1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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? 6 And when Saul heard this, he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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.
11 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: 12 She let him down through a window. And he went and fled away, and escaped. 13 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. 14 And Saul sent officers to seize David; and it was answered that he was sick. 15 And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain. 16 And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a goat skin at his head. 17 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.
18 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. Najoth... It was probably a school or college of prophets, in or near Ramath under the direction of Samuel. 19 And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth, in Ramatha. 20 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. Prophesying... That is, singing praises to God by a divine impulse. God was pleased on this occasion that both Samuel's messengers and himself should experience the like impulse, that he might understand, by this instance of the divine power, how vain are the designs of man against him whom God protects. 21 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 exceeding angry, 22 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. 23 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. 24 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?
Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899
1 Locutus est autem Saul ad Jonathan filium suum, et ad omnes servos suos, ut occiderent David. Porro Jonathas filius Saul diligebat David valde: 2 et indicavit Jonathas David, dicens: Quærit Saul pater meus occidere te: quapropter observa te, quæso, mane: et manebis clam, et absconderis. 3 Ego autem egrediens stabo juxta patrem meum in agro, ubicumque fueris: et ego loquar de te ad patrem meum, et quodcumque videro, nuntiabo tibi. 4 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. 5 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? 6 Quod cum audisset Saul, placatus voce Jonathæ, juravit: Vivit Dominus, quia non occidetur. 7 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. 8 Motum est autem rursum bellum: et egressus David, pugnavit adversum Philisthiim: percussitque eos plaga magna, et fugerunt a facie ejus. 9 Et factus est spiritus Domini malus in Saul: sedebat autem in domo sua, et tenebat lanceam: porro David psallebat manu sua. 10 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.
11 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: 12 deposuit eum per fenestram. Porro ille abiit et aufugit, atque salvatus est. 13 Tulit autem Michol statuam, et posuit eam super lectum, et pellem pilosam caprarum posuit ad caput ejus, et operuit eam vestimentis. 14 Misit autem Saul apparitores, qui raperent David: et responsum est quod ægrotaret. 15 Rursumque misit Saul nuntios ut viderent David, dicens: Afferte eum ad me in lecto, ut occidatur. 16 Cumque venissent nuntii, inventum est simulacrum super lectum, et pellis caprarum ad caput ejus. 17 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.
18 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. 19 Nuntiatum est autem Sauli a dicentibus: Ecce David in Najoth in Ramatha. 20 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. 21 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, 22 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. 23 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. 24 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?
Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
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