [hath] called me; now therefore, if I [have] found grace in thine eyes, I shall go soon, and I shall see my brethren (I shall go swiftly, and I shall see my brothers); for this cause he cometh not to the table of the king.

³⁰ And Saul was wroth against Jonathan, and said to him, Thou son of the woman willfully ravishing a man (Thou son of the woman who willfully robbeth a man), whether I know not, that thou lovest the son of Jesse into thy [own] confusion, and into the confusion of thy shameful mother?

³¹ For in all the days in which the son of Jesse liveth on [the] earth, thou shalt not be stablished, neither thy realm (thou shalt not be secure, nor shall thy kingdom); therefore right now/at once send thou, and bring him to me, for he is the son of death.

³² And Jonathan answered to Saul his father, and said, Why shall he die? what hath he done?

³³ And Saul took a spear, that he should smite him, and Jonathan understood, that it was determined of his father, that David should be slain (and Jonathan understood that his father was determined to kill David).

³⁴ Then Jonathan rose (up) from the table in full fierce wrath, and he ate not bread in the second day of calends (and he ate nothing on the second day of the feast); for he was sorry for David, for his father had shamed him.

³⁵ And when the morrowtide had shined, Jonathan came into the field, and a little child with him, by the covenant made of David. (And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field, and had a young boy with him, as by the pact which he had made with David.)

³⁶ And Jonathan said to his child, Go thou, and bring to me the arrows that I shoot. And when the child had run forth, he shot another arrow beyond the child. (And Jonathan said to his boy, Go thou, and bring me back the arrows that I shoot. And as the boy ran forth, he shot the arrows beyond the boy.)

³⁷ Therefore when the child came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried behind the back of the child, and said, Lo! the arrow is not there, certainly it is beyond thee. (And so when the boy came to the place where the arrows were that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried behind the boy’s back, and said, Lo! the arrows be not there, but they be beyond thee.)

³⁸ And Jonathan cried again behind the back of the child, Haste thou swiftly, stand thou not. Soothly the child gathered up the arrows of Jonathan, and brought them to his lord, (And Jonathan cried again behind the back of the boy, Run thou quickly, do not thou stand still. And the boy gathered up the arrows of Jonathan, and brought them back to his lord,)

³⁹ and utterly the child knew not what was done; for only Jonathan and David knew the thing. (and utterly the boy could not understand what had happened; but Jonathan and David knew what the words really meant.)

⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the child, and said to him, Go thou, bear these into the city. (Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Go thou, carry these back to the city.)

⁴¹ And when the child had gone, David rose from the place that went to the south; and he felled low upon the earth, and worshipped the third time, and they kissed themselves together, and wept together; but David wept more. (And when the boy had gone, David rose up from a place toward the south; and he fell low on the ground, and bowed three times, and then they kissed one another, and wept together; but David wept more.)

⁴² Then Jonathan said to David, Go thou in peace; whatever things we both have sworn in the name of the Lord, and said, The Lord be betwixt me and thee, and betwixt my seed and thy seed, till into without end, be steadfast, (or certain). And David rose up, and went forth, but and Jonathan went into the city.

21 Forsooth David came into Nob to Ahimelech, the priest; and Ahimelech wondered, for David had come (and Ahimelech wondered why David had come there); and he said to David, Why art thou alone, and no man is with thee?

² And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded to me a word, and said, No man know this thing, for which thou art sent from me, and what manner behests I have given to thee; for I said also to my young men, that they should go into that and that place (and so I said to my young men, that they should go to such and such a place);

³ now therefore if thou hast anything at hand, either five loaves (even five loaves), give thou (them) to me, either whatever thing thou findest.

⁴ And the priest answered to David, and said to him, I have not lay, that is, common, loaves at hand, but only holy bread; whether the young men be clean, and mostly of women? (And the priest answered David, and said to him, I do not have any lay loaves, or common bread, at hand, only holy bread; thy young men, be they clean, at least from women?)

⁵ And David answered to the priest, and said to him, And soothly if it is done of women, we have abstained us from yesterday and the third day ago, when we went out, and the vessels, that is, (the) bodies, of the young men were clean; certainly this way is defouled, but and it shall be hallowed today in the vessels. (And David answered the priest, and said to him, If it is asked of women, we have abstained ourselves from yesterday and the third day ago, when we went out, and so the young men’s bodies be clean; truly, that way is defiled, but their bodies remain pure.)

⁶ Therefore the priest gave to him hallowed bread, for none other bread was there, but only loaves of setting forth, that were taken away from the face of the Lord, that hot loaves shall be set forth. (And so the priest gave him the consecrated bread, for there was no other bread there, but only the loaves of setting forth, that is, the loaves of proposition, or the showbread, which had been taken away from before the Lord, and replaced with fresh hot loaves.)

⁷ And a man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within in the tabernacle of the Lord; and his name was Doeg of Idumea, the mightiest man of the herds(men) of Saul.

⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, If thou hast here at hand (a) spear, either (a) sword, give it to me; for I took not with me my sword, neither mine armours (nor my own arms, or my own weapons); for why the king’s word constrained me to go in haste.

⁹ And the priest said, Lo! the sword of Goliath (the) Philistine, whom thou killedest in the valley of Terebinth, is wrapped in a cloth next after [the] ephod; if thou wilt take this, take it; for (t)here is none other except that. And David said, None other is like this, give thou it to me. (And the priest said, Lo! the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou killedest in the Elah Valley, is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt have it, then take it; for there is nothing else here except that. And David said, There is no other like it, give it to me.)

¹⁰ And so David rose up, and fled in that day from the face of Saul, and came to Achish, the king of Gath.

¹¹ And the servants of Achish said to him, when they had seen David, Whether this is not David, [the] king of the land? Whether they sang not to him by quires/by carols, and said, Saul smote a thousand, and David smote ten thousand? (Did they not sing about him as they danced, saying, Saul struck down thousands, but David struck down tens of thousands?)

¹² And David took these words in his heart, and he dreaded greatly of the face of Achish, king of Gath. (And David took these words to heart, and so he greatly feared King Achish of Gath.)

¹³ And David changed his mouth before Achish, and felled down betwixt their hands, and he painted on the doors of the gate, and his dribbles, that is, spittles, flowed down into his beard.

¹⁴ And Achish said to his servants, See ye the mad man? (See ye not that the man is mad?) why brought ye him to me?

¹⁵ whether mad men fail to us? why have ye brought in him, that he should be mad, while I am present? Deliver ye him from hence, lest he enter into mine house. (do we not have enough mad men here already? why have ye brought him in, so that he can be deranged right in front of me! Get ye him away from here, lest he enter into my house, and touch things!)

²⁹ And when the people ran together, he began to say, This generation is a wayward generation; it seeketh a token, and a token shall not be given to it, but the token of Jonas, the prophet.

³⁰ For as Jonas was a token to men of Nineve, so man's Son shall be to this generation.

³¹ The queen of the south shall rise in doom with men of this generation, and shall condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth, to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and lo! here is a greater than Solomon.

³² Men of Nineve shall rise in [the] doom with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they did penance in the preaching of Jonas [for they did penance at the preaching of Jonas], and lo! here is a greater than Jonas.

³³ No man tendeth a lantern, and putteth it in huddles^[a], neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they that go in, see light.

³⁴ The lantern of thy body is thine eye; if thine eye be simple, all thy body shall be light[-full]; but if it be wayward, all thy body shall be dark-full.

³⁵ Therefore see thou, lest the light that is in thee [lest the light which is in thee], be darknesses.

³⁶ Therefore if all thy body be bright, and have no part of darknesses, it shall be all bright, and as a lantern of brightness it shall give light to thee. [Therefore if all thy body shall be light-full, not having any part of darknesses, it shall be all light-full, and as a lantern of brightness, or shining, it shall give light to thee.]

³⁷ And when he spake, a Pharisee prayed him [some Pharisee prayed], that he should eat with him. And he entered, and sat to meat [And he gone in, sat at the meat].

³⁸ And the Pharisee began to say, guessing within himself, why he was not washed before [the] meat.

³⁹ And the Lord said to him, Now ye Pharisees cleanse that that is withoutforth of the cup and the platter; but that thing that is within of you [but that thing of you that is within], is full of raven and wickedness.

⁴⁰ Fools, whether he that made that that is withoutforth, made not also that that is within?

⁴¹ Nevertheless that that is over-plus [Nevertheless that thing that is over, or superfluous], give ye alms, and lo! all things be clean to you.

⁴² But woe to you, Pharisees, that tithe mint, and rue, and each herb, and leave doom and the charity of God [that tithe mint, and rue, and all wort, or herb, and pass doom and the charity of God]. For it behooved to do these things, and not to leave those.

⁴³ Woe to you, Pharisees, that love the first chairs in synagogues, and salutations in market [and salutations in markets].

⁴⁴ Woe to you, that be as sepulchres, that be not seen [which appear not], and men walking above know not.

⁴⁵ But one of the wise men of the law answered, and said to him, Master, thou saying these things, also to us doest despite. [Forsooth one of the wise men of law answering, said to him, Master, thou saying these things, doest despite also to us.]

⁴⁶ And he said, Also woe to you, wise men of [the] law, for ye charge men with burdens which they be not able to bear [for ye charge men with burdens which they may not bear], and ye yourselves with your one finger touch not the heavinesses.

⁴⁷ Woe to you, that build tombs of prophets [Woe to you, that build burials, or tombs, of prophets]; and your fathers slew them.

⁴⁸ Truly ye witness, that ye consent to the works of your fathers; for [soothly] they slew them, but ye build their sepulchres.

⁴⁹ Therefore [and] the wisdom of God said, I shall send to them prophets and apostles, and of them they shall slay and pursue,

⁵⁰ that the blood of all [the] prophets, that was shed from the making of the world [that was shed out from the beginning of the world], be sought of this generation;

⁵¹ from the blood of just Abel to the blood of Zacharias that was slain betwixt the altar and the house^[b]. So I say to you, it shall be sought of this generation.

⁵² Woe to you, wise men of the law [wise men of law], for ye have taken away the key of knowing; and ye yourselves entered not [ye yourselves entered not in], and ye have forbidden them that entered.

⁵³ And when he said these things to them, the Pharisees and wise men of the law [wise men of law] began grievously to against-stand [him], and [to] stop his mouth of many things,

⁵⁴ ambushing him, and seeking to take something of his mouth, to accuse him [that they should accuse him].