1 Kings Chapter 1
Anna the wife of Elcana being barren, by vow and prayer
obtaineth a son: whom she calleth Samuel: and presenteth
him to the service of God in Silo, according to her vow:
1:1. There was a man of Ramathaimsophim, of Mount Ephraim,
and his name was Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of
Eliu, the son of Thohu, the son of Suph, an Ephraimite:
1:2. And he had two wives, the name of one was Anna, and
the name of the other Phenenna. Phenenna had children: but
Anna had no children.
1:3. And this man went up out of his city upon the
appointed days, to adore and to offer sacrifice to the Lord
of hosts in Silo. And the two sons of Heli, Ophni and
Phinees, were there priests of the Lord.
1:4. Now the day came, and Elcana offered sacrifice, and
gave to Phenenna, his wife, and to all her sons and
daughters, portions:
1:5. But to Anna he gave one portion with sorrow, because he
loved Anna. And the Lord had shut up her womb.
1:6. Her rival also afflicted her, and troubled her
exceedingly, insomuch that she upbraided her, that the Lord
had shut up her womb:
1:7. And thus she did every year, when the time returned,
that they went up to the temple of the Lord: and thus she
provoked her: but Anna wept, and did not eat.
1:8. Then Elcana, her husband, said to her: Anna, why
weepest thou? and why dost thou not eat? and why dost thou
afflict thy heart? Am not I better to thee than ten
children?
1:9. So Anna arose after she had eaten and drunk in Silo:
And Heli, the priest, sitting upon a stool before the door
of the temple of the Lord;
1:10. As Anna had her heart full of grief, she prayed to the
Lord, shedding many tears,
1:11. And she made a vow, saying: O Lord of hosts, if thou
wilt look down, and wilt be mindful of me, and not forget
thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a manchild: I
will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no
razor shall come upon his head.
1:12. And it came to pass, as she multiplied prayers before
the Lord, that Heli observed her mouth.
1:13. Now Anna spoke in her heart, and only her lips moved,
but her voice was not heard at all. Heli therefore thought
her to be drunk,
1:14. And said to her: How long wilt thou be drunk? digest
a little the wine, of which thou hast taken too much.
1:15. Anna answering, said: Not so, my lord: for I am an
exceeding unhappy woman, and have drunk neither wine nor
any strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the
Lord.
1:16. Count not thy handmaid for one of the daughters of
Belial: for out of the abundance of my sorrow and grief
have I spoken till now.
1:17. Then Heli said to her: Go in peace: and the God of
Israel grant thee thy petition, which thou hast asked of
him.
1:18. And she said: Would to God thy handmaid may find grace
in thy eyes. So the woman went on her way, and ate, and her
countenance was no more changed.
1:19. And they rose in the morning, and worshipped before
the Lord: and they returned, and came into their house at
Ramatha. And Elcana knew Anna his wife: And the Lord
remembered her.
1:20. And it came to pass when the time was come about, Anna
conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel:
because she had asked him of the Lord.
1:21. And Elcana, her husband, went up, and all his house,
to offer to the Lord the solemn sacrifice, and his vow.
1:22. But Anna went not up: for she said to her husband: I
will not go till the child be weaned, and till I may carry
him, that he may appear before the Lord, and may abide
always there.
1:23. And Elcana, her husband, said to her: Do what seemeth
good to thee, and stay till thou wean him: and I pray that
the Lord may fulfil his word. So the woman staid at home,
and gave her son suck, till she weaned him.
1:24. And after she had weaned him, she carried him with
her, with three calves, and three bushels of flour, and a
bottle of wine, and she brought him to the house of the
Lord in Silo. Now the child was as yet very young:
1:25. And they immolated a calf, and offered the child to
Heli.
1:26. And Anna said: I beseech thee, my lord, as thy soul
liveth, my lord: I am that woman, who stood before thee
here praying to the Lord.
1:27. For this child did I pray, and the Lord hath granted
me my petition, which I asked of him.
1:28. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord all the
days of his life, he shall be lent to the Lord. And they
adored the Lord there. And Anna prayed, and said:
1 Kings Chapter 2
The canticle of Anna. The wickedness of the sons of Heli:
for which they are not duly corrected by their father. A
prophecy against the house of Heli.
2:1. My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my horn is
exalted in my God: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies:
because I have joyed in thy salvation.
2:2. There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no
other beside thee, and there is none strong like our God.
2:3. Do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting: let
old matters depart from your mouth: for the Lord is a God
of all knowledge, and to him are thoughts prepared.
2:4. The bow of the mighty is overcome, and the weak are
girt with strength.
2:5. They that were full before, have hired out themselves
for bread: and the hungry are filled, so that the barren
hath borne many: and she that had many children is
weakened.
2:6. The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to
hell, and bringeth back again.
2:7. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he humbleth and
he exalteth:
2:8. He raiseth up the needy from the dust, and lifteth up
the poor from the dunghill: that he may sit with princes,
and hold the throne of glory. For the poles of the earth
are the Lord's, and upon them he hath set the world.
2:9. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked
shall be silent in darkness; because no man shall prevail
by his own strength.
2:10. The adversaries of the Lord shall fear him: and upon
them shall he thunder in the heavens: The Lord shall judge
the ends of the earth, and he shall give empire to his
king, and shall exalt the horn of his Christ.
2:11. And Elcana went to Ramatha, to his house: but the
child ministered in the sight of the Lord before the face
of Heli the priest.
2:12. Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not
knowing the Lord,
2:13. Nor the office of the priests to the people: but
whosoever had offered a sacrifice, the servant of the
priest came, while the flesh was in boiling, with a
fleshhook of three teeth in his hand,
2:14. And thrust it into the kettle, or into the cauldron,
or into the pot, or into the pan: and all that the
fleshhook brought up, the priest took to himself. Thus did
they to all Israel that came to Silo.
2:15. Also before they burnt the fat, the servant of the
priest came, and said to the man that sacrificed: Give me
flesh to boil for the priest: for I will not take of thee
sodden flesh, but raw.
2:16. And he that sacrificed said to him: Let the fat first
be burnt to day, according to the custom, and then take to
thee as much as thy soul desireth. But he answered, and
said to him: Not so: but thou shalt give it me now, or else
I will take it by force.
2:17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was exceeding great
before the Lord: because they withdrew men from the
sacrifice of the Lord.
2:18. But Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord:
being a child girded with a linen ephod.
2:19. And his mother made him a little coat, which she
brought to him on the appointed days, when she went up with
her husband, to offer the solemn sacrifice.
2:20. And Heli blessed Elcana and his wife: and he said to
him: The Lord give thee seed of this woman, for the loan
thou hast lent to the Lord. And they went to their own
home.
2:21. And the Lord visited Anna, and she conceived, and
bore three sons, and two daughters: and the child Samuel
became great before the Lord.
2:22. Now Heli was very old, and he heard all that his sons
did to all Israel: and how they lay with the women that
waited at the door of the tabernacle:
2:23. And he said to them: Why do ye these kinds of things,
which I hear, very wicked things, from all the people?
2:24. Do not so, my sons: for it is no good report that I
hear, that you make the people of the Lord to transgress.
2:25. If one man shall sin against another, God may be
appeased in his behalf: but if a man shall sin against the
Lord, who shall pray for him? And they hearkened not to the
voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.
2:26. But the child Samuel advanced, and grew on, and
pleased both the Lord and men.
2:27. And there came a man of God to Heli, and said to him:
Thus saith the Lord: Did I not plainly appear to thy
father's house, when they were in Egypt in the house of
Pharao?
2:28. And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be
my priest, to go up to my altar, and burn incense to me,
and to wear the ephod before me: and I gave to thy father's
house of all the sacrifices of the children of Israel.
2:29. Why have you kicked away my victims, and my gifts
which I commanded to be offered in the temple: and thou
hast rather honoured thy sons than me, to eat the
firstfruits of every sacrifice of my people Israel?
2:30. Wherefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I
said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father,
should minister in my sight, for ever. But now saith the
Lord: Far be this from me: but whosoever shall glorify me,
him will I glorify: but they that despise me, shall be
despised.
2:31. Behold the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and
the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an
old man in thy house.
2:32. And thou shalt see thy rival in the temple, in all
the prosperity of Israel, and there shall not be an old man
in thy house for ever.
2:33. However, I will not altogether take away a man of
thee from my altar: but that thy eyes may faint, and thy
soul be spent: and a great part of thy house shall die,
when they come to man's estate.
2:34. And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come
upon thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees: in one day they shall
both of them die.
2:35. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do
according to my heart, and my soul and I will build him a
faithful house, and he shall walk all days before my
anointed.
2:36. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall remain
in thy house shall come that he may be prayed for, and
shall offer a piece of silver, and a roll of bread, and
shall say: Put me, I beseech thee, to somewhat of the
priestly office, that I may eat a morsel of bread.
1 Kings Chapter 3
Samuel is four times called by the Lord: who revealeth to
him the evil that shall fall on Heli, and his house.
3:1. Now the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before
Heli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days,
there was no manifest vision.
3:2. And it came to pass one day when Heli lay in his
place, and his eyes were grown dim, that he could not see:
3:3. Before the lamp of God went out, Samuel slept in the
temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
3:4. And the Lord called Samuel. And he answered: Here am
I.
3:5. And he ran to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou didst
call me. He said: I did not call: go back and sleep. And he
went and slept.
3:6. And the Lord called Samuel again. And Samuel arose and
went to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou calledst me. He
answered: I did not call thee, my son: return and sleep.
3:7. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither had the
word of the Lord been revealed to him.
3:8. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he
arose up and went to Heli,
3:9. And said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. Then Heli
understood that the Lord called the child, and he said to
Samuel: Go, and sleep: and if he shall call thee any more,
thou shalt say: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So
Samuel went, and slept in his place.
3:10. And the Lord came, and stood, and he called, as he had
called the other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said:
Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.
3:11. And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold I do a thing in
Israel: and whosoever shall hear it, both his ears shall
tingle.
3:12. In that day I will raise up against Heli all the
things I have spoken concerning his house: I will begin,
and I will make an end.
3:13. For I have foretold unto him, that I will judge his
house for ever, for iniquity, because he knew that his sons
did wickedly, and did not chastise them.
3:14. Therefore have I sworn to the house of Heli, that the
iniquity of his house shall not be expiated with victims
nor offerings for ever.
3:15. And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of
the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the vision
to Heli.
3:16. Then Heli called Samuel, and said: Samuel, my son. And
he answered: Here am I.
3:17. And he asked him: What is the word that the Lord hath
spoken to thee? I beseech thee hide it not from me. May God
do so and so to thee, and add so and so, if thou hide from
me one word of all that were said to thee.
3:18. So Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide
them from him. And he answered: It is the Lord: let him do
what is good in his sight.
3:19. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and not
one of his words fell to the ground.
3:20. And all Israel, from Dan to Bersabee, knew that Samuel
was a faithful prophet of the Lord.
3:21. And the Lord again appeared in Silo, for the Lord
revealed himself to Samuel in Silo, according to the word
of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to pass to all
Israel.
1 Kings Chapter 4
The Israelites being overcome by the Philistines, send for
the ark of God: but they are beaten again, the sons of Heli
are killed, and the ark taken: upon the hearing of the news
Heli falleth backward and dieth.
4:1. And it came to pass in those days, that the
Philistines gathered themselves together to fight: and
Israel went out to war against the Philistines, and camped
by the Stone of help. And the Philistines came to Aphec,
4:2. And put their army in array against Israel. And when
they had joined battle, Israel turned their backs to the
Philistines: and there were slain in that fight, here and
there in the fields, about four thousand men.
4:3. And the people returned to the camp: and the ancients
of Israel said: Why hath the Lord defeated us to day before
the Philistines? Let us fetch unto us the ark of the
covenant of the Lord from Silo, and let it come in the
midst of us, that it may save us from the hand of our
enemies.
4:4. So the people sent to Silo, and they brought from
thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts,
sitting upon the cherubims: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni
and Phinees, were with the ark of the covenant of God.
4:5. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come
into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, and
the earth rang again.
4:6. And the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and
they said: What is this noise of a great shout in the camp
of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the
Lord was come into the camp.
4:7. And the Philistines were afraid, saying: God is come
into the camp. And sighing, they said:
4:8. Woe to us: for there was no such great joy yesterday,
and the day before: Woe to us. Who shall deliver us from
the hand of these high Gods? these are the Gods that struck
Egypt with all the plagues in the desert.
4:9. Take courage, and behave like men, ye Philistines: lest
you come to be servants to the Hebrews, as they have served
you: take courage and fight.
4:10. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was overthrown,
and every man fled to his own dwelling: and there was an
exceeding great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty
thousand footmen.
4:11. And the ark of God was taken: and the two sons of
Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were slain.
4:12. And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and
came to Silo the same day, with his clothes rent, and his
head strewed with dust.
4:13. And when he was come, Heli sat upon a stool over
against the way, watching. For his heart was fearful for
the ark of God. And when the man was come into the city,
he told it: and all the city cried out.
4:14. And Heli heard the noise of the cry, and he said:
What meaneth the noise of this uproar? But he made haste,
and came, and told Heli.
4:15. Now Heli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes
were dim, and he could not see.
4:16. And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the
battle, and have fled out of the field this day. And he
said to him: What is there done, my son?
4:17. And he that brought the news answered, and said:
Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been a
great slaughter of the people: moreover thy two sons, Ophni
and Phinees, are dead: and the ark of God is taken.
4:18. And when he had named the ark of God, he fell from his
stool backwards by the door, and broke his neck and died.
For he was an old man, and far advanced in years: And he
judged Israel forty years.
4:19. And his daughter in law, the wife of Phinees, was big
with child, and near her time: and hearing the news that
the ark of God was taken, and her father in law, and her
husband, were dead, she bowed herself and fell in labour:
for her pains came upon her on a sudden.
4:20. And when she was upon the point of death, they that
stood about her said to her: Fear not, for thou hast borne
a son. She answered them not, nor gave heed to them.
4:21. And she called the child Ichabod, saying: The glory
is gone from Israel, because the ark of God was taken, and
for her father in law, and for her husband:
4:22. And she said: The glory is departed from Israel,
because the ark of God was taken.
1 Kings Chapter 5
Dagon twice falleth down before the ark. The Philistines
are grievously afflicted, wherever the ark cometh.
5:1. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried
it from the Stone of help into Azotus.
5:2. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought
it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
5:3. And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold
Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the
Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place.
5:4. And the next day again, when they rose in the morning,
they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before
the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the
palms of his hands, were cut off upon the threshold:
5:5. And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For
this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go
into the temple, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus
unto this day.
5:6. And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians,
and he destroyed them, and afflicted Azotus and the coasts
thereof with emerods. And in the villages and fields in the
midst of that country, there came forth a multitude of
mice, and there was the confusion of a great mortality in
the city.
5:7. And the men of Azotus seeing this kind of plague, said:
The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us: for
his hand is heavy upon us, and upon Dagon, our god.
5:8. And sending, they gathered together all the lords of
the Philistines to them, and said: What shall we do with
the ark of the God of Israel? And the Gethites answered:
Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about. And they
carried the ark of the God of Israel about.
5:9. And while they were carrying it about, the hand of the
Lord came upon every city with an exceeding great
slaughter: and he smote the men of every city, both small
and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. And
the Gethites consulted together, and made themselves seats
of skins.
5:10. Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And
when the ark of God was come into Accaron, the Accaronites
cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the God of
Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
5:11. They sent therefore, and gathered together all the
lords of the Philistines: and they said: Send away the ark
of the God of Israel, and let it return into its own place,
and not kill us and our people.
5:12. For there was the fear of death in every city, and
the hand of God was exceeding heavy. The men also that did
not die, were afflicted with the emerods: and the cry of
every city went up to heaven.
1 Kings Chapter 6
The ark is sent back to Bethsames: where many are slain for
looking through curiosity into it.
6:1. Now the ark of God was in the land of the Philistines
seven months.
6:2. And the Philistines called for the priests and the
diviners, saying: What shall we do with the ark of the
Lord? tell us how we are to send it back to its place. And
they said:
6:3. If you send back the ark of the God of Israel, send it
not away empty, but render unto him what you owe for sin,
and then you shall be healed: and you shall know why his
hand departeth not from you.
6:4. They answered: What is it we ought to render unto him
for sin? and they answered:
6:5. According to the number of the provinces of the
Philistines you shall make five golden emerods, and five
golden mice: for the same plague hath been upon you all,
and upon your lords. And you shall make the likeness of
your emerods, and the likeness of the mice, that have
destroyed the land, and you shall give glory to the God of
Israel: to see if he will take off his hand from you, and
from your gods, and from your land.
6:6. Why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharao
hardened their hearts? did not he, after he was struck,
then let them go, and they departed?
6:7. Now, therefore, take and make a new cart: and two kine
that have calved, on which there hath come no yoke, tie to
the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
6:8. And you shall take the ark of the Lord, and lay it on
the cart, and the vessels of gold, which you have paid him
for sin, you shall put into a little box at the side
thereof: and send it away, that it may go.
6:9. And you shall look: and if it go up by the way of his
own coasts, towards Bethsames, then he hath done us this
great evil: but if not, we shall know that it is not his
hand hath touched us, but it hath happened by chance.
6:10. They did therefore in this manner: and taking two
kine, that had sucking calves, they yoked them to the cart,
and shut up their calves at home.
6:11. And they laid the ark of God upon the cart, and the
little box that had in it the golden mice, and the likeness
of the emerods.
6:12. And the kine took the straight way, that leadeth to
Bethsames, and they went along the way, lowing as they
went: and turned not aside neither to the right hand nor to
the left: and the lords of the Philistines followed them as
far as the borders of Bethsames.
6:13. Now the Bethsamites were reaping wheat in the valley:
and lifting up their eyes, they saw the ark, and rejoiced
to see it.
6:14. And the cart came into the field of Josue, a
Bethsamite, and stood there. And there was a great stone,
and they cut in pieces the wood of the cart, and laid the
kine upon it a holocaust to the Lord.
6:15. And the Levites took down the ark of God, and the
little box that was at the side of it, wherein were the
vessels of gold, and they put them upon the great stone.
The men also of Bethsames offered holocausts, and
sacrificed victims that day to the Lord.
6:16. And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they
returned to Accaron the same day.
6:17. And these are the golden emerods, which the
Philistines returned for sin to the Lord: For Azotus one,
for Gaza one, for Ascalon one, for Geth one, for Accaron
one:
6:18. And the golden mice, according to the number of the
cities of the Philistines, of the five provinces, from the
fenced city to the village that was without wall, and to
the great Abel (the stone) whereon they set down the ark of
the Lord, which was till that day in the field of Josue the
Bethsamite.
6:19. But he slew of the men of Bethsames, because they had
seen the ark of the Lord, and he slew of the people seventy
men, and fifty thousand of the common people. And the
people lamented, because the Lord had smitten the people
with a great slaughter.
6:20. And the men of Bethsames said: Who shall be able to
stand before the Lord this holy God? and to whom shall he
go up from us?
6:21. And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of
Cariathiarim, saying: The Philistines have brought back the
ark of the Lord, come ye down and fetch it up to you.
1 Kings Chapter 7
The ark is brought to Cariathiarim. By Samuel's exhortation
the people cast away their idols and serve God alone. The
Lord defeateth the Philistines, while Samuel offereth
sacrifice.
7:1. And the men of Cariathiarim came, and fetched up the
ark of the Lord, and carried it into the house of Abinadab,
in Gabaa: and they sanctified Eleazar, his son, to keep the
ark of the Lord.
7:2. And it came to pass, that from the day the ark of the
Lord abode in Cariathiarim, days were multiplied (for it
was now the twentieth year) and all the house of Israel
rested, following the Lord.
7:3. And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying:
If you turn to the Lord with all your heart, put away the
strange gods from among you, Baalim and Astaroth: and
prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and
he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
7:4. Then the children of Israel put away Baalim and
Astaroth, and served the Lord only.
7:5. And Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Masphath, that I
may pray to the Lord for you.
7:6. And they gathered together to Masphath, and they drew
water, and poured it out before the Lord, and they fasted
on that day, and they said there: We have sinned against
the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in
Masphath.
7:7. And the Philistines heard that the children of Israel
were gathered together to Masphath, and the lords of the
Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children
of Israel heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines.
7:8. And they said to Samuel: Cease not to cry to the Lord
our God for us, that he may save us out of the hand of the
Philistines.
7:9. And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it whole
for a holocaust to the Lord: and Samuel cried to the Lord
for Israel, and the Lord heard him.
7:10. And it came to pass, when Samuel was offering the
holocaust, the Philistines began the battle against Israel:
but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day
upon the Philistines, and terrified them, and they were
overthrown before the face of Israel.
7:11. And the men of Israel going out of Masphath, pursued
after the Philistines, and made slaughter of them till they
came under Bethchar.
7:12. And Samuel took a stone, and laid it between Masphath
and Sen: and he called the place The stone of help. And he
said: Thus far the Lord hath helped us.
7:13. And the Philistines were humbled, and they did not
come any more into the borders of Israel. And the hand of
the Lord was against the Philistines, all the days of
Samuel.
7:14. And the cities which the Philistines had taken from
Israel, were restored to Israel, from Accaron to Geth, and
their borders: and he delivered Israel from the hand of the
Philistines, and there was peace between Israel and the
Amorrhites.
7:15. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life:
7:16. And he went every year about to Bethel and to Galgal
and to Masphath, and he judged Israel in the foresaid
places.
7:17. And he returned to Ramatha: for there was his house,
and there he judged Israel: he built also there an altar to
the Lord.
1 Kings Chapter 8
Samuel growing old, and his sons not walking in his ways,
the people desire a king.
8:1. And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he
appointed his sons to be judges over Israel.
8:2. Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel: and the
name of the second was Abia, judges in Bersabee.
8:3. And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned
aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
8:4. Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled came
to Samuel to Ramatha.
8:5. And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons
walk not in thy ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all
nations have.
8:6. And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel,
that they should say: Give us a king to judge us. And
Samuel prayed to the Lord.
8:7. And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of
the people in all that they say to thee. For they have not
rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them.
8:8. According to all their works, they have done from the
day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day: as
they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they
also unto thee.
8:9. Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet testify
to them, and foretell them the right of the king, that
shall reign over them.
8:10. Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the
people that had desired a king of him,
8:11. And said: This will be the right of the king that
shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and put them
in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his
running footmen, to run before his chariots,
8:12. And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and
his centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his
corn, and to make him arms and chariots.
8:13. Your daughters also he will take to make him
ointments, and to be his cooks, and bakers.
8:14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and
your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants.
8:15. Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of
the revenues of your vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and
servants.
8:16. Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest
young men, and your asses, he will take away, and put them
to his work.
8:17. Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his
servants.
8:18. And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the
king, whom you have chosen to yourselves: and the Lord will
not hear you in that day, because you desired unto
yourselves a king.
8:19. But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and
they said, Nay: but there shall be a king over us,
8:20. And we also will be like all nations: and our king
shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles
for us.
8:21. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and
rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.
8:22. And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice,
and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel:
Let every man go to his city.
1 Kings Chapter 9
Saul seeking his father's asses, cometh to Samuel, by whom
he is entertained.
9:1. Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Cis,
the son of Abiel, the son of Seror, the son of Bechorath,
the son of Aphia, the son of a man of Jemini, valiant and
strong.
9:2. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and
goodly man, and there was not among the children of Israel
a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he
appeared above all the people.
9:3. And the asses of Cis, Saul's father, were lost: and
Cis said to his son Saul: Take one of the servants with
thee, and arise, go, and seek the asses. And when they had
passed through Mount Ephraim,
9:4. And through the land of Salisa, and had not found
them, they passed also through the land of Salim, and they
were not there: and through the land of Jemini, and found
them not.
9:5. And when they were come to the land of Suph, Saul said
to the servant that was with him: Come, let us return, lest
perhaps my father forget the asses, and be concerned for
us.
9:6. And he said to him: Behold there is a man of God in
this city, a famous man: all that he saith, cometh
certainly to pass. Now, therefore, let us go thither,
perhaps he may tell us of our way, for which we are come.
9:7. And Saul said to his servant: Behold we will go: but
what shall we carry to the man of God? the bread is spent
in our bags: and we have no present to make to the man of
God, nor any thing at all.
9:8. The servant answered Saul again, and said: Behold there
is found in my hand the fourth part of a sicle of silver,
let us give it to the man of God, that he may tell us our
way.
9:9. Now in time past in Israel, when a man went to consult
God, he spoke thus: Come, let us go to the seer. For he
that is now called a prophet, in time past was called a
seer.
9:10. And Saul said to his servant: Thy word is very good,
come let us go. And they went into the city, where the man
of God was.
9:11. And when they went up the ascent to the city, they
found maids coming out to draw water, and they said to
them: Is the seer here?
9:12. They answered and said to them: He is: behold he is
before you, make haste now: for he came to day into the
city, for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the
high place.
9:13. As soon as you come into the city, you shall
immediately find him, before he go up to the high place to
eat: for the people will not eat till he come; because he
blesseth the victim, and afterwards they eat that are
invited. Now, therefore, go up, for to day you shall find
him.
9:14. And they went up into the city. And when they were
walking in the midst of the city, behold Samuel was coming
out over against them, to go up to the high place.
9:15. Now the Lord had revealed to the ear of Samuel the day
before Saul came, saying:
9:16. To morrow about this same hour I will send thee a man
of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be
ruler over my people Israel: and he shall save my people
out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked down
upon my people, because their cry is come to me.
9:17. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him: Behold
the man, of whom I spoke to thee, this man shall reign over
my people.
9:18. And Saul came to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and
said: Tell me, I pray thee, where is the house of the seer?
9:19. And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the seer; go up
before me to the high place, that you may eat with me to
day, and I will let thee go in the morning: and tell thee
all that is in thy heart.
9:20. And as for the asses, which were lost three days ago,
be not solicitous, because they are found. And for whom
shall be all the best things of Israel? Shall they not be
for thee and for all thy father's house?
9:21. And Saul answering, said: Am not I a son of Jemini of
the least tribe of Israel, and my kindred the last among
all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then hast
thou spoken this word to me?
9:22. Then Samuel taking Saul, and his servant, brought
them into the parlour, and gave them a place at the head of
them that were invited. For there were about thirty men.
9:23. And Samuel said to the cook: Bring the portion which
I gave thee, and commanded thee to set it apart by thee.
9:24. And the cook took up the shoulder, and set it before
Saul. And Samuel said: Behold what is left, set it before
thee, and eat; because it was kept of purpose for thee,
when I invited the people. And Saul ate with Samuel that
day.
9:25. And they went down from the high place into the town,
and he spoke with Saul upon the top of the house: and he
prepared a bed for Saul on the top of the house and he
slept.
9:26. And when they were risen in the morning, and it began
now to be light, Samuel called Saul on the top of the
house, saying: Arise, that I may let thee go. And Saul
arose: and they went out both of them: to wit, he and
Samuel.
9:27. And as they were going down in the end of the city,
Samuel said to Saul: Speak to the servant to go before us,
and pass on: but stand thou still a while, that I may tell
thee the word of the Lord.
1 Kings Chapter 10
Saul is anointed. He prophesieth, and is changed into
another man. Samuel calleth the people together, to make a
king: the lot falleth on Saul.
10:1. And Samuel took a little vial of oil, and poured it
upon his head, and kissed him, and said: Behold, the Lord
hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance, and
thou shalt deliver his people out of the hands of their
enemies, that are round about them. And this shall be a
sign unto thee, that God hath anointed thee to be prince.
10:2. When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt
find two men by the sepulchre of Rachel in the borders of
Benjamin to the south, and they shall say to thee: The
asses are found which thou wentest to seek: and thy father,
thinking no more of the asses, is concerned for you, and
saith: What shall I do for my son?
10:3. And when thou shalt depart from thence, and go
farther on, and shalt come to the oak of Thabor, there
shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one
carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and
another carrying a bottle of wine.
10:4. And they will salute thee, and will give thee two
loaves, and thou shalt take them at their hand.
10:5. After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where
the garrison of the Philistines is: and when thou shalt be
come there into the city, thou shalt meet a company of
prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery,
and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they
shall be prophesying.
10:6. And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and
thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into
another man.
10:7. When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do
whatsoever thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee.
10:8. And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I
will come down to thee), that thou mayst offer an oblation,
and sacrifice victims of peace: seven days shalt thou wait,
till I come to thee, and I will shew thee what thou art to
do.
10:9. So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God
gave unto him another heart, and all these things came to
pass that day.
10:1O And they came to the foresaid hill, and behold a
company of prophets met him: and the Spirit of the Lord
came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them.
10:11. And all that had known him yesterday and the day
before, seeing tha the was with the prophets, and
prophesied, said to each other: What is this that hath
happened to the son of Cis? is Saul also among the
prophets?
10:12. And one answered another, saying: And who is their
father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among
the prophets?
10:13. And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came
to the high place.
10:14. And Saul's uncle said to him, and to his servant:
Whither went you? They answered: To seek the asses: and not
finding them, we went to Samuel.
10:15. And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said
to thee.
10:16. And Saul said to his uncle: He told us that the asses
were found. But of the matter of the kingdom of which
Samuel had spoken to him, he told him not.
10:17. And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in
Maspha:
10:18. And he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the
Lord the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt,
and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from
the hand of all the kings who afflicted you.
10:19. But you this day have rejected your God, who only
hath saved you out of all your evils and your tribulations:
and you have said: Nay: but set a king over us. Now
therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes, and by your
families.
10:20. And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel,
and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin.
10:21. And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the
kindreds thereof, and the lot fell upon the kindred of
Metri, and it came to Saul, the son of Cis. They sought him
therefore, and he was not found.
10:22. And after this they consulted the Lord whether he
would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is
hidden at home.
10:23. And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in
the midst of the people, and he was higher than any of the
people from the shoulders and upward.
10:24. And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see
him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him
among all the people. And all the people cried and said:
God save the king.
10:25. And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom,
and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord: and
Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own
house.
10:26. Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and
there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God
had touched.
10:27. But the children of Belial said: Shall this fellow be
able to save us? And they despised him, and brought him no
presents; but he dissembled as though he heard not.
1 Kings Chapter 11
Saul defeateth the Ammonites, and delivereth Jabes Galaad.
11:1. And it came to pass about a month after this, that
Naas, the Ammonite, came up, and began to fight against
Jabes Galaad. And all the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make
a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
11:2. And Naas, the Ammonite, answered them: On this
condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may pluck
out all your right eyes, and make you a reproach in all
Israel.
11:3. And the ancients of Jabes said to him: Allow us seven
days, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of
Israel: and if there be no one to defend us, we will come
out to thee.
11:4. The messengers therefore came to Gabaa of Saul: and
they spoke these words in the hearing of the people: and
all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
11:5. And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the field,
and he said: What aileth the people that they weep? And
they told him the words of the men of Jabes.
11:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, when he had
heard these words, and his anger was exceedingly kindled.
11:7. And taking both the oxen, he cut them in pieces, and
sent them into all the coasts of Israel, by messengers,
saying: Whosoever shall not come forth, and follow Saul and
Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of
the Lord fell upon the people, and they went out as one
man.
11:8. And he numbered them in Bezec: and there were of the
children of Israel three hundred thousand: and of the men
of Juda thirty thousand.
11:9. And they said to the messengers that came: Thus shall
you say to the men of Jabes Galaad: To morrow, when the sun
shall be hot, you shall have relief. The messengers
therefore came, and told the men of Jabes, and they were
glad.
11:10. And they said: In the morning we will come out to
you: and you shall do what you please with us.
11:11. And it came to pass, when the morrow was come, that
Saul put the people in three companies: and he came into
the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and he slew the
Ammonites until the day grew hot, and the rest were
scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
11:12. And the people said to Samuel: Who is he that said:
Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, and we will kill
them.
11:13. And Saul said: No man shall be killed this day:
because the Lord this day hath wrought salvation in Israel:
11:14. And Samuel said to the people: Come, and let us go
to Galgal, and let us renew the kingdom there.
11:15. And all the people went to Galgal, and there they
made Saul king, before the Lord in Galgal, and they
sacrificed there victims of peace before the Lord. And
there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.
1 Kings Chapter 12
Samuel's integrity is acknowledged. God sheweth by a sign
from heaven that they had done ill in asking for a king.
12:1. And Samuel said to all Israel: Behold I have
hearkened to your voice in all that you said to me, and
have made a king over you.
12:2. And now the king goeth before you: but I am old and
greyheaded: and my sons are with you: having then conversed
with you from my youth until this day, behold here I am.
12:3. Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed,
whether I have taken any man's ox, or ass: if I have
wronged any man, if I have oppressed any man, if I have
taken a bribe at any man's hand: and I will despise it this
day, and will restore it to you.
12:4. And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor
oppressed us, nor taken ought at any man's hand.
12:5. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you,
and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not
found any thing in my hand. And they said: He is witness.
12:6. And Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord who made
Moses and Aaron, and brought our fathers out of the land of
Egypt.
12:7. Now, therefore, stand up, that I may plead in judgment
against you before the Lord, concerning all the kindness of
the Lord, which he hath shewn to you, and to your fathers:
12:8. How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to
the Lord: and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought
your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this
place.
12:9. And they forgot the Lord their God, and he delivered
them into the hands of Sisara, captain of the army of
Hasor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the
hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
12:1O But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said: We
have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have
served Baalim and Astaroth: but now deliver us from the
hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
12:11. And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte,
and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies
round about, and you dwelt securely.
12:12. But seeing that Naas, king of the children of Ammon,
was come against you, you said to me: Nay, but a king shall
reign over us: whereas the Lord your God was your king.
12:13. Now, therefore, your king is here, whom you have
chosen and desired: Behold the Lord hath given you a king.
12:14. If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and
hearken to his voice, and not provoke the mouth of the
Lord: then shall both you, and the king who reigneth over
you, be followers of the Lord your God.
12:15. But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord,
but will rebel against his words, the hand of the Lord
shall be upon you, and upon your fathers.
12:16. Now then stand, and see this great thing which the
Lord will do in your sight.
12:17. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call upon the
Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain: and you shall
know, and see that you yourselves have done a great evil in
the sight of the Lord, in desiring a king over you.
12:18. And Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord sent
thunder and rain that day.
12:19. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and
Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel: Pray for thy
servants to the Lord thy God, that we may not die, for we
have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king.
12:20. And Samuel said to the people: Fear not, you have
done all this evil: but yet depart not from following the
Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
12:21. And turn not aside after vain things, which shall
never profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain.
12:22. And the Lord will not forsake his people for his
great name's sake: because the Lord hath sworn to make you
his people.
12:23. And far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I
should cease to pray for you: and I will teach you the good
and right way.
12:24. Therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, and
with your whole heart, for you have seen the great works
which he hath done among you.
12:25. But if you will still do wickedly: both you and your
king shall perish together.
1 Kings Chapter 13
The war between Saul and the Philistines. The distress of
the Israelites. Saul offereth sacrifice before the coming
of Samuel: for which he is reproved.
13:1. Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign,
and he reigned two years over Israel.
13:2. And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel: and
two thousand were with Saul in Machmas, and in mount
Bethel: and a thousand with Jonathan in Gabaa of Benjamin:
and the rest of the people he sent back every man to their
dwellings.
13:3. And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines
which was in Gabaa. And when the Philistines had heard of
it, Saul sounded the trumpet over all the land, saying: Let
the Hebrews hear.
13:4. And all Israel heard this report: Saul hath smitten
the garrison of the Philistines: and Israel took
courageagainst the Philistines. And the people were called
together after Saul to Galgal.
13:5. The Philistines also were assembled to fight against
Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand
horsemen, and a multitude of people besides, like the sand
on the seashore for number. And going up they camped in
Machmas, at the east of Bethaven.
13:6. And when the men of Israel saw that they were
straitened (for the people were distressed), they hid
themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in
dens, and in pits.
13:7. And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan into
the land of Gad and Galaad. And when Saul was yet in
Galgal, all the people that followed him were greatly
afraid.
13:8. And he waited seven days, according to the appointment
of Samuel, and Samuel came not to Galgal, and the people
slipt away from him.
13:9. Then Saul said: Bring me the holocaust, and the peace
offerings. And he offered the holocaust.
13:10. And when he had made an end of offering the
holocaust, behold Samuel came: and Saul went forth to meet
him and salute him.
13:11. And Samuel said to him: What hast thou done? Saul
answered: Because I saw that the people slipt from me, and
thou wast not come according to the days appointed, and the
Philistines were gathered together in Machmas,
13:12. I said: Now will the Philistines come down upon me
to Galgal, and I have not appeased the face of the Lord.
Forced by necessity, I offered the holocaust.
13:13. And Samuel said to Saul: Thou hast done foolishly,
and hast not kept the commandments of the Lord thy God,
which he commanded thee. And if thou hadst not done thus,
the Lord would now have established thy kingdom over Israel
for ever:
13:14. But thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath
sought him a man according to his own heart: and him hath
the Lord commanded to be prince over his people, because
thou hast not observed that which the Lord commanded.
13:15. And Samuel arose and went up from Galgal to Gabaa of
Benjamin. And the rest of the people went up after Saul, to
meet the people who fought against them, going from Galgal
to Gabaa, in the hill of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the
people, that were found with him, about six hundred men.
13:16. And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that
were present with them, were in Gabaa of Benjamin: But the
Philistines encamped in Machmas.
13:17. And there went out of the camp of the Philistines
three companies to plunder. One company went towards the
way of Ephra to the land of Sual;
13:18. And another went by the way of Bethoron, and the
third turned to the way of the border, above the valley of
Seboim towards thc desert.
13:19. Now there was no smith to be found in all the land of
Israel, for the Philistines had taken this precaution, lest
the Hebrews should make them swords or spears.
13:20. So all Israel went down to the Philistines, to
sharpen every man his ploughshare, and his spade, and his
axe, and his rake.
13:21. So that their shares, and their spades, and their
forks, and their axes, were blunt, even to the goad, which
was to be mended.
13:22. And when the day of battle was come, there was
neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the
people that were with Saul and Jonathan, except Saul and
Jonathan his son.
13:23. And the army of the Philistines went out in order to
advance further in Machmas.
1 Kings Chapter 14
Jonathan attacketh the Philistines. A miraculous victory.
Saul's unadvised oath, by which Jonathan is put in danger
of his life, but is delivered by the people.
14:1. Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan, the son of
Saul, said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, and
let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines, which is
on the other side of yonder place. But he told not this to
his father.
14:2. And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gabaa, under
the pomegranate tree, which was in Magron: and the people
with him were about six hundred men.
14:3. And Achias, the son of Achitob, brother of Ichabod
the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the priest of the Lord
in Silo, wore the ephod. And the people knew not whither
Jonathan was gone.
14:4. Now there were between the ascents, by which Jonathan
sought to go over to the garrison of the Philistines, rocks
standing up on both sides, and steep cliffs like teeth on
the one side, and on the other, the name of the one was
Boses, and the name of the other was Sene:
14:5. One rock stood out toward the north, over against
Machmas, and the other to the south, over against Gabaa.
14:6. And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his
armour: Come, let us go over to the garrison of these
uncircumcised, it may be the Lord will do for us: because
it is easy for the Lord to save either by many, or by few.
14:7. And his armourbearer said to him: Do all that pleaseth
thy mind: go whither thou wilt, and I will be with thee
wheresoever thou hast a mind.
14:8. And Jonathan said: Behold we will go over to these
men. And when we shall be seen by them,
14:9. If they shall speak thus to us: Stay till we come to
you: let us stand still in our place, and not go up to
them.
14:10. But if they shall say: Come up to us: let us go up,
because the Lord hath delivered them into our hands, this
shall be a sign unto us.
14:11. So both of them discovered themselves to the
garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said:
Behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes wherein they
were hid.
14:12. And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, and
to his armourbearer, and said: Come up to us, and we will
shew you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armourbearer:
Let us go up, follow me: for the Lord hath delivered them
into the hands of Israel.
14:13. And Jonathan went up creeping on his hands and feet,
and his armourbearer after him. And some fell before
Jonathan, others his armourbearer slew as he followed him.
14:14. And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his
armourbearer made, was of about twenty men, within half an
acre of land, which a yoke of oxen is wont to plough in a
day.
14:15. And there was a miracle in the camp, in the fields:
and all the people of their garrison, who had gone out to
plunder, were amazed, and the earth trembled: and it
happened as a miracle from God.
14:16. And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gabaa of
Benjamin looked, and behold a multitude overthrown, and
fleeing this way and that.
14:17. And Saul said to the people that were with him: Look,
and see who is gone from us. And when they had sought, it
was found that Jonathan and his armourbearer were not
there.
14:18. And Saul said to Achias: Bring the ark of the Lord.
(For the ark of God was there that day with the children of
Israel.)
14:19. And while Saul spoke to the priest, there arose a
great uproar in the camp of the Philistines: and it
increased by degrees, and was heard more clearly. And Saul
said to the priest: Draw in thy hand.
14:20. Then Saul, and all the people that were with him,
shouted together, and they came to the place of the fight:
and behold every man's sword was turned upon his neighbour,
and there was a very great slaughter.
14:21. Moreover, the Hebrews that had been with the
Philistines yesterday and the day before, and went up with
them into the camp, returned to be with the Israelites, who
were with Saul and Jonathan.
14:22. And all the Israelites that had hid themselves in
mount Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines fled, joined
themselves with their countrymen in the fight. And there
were with Saul about ten thousand men.
14:23. And the Lord saved Israel that day. And the fight
went on as far as Bethaven.
14:24. And the men of Israel were joined together that day:
and Saul adjured the people, saying: Cursed be the man that
shall eat food till evening, till I be revenged of my
enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
14:25. And all the common people came into a forest, in
which there was honey upon the ground.
14:26. And when the people came into the forest, behold the
honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth. For
the people feared the oath.
14:27. But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured
the people: and he put forth the end of the rod, which he
had in his hand, and dipt it in a honeycomb: and he carried
his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened.
14:28. And one of the people answering, said: Thy father
hath bound the people with an oath, saying: Cursed be the
man that shall eat any food this day. (And the people were
faint.)
14:29. And Jonathan said: My father hath troubled the land:
you have seen yourselves that my eyes are enlightened,
because I tasted a little of this honey:
14:30. How much more if the people had eaten of the prey of
their enemies, which they found? had there not been made a
greater slaughter among the Philistines?
14:31. So they smote that day the Philistines, from Machmas
to Aialon. And the people were wearied exceedingly.
14:32. And falling upon the spoils, they took sheep, and
oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the
people ate them with the blood.
14:33. And they told Saul that the people had sinned
against the Lord, eating with the blood. And he said: You
have transgressed: roll here to me now a great stone.
14:34. And Saul said: Disperse yourselves among the people,
and tell them to bring me every man his ox and his ram and
slay them upon this stone, and eat, and you shall not sin
against the Lord, in eating with the blood. So all the
people brought every man his ox with him till the night:
and slew them there.
14:35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord: and he then
first began to build an altar to the Lord.
14:36. And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by
night, and destroy them till the morning light, and let us
not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that
seemeth good in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw
near hither unto God.
14:37. And Saul consulted the Lord: Shall I pursue after the
Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hands of
Israel? And he answered him not that day.
14:38. And Saul said: Bring hither all the corners of the
people: and know, and see by whom this sin hath happened to
day.
14:39. As the Lord liveth, who is the Saviour of Israel, if
it was done by Jonathan, my son, he shall surely die. In
this none of the people gainsayed him.
14:40. And he said to all Israel: Be you on one side and I,
with Jonathan, my son, will be on the other side. And the
people answered Saul: Do what seemeth good in thy eyes.
14:41. And Saul said to the Lord: O Lord God of Israel,
give a sign, by which we may know, what the meaning is,
that thou answerest not thy servant to day: If this
iniquity be in me, or in my son Jonathan, give a proof: or
if this iniquity be in thy people, give holiness. And
Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped.
14:42. And Saul said: (Cast lots between me, and Jonathan,
my son. And Jonathan was taken.
14:43. And Saul said to Jonathan: Tell me what thou hast
done. And Jonathan told him, and said: I did but taste a
little honey with the end of the rod, which was in my hand,
and behold I must die.
14:44. And Saul said: May God do so and so to me, and add
still more: for dying thou shalt die, O Jonathan.
14:45. And the people said to Saul: Shall Jonathan then die,
who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? this must
not be: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his
head fall to the ground, for he hath wrought with God this
day. So the people delivered Jonathan, that he should not
die.
14:46. And Saul went back, and did not pursue after the
Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own places.
14:47. And Saul having his kingdom established over Israel,
fought against all his enemies round about, against Moab,
and against the children of Ammon, and Edom, and the kings
of Soba, and the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned
himself, he overcame.
14:48. And gathering together an army, he defeated Amalec,
and delivered Israel from the hand of them that spoiled
them.
14:49. And the sons of Saul, were Jonathan, and Jessui, and
Melchisua: and the names of his two daughters, the name of
the firstborn was Merob, and the name of the younger
Michol.
14:50. And the name of Saul's wife was Achinoam, the
daughter of Achimaas; and the name of the captain of his
army was Abner, the son of Ner, the cousin german of Saul.
14:51. For Cis was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father
of Abner, was son of Abiel.
14:52. And there was a great war against the Philistines
all the days of Saul. For whomsoever Saul saw to be a
valiant man, and fit for war, he took him to himself.
1 Kings Chapter 15
Saul is sent to destroy Amalec: he spareth their king and
the best of their cattle: for which disobedience he is cast
off by the Lord.
15:1. And Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint
thee king over his people Israel: now therefore hearken
thou unto the voice of the Lord:
15:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all
that Amalec hath done to Israel: how he opposed them in the
way when they came up out of Egypt.
15:3. Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly
destroy all that he hath: spare him not, nor covet anything
that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and
suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
15:4. So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as
lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of
the men of Juda.
15:5. And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid
ambushes in the torrent.
15:6. And Saul said to the Cinite: Go, depart, and get ye
down from Amalec: lest I destroy thee with him. For thou
hast shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when
they came up out of Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the
midst of Amalec.
15:7. And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest
to Sur, which is over against Egypt.
15:8. And he took Agag, the king of Amalec, alive: but all
the common people he slew with the edge of the sword.
15:9. And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of
the flocks of sheep, and of the herds, and the garments and
the rams, and all that was beautiful, and would not destroy
them: but every thing that was vile, and good for nothing,
that they destroyed.
15:10. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel,
15:11. It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he
hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my commandments.
And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all
night.
15:12. And when Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the
morning, it was told Samuel that Saul was come to Carmel,
and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and
returning had passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And
Samuel came to Saul, and Saul was offering a holocaust to
the Lord, out of the choicest of the spoils, which he had
brought from Amalec.
15:13. And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him:
Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of
the Lord.
15:14. And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of
the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of
the herds, which I hear?
15:15. And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec:
for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the
herds, that they might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God,
but the rest we have slain.
15:16. And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell
thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said
to him: Speak.
15:17. And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy
own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of
Israel? And the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.
15:18. And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and
kill the sinners of Amalec, and thou shalt fight against
them until thou hast utterly destroyed them.
15:19. Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the
Lord: but hast turned to the prey, and hast done evil in
the eyes of the Lord?
15:20. And Saul said to Samuel: Yea, I have hearkened to the
voice of the Lord, and have walked in the way by which the
Lord sent me, and have brought Agag, the king of Amalec,
and Amalec I have slain.
15:21. But the people took of the spoils, sheep and oxen,
as the firstfruits of those things that were slain, to
offer sacrifice to the Lord their God in Galgal.
15:22. And Samuel said: Doth the Lord desire holocausts and
victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should
be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to
hearken rather than to offer the fat or rams.
15:23. Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel:
and like the crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey.
Forasmuch, therefore, as thou hast rejected the word of the
Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from being king.
15:24. And Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned, because I
have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy
words, fearing the people, and obeying their voice.
15:25. But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with
me, that I may adore the Lord.
15:26. And Samuel said to Saul: I will not return with thee,
because thou hath rejected the word of the Lord, and the
Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
15:27. And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold
upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
15:28. And Samuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the
kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to
thy neighbour who is better than thee.
15:29. But the triumpher in Israel will not spare, and will
not be moved to repentance: for he is not a man that he
should repent.
15:30. Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before
the ancients of my people, and before Israel, and return
with me, that I may adore the Lord thy God.
15:31. So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored
the Lord.
15:32. And Samuel said: Bring hither to me Agag, the king
of Amalec. And Agag was presented to him very fat, and
trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter death separate in
this manner? 15:33. And Samuel said: As thy sword hath
made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless
among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord
in Galgal.
15:34. And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to
his house in Gabaa.
15:35. And Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his
death: nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, because the
Lord repented that he had made him king over Israel.
1 Kings Chapter 16
Samuel is sent to Bethlehem, where he anointeth David: who
is taken into Saul's family.
16:1. And the Lord said to Samuel: How long wilt thou mourn
for Saul, whom I have rejected from reigning over Israel?
fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I may send thee to
Isai, the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among
his sons.
16:2. And Samuel said: How shall I go? for Saul will hear
of it, and he will kill me. And the Lord said: Thou shalt
take with thee a calf of the herd, and thou shalt say: I am
come to sacrifice to the Lord.
16:3. And thou shalt call Isai to the sacrifice, and I will
shew thee what thou art to do, and thou shalt anoint him
whom I shall shew to thee.
16:4. Then Samuel did as the Lord had said to him. And he
came to Bethlehem, and the ancients of the city wondered,
and meeting him, they said: Is thy coming hither peaceable?
16:5. And he said: It is peaceable: I am come to offer
sacrifice to the Lord, be ye sanctified, and come with me
to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Isai and his sons, and
called them to the sacrifice.
16:6. And when they were come in, he saw Eliab, and said: Is
the Lord's anointed before him?
16:7. And the Lord said to Samuel: Look not on his
countenance, nor on the height of his stature: because I
have rejected him, nor do I judge according to the look of
man: for man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord
beholdeth the heart.
16:8. And Isai called Abinadab, and brought him before
Samuel. And he said: Neither hath the Lord chosen this,
16:9. And Isai brought Samma, and he said of him: Neither
hath the Lord chosen this.
16:10. Isai therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel:
and Samuel said to Isai: The Lord hath not chosen any one
of these.
16:11. And Samuel said to Isai: Are here all thy sons? He
answered: There remaineth yet a young one, who keepeth the
sheep. And Samuel said to Isai: Send, and fetch him: for we
will not sit down till he come hither.
16:12. He sent therefore and brought him. Now he was ruddy
and beautiful to behold, and of a comely face. And the Lord
said: Arise, and anoint him, for this is he.
16:13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him
in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord
came upon David from that day forward: and Samuel rose up,
and went to Ramatha.
16:14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and
an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
16:15. And the servants of Saul said to him: Behold now an
evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
16:16. Let our lord give orders, and thy servants who are
before thee, will seek out a man skilful in playing on the
harp, that when the evil spirit from the Lord is upon thee,
he may play with his hand, and thou mayst bear it more
easily.
16:17. And Saul said to his servants: Provide me then some
man that can play well, and bring him to me.
16:18. And one of the servants answering, said: Behold I
have seen a son of Isai, the Bethlehemite, a skilful
player, and one of great strength, and a man fit for war,
and prudent in his words, and a comely person: and the Lord
is with him.
16:19. Then Saul sent messengers to Isai, saying: Send me
David, thy son, who is in the pastures.
16:20. And Isai took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle
of wine, and a kid of the flock, and sent them by the hand
of David, his son, to Saul.
16:21. And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he
loved him exceedingly, and made him his armourbearer.
16:22. And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let David stand
before me: for he hath found favour in my sight.
16:23. So whensoever the evil spirit from the Lord was upon
Saul, David took his harp, and played with his hand, and
Saul was refreshed, and was better, for the evil spirit
departed from him.
1 Kings Chapter 17
War with the Philistines. Goliath challengeth Israel. He is
slain by David.
17:1. Now the Philistines gathering together their troops
to battle, assembled at Socho of Juda: and camped between
Socho and Azeca, in the borders of Dommim.
17:2. And Saul and the children of Israel being gathered
together, came to the valley of Terebinth, and they set the
army in array to fight against the Philistines.
17:3. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one
side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and
there was a valley between them.
17:4. And there went out a man baseborn from the camp of
the Philistines, named Goliath, of Geth, whose height was
six cubits and a span:
17:5. And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was
clothed with a coat of mail with scales, and the weight of
his coat of mail was five thousand sicles of brass:
17:6. And he had greaves of brass on his legs, and a buckler
of brass covered his shoulders.
17:7. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam,
and the head of his spear weighed six hundred sicles of
iron: and his armourbearer went before him.
17:8. And standing, he cried out to the bands of Israel, and
said to them: Why are you come out prepared to fight? am
not I a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose
out a man of you, and let him come down and fight hand to
hand.
17:9. If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, we will
be servants to you: but if I prevail against him, and kill
him, you shall be servants, and shall serve us.
17:10. And the Philistine said: I have defied the bands of
Israel this day: give me a man, and let him fight with me
hand to hand.
17:11. And Saul and all the Israelites hearing these words
of the Philistine, were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
17:12. Now David was the son of that Ephrathite, of
Bethlehem Juda, before mentioned, whose name was Isai, who
had eight sons, and was an old man in the days of Saul, and
of great age among men.
17:13. And his three eldest sons followed Saul to the
battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the
battle, were Eliab, the firstborn, and the second,
Abinadab, and the third Samma:
17:14. But David was the youngest. So the three eldest
having followed Saul,
17:15. David went, and returned from Saul, to feed his
father's flock at Bethlehem.
17:16. Now the Philistine came out morning and evening, and
presented himself forty days.
17:17. And Isai said to David, his son: Take for thy
brethren an ephi of frumenty, and these ten loaves, and run
to the camp to thy brethren,
17:18. And carry these ten little cheeses to the tribune:
and go see thy brethren, if they are well: and learn with
whom they are placed.
17:19. But Saul, and they, and all the children of Israel,
were in the valley of Terebinth, fighting against the
Philistines.
17:20. David, therefore, arose in the morning, and gave the
charge of the flock to the keeper: and went away loaded, as
Isai had commanded him. And he came to the place of Magala,
and to the army, which was going out to fight, and shouted
for the battle.
17:21. For Israel had put themselves in array, and the
Philistines who stood against them were prepared.
17:22. And David leaving the vessels which he had brought,
under the care of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the
place of the battle, and asked if all things went well with
his brethren.
17:23. And as he talked with them, that baseborn man, whose
name was Goliath, the Philistine, of Geth, shewed himself
coming up from the camp of the Philistines: and he spoke
according to the same words, and David heard them,
17:24. And all the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled
from his face, fearing him exceedingly.
17:25. And some one of Israel said: Have you seen this man
that is come up, for he is come up to defy Israel. And the
man that shall slay him, the king will enrich with great
riches, and will give him his daughter, and will make his
father's house free from tribute in Israel.
17:26. And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying:
What shall be given to the man that shall kill this
Philistine, and shall take away the reproach from Israel?
for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should
defy the armies of the living God?
17:27. And the people answered him the same words, saying:
These things shall be given to the man that shall slay him.
17:28. Now when Eliab his eldest brother heard this, when he
was speaking with others, he was angry with David, and
said: Why camest thou hither? and why didst thou leave
those few sheep in the desert? I know thy pride, and the
wickedness of thy heart: that thou art come down to see the
battle.
17:29. And David said: What have I done? is there not cause
to speak?
17:30. And he turned a little aside from him to another: and
said the same word. And the people answered him as before.
17:31. And the words which David spoke were heard, and were
rehearsed before Saul.
17:32. And when he was brought to Saul, he said to him. Let
not any man's heart be dismayed in him: I thy servant will
go, and will fight against the Philistine.
17:33. And Saul said to David: Thou art not able to
withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him: for
thou art but a boy, but he is a warrior from his youth.
17:34. And David said to Saul: Thy servant kept his
father's sheep, and there came a lion, or a bear, and took
a ram out of the midst of the flock:
17:35. And I pursued after them, and struck them, and
delivered it out of their mouth: and they rose up against
me, and I caught them by the throat, and I strangled, and
killed them.
17:36. For I thy servant have killed both a lion and a bear:
and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be also as one of
them. I will go now, and take away the reproach of the
people: for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who hath
dared to curse the army of the living God?
17:37. And David said: The Lord who delivered me out of the
paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will
deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul
said to David: Go, and the Lord be with thee.
17:38. And Saul clothed David with his garments, and put a
helmet of brass upon his head, and armed him with a coat of
mail.
17:39. And David having girded his sword upon his armour,
began to try if he could walk in armour: for he was not
accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: I cannot go thus,
for I am not used to it. And he laid them off,
17:40. And he took his staff, which he had always in his
hands: and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook,
and put them into the shepherd's scrip, which he had with
him, and he took a sling in his hand, and went forth
against the Philistine.
17:41. And the Philistine came on, and drew nigh against
David, and his armourbearer went before him.
17:42. And when the Philistine looked, and beheld David, he
despised him. For he was a young man, ruddy, and of a
comely countenance.
17:43. And the Philistine said to David: Am I a dog, that
thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed
David by his gods.
17:44. And he said to David: Come to me, and I will give
thy flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the
earth.
17:45. And David said to the Philistine: Thou comest to me
with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I
come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of
the armies of Israel, which thou hast defied
17:46. This day, and the Lord will deliver thee into my
hand, and I will slay thee, and take away thy head from
thee: and I will give the carcasses of the army of the
Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the
beasts of the earth: that all the earth may know that there
is a God in Israel.
17:47. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth
not with sword and spear: for it is his battle, and he will
deliver you into our hands.
17:48. And when the Philistine arose, and was coming, and
drew nigh to meet David, David made haste, and ran to the
fight to meet the Philistine.
17:49. And he put his hand into his scrip, and took a stone,
and cast it with the sling, and fetching it about, struck
the Philistine in the forehead, and he fell on his face
upon the earth.
17:50. And David prevailed over the Philistine, with a sling
and a stone, and he struck, and slew the Philistine. And as
David had no sword in his hand,
17:51. He ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his
sword, and drew it out of the sheath, and slew him, and cut
off his head. And the Philistines seeing that their
champion was dead, fled away.
17:52. And the men of Israel and Juda rising up shouted,
and pursued after the Philistines till they came to the
valley and to the gates of Accaron, and there fell many
wounded of the Philistines in the way of Saraim, and as far
as Geth, and as far as Accaron.
17:53. And the children of Israel returning, after they had
pursued the Philistines, fell upon their camp.
17:54. And David taking the head of the Philistine, brought
it to Jerusalem: but his armour he put in his tent.
17:55. Now at the time that Saul saw David going out against
the Philistines, he said to Abner, the captain of the army:
Of what family is this young man descended, Abner? And
Abner said: As thy soul liveth, O king, I know not.
17:56. And the king said: Inquire thou, whose son this young
man is.
17:57. And when David was returned, after the Philistine was
slain, Abner took him, and brought him in before Saul, with
the head of the Philistine in his hand.
17:58. And Saul said to him: Young man, of what family art
thou? And David said: I am the son of thy servant Isai the
Bethlehemite.
1 Kings Chapter 18
The friendship of Jonathan and David. The envy of Saul, and
his design upon David's life. He marrieth him to his
daughter Michol.
18:1. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of
speaking to Saul, the son of Jonathan was knit with the
soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
18:2. And Saul took him that day, and would not let him
return to his father's house.
18:3. And David and Jonathan made a covenant, for he loved
him as his own soul.
18:4. And Jonathan stripped himself of the coat with which
he was clothed, and gave it to David, and the rest of his
garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his
girdle.
18:5. And David went out to whatsoever business Saul sent
him, and he behaved himself prudently: and Saul set him
over the soldiers, and he was acceptable in the eyes of all
the people, and especially in the eyes of Saul's servants.
18:6. Now when David returned, after he slew the Philistine,
the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and
dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels of joy, and
cornets.
18:7. And the women sung as they played, and they said: Saul
slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
18:8. And Saul was exceeding angry, and this word was
displeasing in his eyes, and he said: They have given David
ten thousands, and to me they have given but a thousand,
what can he have more but the kingdom?
18:9. And Saul did not look on David with a good eye from
that day and forward.
18:10. And the day after, the evil spirit from God came upon
Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of his house. And David
played with his hand as at other times. And Saul held a
spear in his hand,
18:11. And threw it, thinking to nail David to the wall:
and David stept aside out of his presence twice.
18:12. And Saul feared David, because the Lord was with
him, and was departed from Saul himself.
18:13. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him a
captain over a thousand men, and he went out and came in
before the people.
18:14. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the
Lord was with him.
18:15. And Saul saw that he was exceeding prudent, and began
to beware of him.
18:16. But all Israel and Juda loved David, for he came in
and went out before them.
18:17. And Saul said to David: Behold my elder daughter
Merob, her will I give thee to wife: only be a valiant man,
and fight the battles of the Lord. Now Saul said within
himself: Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hands of
the Philistines be upon him.
18:18. And David said to Saul: Who am I, or what is my life,
or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in
law of the king?
18:19. And it came to pass at the time when Merob, the
daughter of Saul, should have been given to David, that she
was given to Hadriel, the Molathite, to wife.
18:20. But Michol, the other daughter of Saul, loved David.
And it was told Saul, and it pleased him.
18:21. And Saul said: I will give her to him, that she may
be a stumblingblock to him, and that the hand of the
Philistines may be upon him. And Saul said to David: In two
things thou shalt be my son in law this day.
18:22. And Saul commanded his servants to speak to David
privately, saying: Behold, thou pleasest the king, and all
his servants love thee. Now, therefore be the king's son in
law.
18:23. And the servants of Saul spoke all these words in
the ear of David. And David said: Doth it seem to you a
small matter to be the king's son in law? But I am a poor
man, and of small ability.
18:24. And the servants of Saul told him, saying: Such
words as these hath David spoken.
18:25. And Saul said: Speak thus to David: The king desireth
not any dowry, but only a hundred foreskins of the
Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul
thought to deliver David into the hands of the Philistines.
18:26. And when his servants had told David the words that
Saul had said, the word was pleasing in the eyes of David
to be the king's son in law.
18:27. And after a few days David rose up, and went with the
men that were under him, and he slew of the Philistines two
hundred men, and brought their foreskins and numbered them
out to the king, that he might be his son in law. Saul
therefore gave him Michol, his daughter, to wife.
18:28. And Saul saw, and understood that the Lord was with
David. And Michol, the daughter of Saul, loved him.
18:29. And Saul began to fear David more: and Saul became
David's enemy continually.
18:30. And the princes of the Philistines went forth: and
from the beginning of their going forth, David behaved
himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, and his
name became very famous.
1 Kings Chapter 19
Other attempts of Saul upon David's life. He cometh to
Samuel. Saul's messengers, and Saul himself prophesy.
19:1. 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.
19:2. 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.
19:3. 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.
19:4. 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.
19:5. 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?
19:6. And when Saul heard this, he was appeased with the
words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth, he shall
not be slain.
19:7. 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.
19:8. 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.
19:9. 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.
19:10. 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.
19:11. 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:
19:12. She let him down through a window. And he went and
fled away, and escaped.
19:13. 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.
19:14. And Saul sent officers to seize David; and it was
answered that he was sick.
19:15. And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him
to me in the bed, that he may be slain.
19:16. And when the messengers were come in, they found an
image upon the bed, and a goat skin at his head.
19:17. 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.
19:18. 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.
19:19. And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is
in Najoth, in Ramatha.
19:20. 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.
19:21. 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,
19:22. 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.
19:23. 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.
19:24. 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?
1 Kings Chapter 20
Saul being obstinately bent upon killing David, he is sent
away by Jonathan.
20:1. But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and
came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my
iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he
seeketh my life?
20:2. And he said to him: (God forbid, thou shalt not die:
for my father will do nothing, great or little, without
first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only
from me? no, this shall not be.
20:3. And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy
father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy
sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he
be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul
liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and
death.
20:4. And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall
say to me, I will do for thee.
20:5. And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new
moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the
king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field
till the evening of the third day.
20:6. If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt
answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem,
his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for
all of his tribe.
20:7. If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have
peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to
its height.
20:8. Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast
brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with
thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me,
and bring me not in to thy father.
20:9. And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I
should certainly know that evil is determined by my father
against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee.
20:10. And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word,
if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?
20:11. And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out
into the field. And when they were both of them gone out
into the field,
20:12. Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I
shall discover my father's mind, to morrow, or the day
after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send
not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee,
20:13. May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan, and add still
more. But if my father shall continue in malice against
thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee
away, that thou mayst go in peace, and the Lord be with
thee, as he hath been with my father.
20:14. And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of
the Lord: but if I die,
20:15. Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house
for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies
of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take
away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it
at the hands of David's enemies.
20:16. Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of
David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David's
enemies.
20:17. And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved
him: for he loved him as his own soul.
20:18. And Jonathan said to him: To morrow is the new moon,
and thou wilt be missed:
20:19. For thy seat will be empty till after to morrow. So
thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where
thou must he hid, on the day when it is lawful to work, and
thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel.
20:20. And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot
as if I were exercising myself at a mark.
20:21. And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch
me the arrows.
20:22. If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on
this side of thee, take them up: come thou to me, because
there is peace to thee, and there is no evil, as the Lord
liveth. But if I shall speak thus to the boy: Behold the
arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the Lord hath sent
thee away.
20:23. And concerning the word which I and thou have
spoken, the Lord be between thee and me forever.
20:24. So David was hid in the field, and the new moon
came, and the king sat down to eat bread.
20:25. And when the king sat down upon his chair, (according
to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and
Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place appeared empty.
20:26. And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it
might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor
purified.
20:27. And when the second day after the new moon was come,
David's place appeared empty again. And Saul said to
Jonathan, his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat
neither yesterday, nor to day?
20:28. And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me
earnestly to go to Bethlehem.
20:29. And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn
sacrifice in the city, one of my brethren hath sent for me:
and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will go
quickly, and see my brethren. For this cause he came not to
the king's table.
20:30. Then Saul being angry against Jonathan, said to him:
Thou son of a woman that is the ravisher of a man, do I not
know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy own confusion,
and to the confusion of thy shameless mother?
20:31. For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth,
thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore
now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son
of death.
20:32. And Jonathan answering Saul, his father, said: Why
shall he die? What hath he done?
20:33. And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And
Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to
kill David.
20:34. So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and
did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For
he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to
confusion.
20:35. And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the
field according to the appointment with David, and a little
boy with him.
20:36. And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows
which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow
beyond the boy.
20:37. The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow
which Jonathan had shot: and Jonathan cried after the boy,
and said: Behold the arrow is there further beyond thee.
20:38. And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make
haste speedily, stand not. And Jonathan's boy gathered up
the arrows, and brought them to his master:
20:39. And he knew not at all what was doing: for only
Jonathan and David knew the matter.
20:40. Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said
to him: Go, and carry them into the city.
20:41. And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his
place, which was toward the south, and falling on his face
to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one another, they
wept together; but David more.
20:42. And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all
stand that we have sworn both of us in the name of the
Lord, saying: The Lord be between me and thee, and between
my seed and thy seed for ever.
20:43. And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went
into the city.
1 Kings Chapter 21
David receiveth holy bread of Achimelech, the priest: and
feigneth himself mad before Achis, king of Geth.
21:1. And David came to Nobe, to Achimelech, the priest and
Achimelech was astonished at David's coming. And he said to
him: Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
21:2. And David said to Achimelech, the priest: The king
hath commanded me a business, and said: Let no man know the
thing for which thou art sent by me, and what manner of
commands I have given thee: and I have appointed my
servants to such and such a place.
21:3. Now therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though
it were but five loaves, give me, or whatsoever thou canst
find.
21:4. And the priest answered David, saying: I have no
common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men
be clean, especially from women?
21:5. And David answered the priest, and said to him: Truly,
as to what concerneth women, we have refrained ourselves
from yesterday and the day before, when we came out, and
the vessels of the young men were holy. Now this way is
defiled, but it shall also be sanctified this day in the
vessels.
21:6. The priest therefore gave him hallowed bread: for
there was no bread there, but only the loaves of
proposition, which had been taken away from before the face
of the Lord, that hot loaves might be set up.
21:7. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there
that day, within the tabernacle of the Lord: and his name
was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of Saul's herdsmen.
21:8. And David said to Achimelech: Hast thou here at hand a
spear, or a sword? for I brought not my own sword, nor my
own weapons with me, for the king's business required
haste.
21:9. And the priest said: Lo, here is the sword of Goliath,
the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of
Terebinth, wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou
wilt take this, take it, for here there is no other but
this. And David said: There is none like that, give it me.
21:10. And David arose and fled that day from the face of
Saul: and came to Achis, the king of Geth:
21:11. And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said
to him: Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they
not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain
his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
21:12. But David laid up these words in his heart, and was
exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis, the king of Geth.
21:13. And he changed his countenance before them, and
slipt down between their hands: and he stumbled against the
doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard.
21:14. And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was
mad: why have you brought him to me?
21:15. Have we need of mad men, that you have brought in
this fellow, to play the madman in my presence? shall this
fellow come into my house?
1 Kings Chapter 22
Many resort to David. Doeg accuseth Achimelech to Saul. He
ordereth him and all the other priests of Nobe to be slain.
Abiathar escapeth.
22:1. David therefore went from thence, and fled to the
cave of Odollam. And when his brethren, and all his
father's house, had heard of it, they went down to him
thither.
22:2. And all that were in distress, and oppressed with
debt, and under affliction of mind, gathered themselves
unto him: and he became their prince, and there were with
him about four hundred men.
22:3. And David departed from thence into Maspha of Moab:
and he said to the king of Moab: Let my father and my
mother tarry with you, I beseech thee, till I know what God
will do for me.
22:4. And he left them under thc eyes of the king of Moab,
and they abode with him all the days that David was in the
hold.
22:5. And Gad the prophet said to David: Abide not in the
hold, depart, and go into the land of Juda. And David
departed, and came into the forest of Haret.
22:6. And SauI heard that David was seen, and the men that
were with him. Now whilst Saul abode in Gabaa, and was in
the wood, which is by Rama, having his spear in his hand,
and all his servants were standing about him,
22:7. He said to his servants that stood about him: Hear me
now, ye sons of Jemini: will the son of Isai give every one
of you fields, and vineyards, and make you all tribunes,
and centurions:
22:8. That all of you have conspired against me, and there
is no one to inform me, especially when even my son hath
entered into league with the son of Isai? There is not one
of you that pitieth my case, nor that giveth me any
information: because my son hath raised up my servant
against me, plotting against me to this day.
22:9. And Doeg, the Edomite, who stood by, and was the chief
among the servants of Saul, answering, said: I saw the son
of Isai, in Nobe, with Achimelech, the son of Achitob, the
priest.
22:10. And he consulted the Lord for him, and gave him
victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath, the
Philistine.
22:11. Then the king sent to call for Achimelech, the
priest, the son of Achitob, and all his father's house, the
priests that were in Nobe, and they came all of them to the
king.
22:12. And Saul said to Achimelech: Hear, thou son of
Achitob. He answered: Here I am, my lord.
22:13. And Saul said to him: Why have you conspired against
me, thou, and the son of Isai, and thou hast given him
bread and a sword, and hast consulted the Lord for him,
that he should rise up against me, continuing a traitor to
this day.
22:14. And Achimelech answering the king, said: And who
amongst all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is
the king's son in law, and goeth forth at thy bidding, and
is honourable in thy house?
22:15. Did I begin to day to consult the Lord for him? far
be this from me: let not the king suspect such a thing
against his servant, or any one in all my father's house:
for thy servant knew nothing of this matter, either little
or great.
22:16. And the king said: Dying thou shalt die, Achimelech,
thou and all thy father's house.
22:17. And the king said to the messengers that stood about
him: Turn, and kill the priests of the Lord, for their hand
is with David, because they knew that he was fled, and they
told it not to me. And the king'sservants would not put
forth their hands against the priests of the Lord.
22:18. And the king said to Doeg: Turn thou, and fall upon
the priests. And Doeg, the Edomite, turned, and fell upon
the priests, and slew in that day eighty-five men that wore
the linen ephod.
22:19. And Nobe, the city of the priests, he smote with the
edge of the sword, both men and women, children and
sucklings, and ox, and ass, and sheep, with the edge of the
sword.
22:20. But one of the sons of Achimelech, the son of
Achitob, whose name was Abiathar, escaped, and fled to
David,
22:21. And told him that Saul had slain the priests of the
Lord.
22:22. And David said to Abiathar: I knew that day when
Doeg, the Edomite, was there, that without doubt he would
tell Saul: I have been the occasion of the death of all the
souls of thy father's house.
22:23. Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my
life, seeketh thy life also, and with me thou shalt be
saved.
1 Kings Chapter 23
David relieveth Ceila, besieged by the Philistines. He
fleeth into the desert of Ziph. Jonathan and he confirm
their former covenant. The Ziphites discover him to Saul,
who pursuing close after him, is called away by an invasion
from the Philistines.
23:1. And they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines
fight against Ceila, and they rob the barns.
23:2. Therefore David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I
go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said to David:
Go, and thou shalt smite the Philistines, and shalt save
Ceila.
23:3. And the men that were with David, said to him: Behold
we are in fear here in Judea, how much more if we go to
Ceila against the bands of the Philistines?
23:4. Therefore David consulted the Lord again. And he
answered and said to him: Arise, and go to Ceila: for I
will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.
23:5. David, therefore, and his men, went to Ceila, and
fought against the Philistines, and brought away their
cattle, and made a great slaughter of them: and David saved
the inhabitants of Ceila.
23:6. Now at that time, when Abiathar, the son of
Achimelech, fled to David, to Ceila, he came down, having
an ephod with him.
23:7. And it was told Saul that David was come to Ceila: and
Saul said: The Lord hath delivered him into my hands, and
he is shut up, being come into a city that hath gates and
bars.
23:8. And Saul commanded all the people to go down to fight
against Ceila, and to besiege David and his men.
23:9. Now when David understood that Saul secretly prepared
evil against him, he said to Abiathar, the priest: Bring
hither the ephod.
23:10. And David said: O Lord God of Israel, thy servant
hath heard a report, that Saul designeth to come to Ceila,
to destroy the city for my sake:
23:11. Will the men of Ceila deliver me into his hands? and
will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God
of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said: He will
come down.
23:12. And David said: Will the men of Ceila deliver me and
my men into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said: They will
deliver thee up.
23:13. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred,
arose, and departing from Ceila, wandered up and down,
uncertain where they should stay: and it was told Saul that
David was fled from Ceila, and had escaped: wherefore he
forbore to go out.
23:14. But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and
he remained in a mountain of the desert of Ziph, in a woody
hill. And Saul sought him always: but the Lord delivered
him not into his hands.
23:15. And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his
life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood.
23:16. And Jonathan, the son of Saul, arose, and went to
David, into the wood, and strengthened his hands in God:
and he said to him:
23:17. Fear not: for the hand of my father, Saul, shall not
find thee, and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be
next to thee; yea and my father knoweth this.
23:18. And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and
David abode in the wood: but Jonathan returned to his
house.
23:19. And the Ziphites went up to Saul, in Gabaa, saying:
Lo, doth not David lie hid with us in the strong holds of
the wood, in mount Hachila, which is on the right hand of
the desert.
23:20. Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to
come down: and it shall be our business to deliver him into
the king's hands.
23:21. And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you
have pitied my case.
23:22. Go, therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence,
and curiously inquire, and consider the place where his
foot is, and who hath seen him there: for he thinketh of
me, that I lie craftily in wait for him.
23:23. Consider, and see all his lurking holes, wherein he
is hid, and return to me with the certainty of the thing,
that I may go with you. And if he should even go down into
the earth to hide himself, I will search him out in all the
thousands of Juda.
23:24. And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: and
David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain
at the right hand of Jesimon.
23:25. Then Saul and his men went to seek him: and it was
told David, and forthwith he went down to the rock, and
abode in the wilderness of Maon: and when Saul had heard of
it, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
23:26. And Saul went on this side of the mountain: and David
and his men were on the other side of the mountain: and
David despaired of being able to escape from the face of
Saul: and Saul and his men encompassed David and his men
round about, to take them.
23:27. And a messenger came to Saul, saying: Make haste to
come, for the Philistines have poured in themselves upon
the land.
23:28. Wherefore Saul returned, leaving the pursuit of
David, and went to meet the Philistines. For this cause
they called that place the rock of division.
1 Kings Chapter 24
Saul seeketh David in the wilderness of Engaddi: he goeth
into a cave where David hath him in his power.
24:1. Then David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong
holds of Engaddi.
24:2. And when Saul was returned from following the
Philistines, they told him, saying: Behold, David is in the
desert of Engaddi.
24:3. Saul, therefore, took three thousand chosen men out
of all Israel, and went out to seek after David and his
men, even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible
only to wild goats.
24:4. And he came to the sheepcotes which were in his way.
And there was a cave, into which Saul went, to ease nature:
now David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the
cave.
24:5. And the servants of David said to him: Behold the day,
of which the Lord said to thee: I will deliver thy enemy
unto thee, that thou mayst do to him as it shall seem good
in thy eyes. Then David arose, and secretly cut off the
hem of Saul's robe.
24:6. After which David's heart struck him, because he had
cut off the hem of Saul's robe.
24:7. And he said to his men: The Lord be merciful unto me,
that I may do no such thing to my master, the Lord's
anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because he is the
Lord's anointed.
24:8. And David stopped his men with his words, and suffered
them not to rise against Saul: but Saul, rising up out of
the cave, went on his way.
24:9. And David also rose up after him: and going out of the
cave, cried after Saul, saying: My lord the king. And Saul
looked behind him: and David bowing himself down to the
ground, worshipped,
24:10. And said to Saul: Why dost thou hear the words of men
that say: David seeketh thy hurt?
24:11 Behold this day thy eyes have seen, that the Lord
hath delivered thee into my hand, in the cave, and I had a
thought to kill thee, but my eye hath spared thee. For I
said: I will not put out my hand against my lord, because
he is the Lord's anointed.
24:12. Moreover, see and know, O my father, the hem of thy
robe in my hand, that when I cut off the hem of thy robe, I
would not put out my hand against thee. Reflect, and see,
that there is no evil in my hand, nor iniquity, neither
have I sinned against thee: but thou liest in wait for my
life, to take it away.
24:13. The Lord judge between me and thee and the Lord
revenge me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee.
24:14. As also it is said in the old proverb: From the
wicked shall wickedness come forth: therefore my hand shall
not be upon thee. After whom dost thou come out, O king of
Israel?
24:15. After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after
a flea.
24:16. Be the Lord judge, and judge between me and thee, and
see, and judge my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand.
24:17. And when David had made an end of speaking these
words to Saul, Saul said: Is this thy voice, my son David?
And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept:
24:18. And he said to David: Thou art more just than I: for
thou hast done good to me, and I have rewarded thee with
evil.
24:19. And thou hast shewed this day what good things thou
hast done to me: how the Lord delivered me into thy hand,
and thou hast not killed me.
24:20. For who when he hath found his enemy, will let him go
well away? But the Lord reward thee for this good turn, for
what thou hast done to me this day.
24:21. And now as I know that thou shalt surely be king,
and have the kingdom of Israel in thy hand:
24:22. Swear to me by the Lord, that thou wilt not destroy
my seed after me, nor take away my name from the house of
my father.
24:23. And David swore to Saul. So Saul went home: and
David and his men went up into safer places.
1 Kings Chapter 25
The death of Samuel. David, provoked by Nabal, threateneth
to destroy him: but is appeased by Abigail.
25:1. And Samuel died, and all Israel was gathered
together, and they mourned for him, and buried him in his
house in Ramatha. And David rose, and went down into the
wilderness of Pharan.
25:2. Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of
Maon, and his possessions were in Carmel, and the man was
very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand
goats: and it happened that he was shearing his sheep in
Carmel.
25:3. Now the name of the man was Nabal: and the name of
his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely
woman: but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill
natured: and he was of the house of Caleb.
25:4. And when David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal
was shearing his sheep,
25:5. He sent ten young men, and said to them: Go up to
Carmel, and go to Nabal, and salute him in my name with
peace.
25:6. And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to
thee, and peace to thy house, and peace to all that thou
hast.
25:7. I have heard that thy shepherds that were with us in
the desert were shearing: we never molested them, neither
was there ought missing to them of the flock at any time,
all the while they were with us in Carmel.
25:8. Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Now
therefore let thy servants find favour in thy eyes: for we
are come in a good day, whatsoever thy hand shall find give
to thy servants, and to thy son David.
25:9. And when David's servants came, they spoke to Nabal
all these words in David's name, and then held their peace.
25:10. But Nabal answering the servants of David, said: Who
is David? and what is the son of Isai? servants are
multiplied now days who flee from their masters.
25:11. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the
flesh of my cattle, which I have killed for my shearers,
and give to men whom I know not whence they are?
25:12. So the servants of David went back their way, and
returning came and told him all the words that he said.
25:13. Then David said to his young men: Let every man gird
on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword. And
David also girded on his sword: and there followed David
about four hundred men, and two hundred remained with the
baggage.
25:14. But one of the servants told, Abigail, the wife of
Nabal, saying: Behold, David sent messengers out of the
wilderness, to salute our master: and he rejected them.
25:15. These men were very good to us, and gave us no
trouble: Neither did we ever lose any thing all the time
that we conversed with them in the desert.
25:16. They were a wall unto us, both by night and day, all
the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
25:17. Wherefore consider, and think what thou hast to do:
for evil is determined against thy husband, and against thy
house, and he is a son of Belial, so that no man can speak
to him.
25:18. Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves,
and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and
five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of
raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them
upon asses:
25:19. And she said to her servants: Go before me: behold, I
will follow after you: but she told not her husband, Nabal.
25:20. And when she had gotten upon an ass, and was coming
down to the foot of the mountain, David and his men came
down over against her, and she met them.
25:21. And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that
belonged to this fellow in the wilderness, and nothing was
lost of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned
me evil for good.
25:22. May God do so and so, and add more to the foes of
David, if I leave of all that belong to him till the
morning, any that pisseth against the wall.
25:23. And when Abigail saw David, she made haste and
lighted off the ass, and fell before David, on her face,
and adored upon the ground.
25:24. And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this
iniquity be, my lord: let thy handmaid speak, I beseech
thee, in thy ears, and hear the words of thy servant.
25:25. Let not my lord the king, I pray thee, regard this
naughty man, Nabal: for according to his name, he is a
fool, and folly is with him: but I, thy handmaid, did not
see thy servants, my lord, whom thou sentest.
25:26. Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul
liveth, who hath withholden thee from coming to blood, and
hath saved thy hand to thee: and now let thy enemies be as
Nabal, and all they that seek evil to my lord.
25:27. Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid
hath brought to thee, my lord: and give it to the young men
that follow thee, my lord.
25:28. Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord
will surely make for my lord a faithful house, because
thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord: let not
evil therefore be found in thee all the days of thy life.
25:29. For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute
thee, and seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be kept,
as in the bundle of the living, with the Lord thy God: but
the souls of thy enemies shall be whirled, as with the
violence and whirling of a sling.
25:30. And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord,
all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall
have made thee prince over Israel,
25:31 This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a
scruple of heart to my lord, that thou hast shed innocent
blood, or hast revenged thyself: and when the Lord shall
have done well by my lord, thou shalt remember thy
handmaid.
25:32. And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the
God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me, and
blessed be thy speech:
25:33. And blessed be thou, who hast kept me to day from
coming to blood, and revenging me with my own hand.
25:34. Otherwise, as the Lord liveth, the God of Israel,
who hath withholden me from doing thee any evil, if thou
hadst not quickly come to meet me, there had not been left
to Nabal by the morning light, any that pisseth against the
wall.
25:35. And David received at her hand all that she had
brought him, and said to her: Go in peace into thy house,
behold I have heard thy voice, and honoured thy face.
25:36. And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold he had a feast
in his house, like the feast of a king: and Nabal's heart
was merry, for he was very drunk: and she told him nothing
less or more until morning.
25:37. But early in the morning, when Nabal had digested his
wine, his wife told him these words, and his heart died
within him, and he became as a stone.
25:38. And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal,
and he died.
25:39. And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he
said: Blessed be the Lord, who hath judged the cause of my
reproach, at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant
from evil, and the Lord hath returned the wickedness of
Nabal upon his head. Then David sent and treated with
Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife.
25:40. And David's servants came to Abigail, to Carmel, and
spoke to her, saying: David hath sent us to thee, to take
thee to himself for a wife.
25:41. And she arose, and bowed herself down with her face
to the earth, and said: Behold, let thy servant be a
handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
25:42. And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an
ass, and five damsels went with her, her waiting maids, and
she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.
25:43. Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and
they were both of them his wives.
25:44. But Saul gave Michol, his daughter, David's wife, to
Phalti, the son of Lais, who was of Gallim.
1 Kings Chapter 26
Saul goeth out again after David, who cometh by night where
Saul and his men are asleep, but suffereth him not to be
touched. Saul again confesseth his fault, and promiseth
peace.
26:1. And the men of Ziph came to Saul in Gabaa, saying:
Behold David is hid in the hill of Hachila, which is over
against the wilderness.
26:2. And Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of
Ziph having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel,
to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
26:3. And Saul encamped in Gabaa Hachila, which was over
against the wilderness in the way: and David abode in the
wilderness. And seeing that Saul was come after him into
the wilderness,
26:4. He sent spies, and learned that he was most certainly
come thither.
26:5. And David arose secretly, and came to the place where
Saul was: and when he had beheld the place, wherein Saul
slept, and Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of his army,
and Saul sleeping in a tent, and the rest of the multitude
round about him,
26:6. David spoke to Achimelech, the Hethite, and Abisai,
the son of Sarvia, the brother of Joab, saying: Who will go
down with me to Saul into the camp? And Abisai said: I will
go with thee.
26:7. So David and Abisai came to the people by night, and
found Saul lying and sleeping in the tent, and his spear
fixed in the ground at his head: and Abner and the people
sleeping round about him.
26:8. And Abisai said to David: God hath shut up thy enemy
this day into thy hands: now then I will run him through
with my spear, even to the earth at once, and there shall
be no need of a second time.
26:9. And David said to Abisai: Kill him not: for who shall
put forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and shall
be guiltless?
26:10. And David said: As the Lord liveth, unless the Lord
shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall
go down to battle, and perish:
26:11. The Lord be merciful unto me, and keep me that I
never put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed. But
now take the spear which is at his head, and the cup of
water, and let us go.
26:12. So David took the spear, and the cup of water which
was at Saul's head, and they went away: and no man saw it,
or knew it, or awaked, but they were all asleep, for a deep
sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them.
26:13. And when David was gone over to the other side, and
stood on the top of the hill afar off, and a good space was
between them,
26:14. David cried to the people, and to Abner, the son of
Ner, saying: Wilt thou not answer, Abner? And Abner
answering, said: Who art thou, that criest, and disturbest
the king?
26:15. And David said to Abner: Art not thou a man? and who
is like unto thee in Israel? why then hast thou not kept
thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to
kill the king thy lord.
26:16. This thing is not good, that thou hast done: as the
Lord liveth, you are the sons of death, who have not kept
your master, the Lord's anointed. And now where is the
king's spear, and the cup of water, which was at his head?
26:17. And Saul knew David's voice, and said: Is this thy
voice, my son David? And David said: It is my voice, my
lord the king.
26:18. And he said: Wherefore doth my lord persecute his
servant? What have I done? or what evil is there in my
hand?
26:19. Now therefore hear, I pray thee, my lord the
king, the words of thy servant: If the Lord stir thee up
against me, let him accept of sacrifice: but if the sons of
men, they are cursed in the sight of the Lord, who have
cast me out this day, that I should not dwell in the
inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve strange gods.
26:20. And now let not my blood be shed upon the earth
before the Lord: for the king of Israel is come out to seek
a flea, as the partridge is hunted in the mountains.
26:21. And Saul said: I have sinned; return, my son David,
for I will no more do thee harm, because my life hath been
precious in thy eyes this day: for it appeareth that I have
done foolishly, and have been ignorant in very many things.
26:22. And David answering, said: Behold the king's spear:
let one of the king's servants come over and fetch it.
26:23. And the Lord will reward every one according to his
justice, and his faithfulness: for the Lord hath delivered
thee this day into my hand, and I would not put forth my
hand against the Lord's anointed.
26:24. And as thy life hath been much set by this day in my
eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the
Lord, and let him deliver me from all distress.
26:25. Then Saul said to David: Blessed art thou, my son
David: and truly doing thou shalt do, and prevailing thou
shalt prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned
to his place.
1 Kings Chapter 27
David goeth again to Achis king of Geth, and obtaineth of
him the city of Siceleg.
27:1. And David said in his heart: I shall one day or other
fall into the hands of Saul: is it not better for me to
flee, and to be saved in the land of the Philistines, that
Saul may despair of me, and cease to seek me in all the
coasts of Israel? I will flee then out of his hands.
27:2. And David arose, and went away, both he and the six
hundred men that were with him, to Achis, the son of Maoch,
king of Geth.
27:3. And David dwelt with Achis at Geth, he and his men;
every man with his household, and David with his two wives,
Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal
of Carmel.
27:4. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, and
he sought no more after him.
27:5. And David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy
sight, let a place be given me in one of the cities of this
country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant
dwell in the royal city with thee?
27:6. Then Achis gave him Siceleg that day: for which reason
Siceleg belongeth to the kings of Juda unto this day.
27:7. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the
Philistines, was four months.
27:8. And David and his men went up, and pillaged Gessuri,
and Gerzi, and the Amalecites: for these were of old the
inhabitants of the countries, as men go to Sur, even to the
land of Egypt.
27:9. And David wasted all the land, and left neither man
nor woman alive: and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and
the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned
and came to Achis.
27:10. And Achis said to him: Whom hast thou gone against to
day? David answered: Against the south of Juda, and
against the south of Jerameel, and against the south of
Ceni.
27:11. And David saved neither man nor woman, neither
brought he any of them to Geth, saying: Lest they should
speak against us. So did David, and such was his
proceeding all the days that he dwelt in the country of the
Philistines.
27:12. And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much
harm to his people Israel: Therefore he shall be my servant
for ever.
1 Kings Chapter 28
The Philistines go out to war against Israel. Saul being
forsaken by God, hath recourse to a witch. Samuel appeareth
to him.
28:1. And it came to pass in those days, that the
Philistines gathered together their armies, to be prepared
for war against Israel: And Achis said to David: Know thou
now assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to the war,
thou, and thy men.
28:2. And David said to Achis: Now thou shalt know what thy
servant will do. And Achis said to David: And I will
appoint thee to guard my life for ever.
28:3. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel mourned for him,
and buried him in Ramatha, his city. And Saul had put away
all the magicians and soothsayers out of the land.
28:4. And the Philistines were gathered together, and came
and encamped in Sunam: and Saul also gathered together all
Israel, and came to Gelboe.
28:5. And Saul saw the army of the Philistines, and was
afraid, and his heart was very much dismayed.
28:6. And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets.
28:7. And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman that
hath a divining spirit, and I will go to her, and enquire
by her. And his servants said to him: There is a woman that
hath a divining spirit at Endor.
28:8. Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes,
and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the
woman by night, and he said to her: Divine to me by thy
divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell
thee.
28:9. And the woman said to him: Behold thou knowest all
that Saul hath done, and how he hath rooted out the
magicians and soothsayers from the land: why then dost thou
lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death?
28:10. And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the
Lord liveth, there shall no evil happen to thee for this
thing.
28:11. And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to
thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a
loud voice, and said to Saul: Why hast thou deceived me?
for thou art Saul.
28:13. And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou
seen? and the woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending out
of the earth.
28:14. And he said to her: What form is he of? And she
said: An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a
mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel, and he
bowed himself with his face to the ground, and adored.
28:15. And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my
rest, that I should be brought up? And Saul said: I am in
great distress: for the Philistines fight against me, and
God is departed from me, and would not hear me, neither by
the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have
called thee, that thou mayst shew me what I shall do.
28:16. And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord
has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival?
28:17. For the Lord will do to thee as he spoke by me, and
he will rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it
to thy neighbour David:
28:18. Because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord,
neither didst thou execute the wrath of his indignation
upon Amalec. Therefore hath the Lord done to thee what
thou sufferest this day.
28:19. And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into
the hands of the Philistines: and to morrow thou and thy
sons shall be with me: and the Lord will also deliver the
army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.
28:20. And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground; for
he was frightened with the words of Samuel, and there was
no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day.
28:21. And the woman came to Saul, (for he was very much
troubled) and said to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed
thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand: and I
hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me.
28:22. Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the
voice of thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel
of bread, that thou mayst eat and recover strength, and be
able to go on thy journey.
28:23. But he refused, and said: I will not eat. But his
servants and the woman forced him, and at length hearkening
to their voice, he arose from the ground, and sat upon the
bed.
28:24. Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and
she made haste and killed it: and taking meal, kneaded it,
and baked some unleavened bread,
28:25. And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And
when they had eaten they rose up, and walked all that
night.
1 Kings Chapter 29
David going with the Philistines is sent back by their
princes.
29:1. Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered
together to Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the
fountain, which is in Jezrahel.
29:2. And the lords of the Philistines marched with their
hundreds and their thousands: but David and his men were in
the rear with Achis.
29:3. And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis:
What mean these Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of
the Philistines: Do you not know David who was the servant
of Saul, the king of Israel, and hath been with me many
days, or years, and I have found no fault in him, since the
day that he fled over to me until this day?
29:4. But the prices of the Philistines were angry with
him, and they said to him: Let this man return, and abide
in his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him
not go down with us to battle, lest he be an adversary to
us, when we shall begin to fight: for how can he otherwise
appease his master, but with our heads?
29:5. Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances,
saying: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten
thousands?
29:6. Then Achis called David, and said to him: As the Lord
liveth, thou art upright and good in my sight: and so is
thy going out, and thy coming in with me in the army: and I
have not found any evil in thee, since the day that thou
camest to me unto this day: but thou pleasest not the
lords.
29:7. Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the
eyes of the princes of the Philistines.
29:8. And David said to Achis: But what have I done, or what
hast thou found in me thy servant, from the day that I have
been in thy sight until this day, that I may not go and
fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
29:9. And Achis answering, said to David: I know that thou
art good in my sight, as an angel of God: But the princes
of the Philistines have said: He shall not go up with us to
the battle.
29:10. Therefore arise in the morning, thou, and the
servants of thy lord, who came with thee: and when you are
up before day, and it shall begin to be light, go on your
way.
29:11. So David and his men arose in the night, that they
might set forward in the morning, and returned to the land
of the Philistines: and the Philistines went up to
Jezrahel.
1 Kings Chapter 30
The Amalecites burn Siceleg, and carry off the prey: David
pursueth after them, and recovereth all out of their hands.
30:1. Now when David and his men were come to Siceleg on
the third day, the Amalecites had made an invasion on the
south side upon Siceleg, and had smitten Siceleg, and burnt
it with fire,
30:2. And had taken the women captives that were in it,
both little and great: and they had not killed any person,
but had carried them with them, and went on their way.
30:3. So when David and his men came to the city, and found
it burnt with fire, and that their wives, and their sons,
and their daughters, were taken captives,
30:4. David and the people that were with him, lifted up
their voices, and wept till they had no more tears.
30:5. For the two wives also of David were taken captives,
Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal
of Carmel.
30:6. And David was greatly afflicted: for the people had a
mind to stone him, for the soul of every man was bitterly
grieved for his sons and daughters: but David took courage
in the Lord his God.
30:7. And he said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of
Achimelech: Bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar
brought the ephod to David.
30:8. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue
after these robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And
the Lord said to him: Pursue after them: for thou shalt
surely overtake them and recover the prey.
30:9. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were
with him, and they came to the torrent Besor: and some,
being weary, stayed there.
30:10. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two
hundred stayed, who, being weary, could not go over the
torrent Besor.
30:11. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought
him to David: and they gave him bread to eat, and water to
drink,
30:12. As also a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches
of raisins. And when he had eaten them, his spirit
returned, and he was refreshed: for he had not eaten bread,
nor drunk water, three days and three nights.
30:13. And David said to him: To whom dost thou belong; or
whence dost thou come? and whither art thou going? He said:
I am a young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite: and
my master left me, because I began to be sick three days
ago.
30:14. For we made an invasion on the south side of
Cerethi, and upon Juda, and upon the south of Caleb, and we
burnt Siceleg with fire.
30:15. And David said to him: Canst thou bring me to this
company? and he said: Swear to me by God, that thou wilt
not kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master,
and I will bring thee to this company. And David swore to
him.
30:16. And when he had brought him, behold they were lying
spread abroad upon all the ground, eating and drinking, and
as it were keeping a festival day, for all the prey and the
spoils which they had taken out of the land of the
Philistines, and out of the land of Juda.
30:17. And David slew them from the evening unto the evening
of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them, but
four hundred young men, who had gotten upon camels, and
fled.
30:18. So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken,
and he rescued his two wives.
30:19. And there was nothing missing small or great, neither
of their sons or their daughters, nor of the spoils, and
whatsoever they had taken, David recovered all.
30:20. And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made
them go before him: and they said: This is the prey of
David.
30:21. And David came to the two hundred men, who, being
weary, had stayed, and were not able to follow David, and
he had ordered them to abide at the torrent Besor: and they
came out to meet David, and the people that were with him.
And David coming to the people, saluted them peaceably.
30:22. Then all the wicked and unjust men, that had gone
with David, answering, said: Because they came not with us,
we will not give them any thing of the prey which we have
recovered: but let every man take his wife, and his
children, and be contented with them, and go his way.
30:23. But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren,
with these things, which the Lord hath given us, who hath
kept us, and hath delivered the robbers that invaded us
into our hands:
30:24. And no man shall hearken to you in this matter. But
equal shall be the portion of him that went down to battle,
and of him that abode at the baggage, and they shall divide
alike.
30:25. And this hath been done from that day forward, and
since was made a statute and an ordinance, and as a law in
Israel.
30:26. Then David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the
prey to the ancients of Juda, his neighbours, saying:
Receive a blessing of the prey of the enemies of the Lord.
30:27. To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth
to the south, and to them that were in Jether.
30:28. And to them that were in Aroer, and that were in
Sephamoth, and that were in Esthamo,
30:29. And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities
of Jerameel, and that were in the cities of Ceni,
30:30. And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake
Asan, and that were in Athach,
30:31. And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were
in those places, in which David had abode with his men.
1 Kings Chapter 31
Israel is defeated by the Philistines: Saul and his sons
are slain.
31:1. And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the
men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell
down slain in mount Gelboe.
31:2. And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his
sons, and they slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua,
the sons of Saul.
31:3. And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon
Saul: and the archers overtook him, and he was grievously
wounded by the archers.
31:4. Then Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword,
and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and slay me,
and mock at me. And his armourbearer would not: for he was
struck with exceeding great fear. Then Saul took his sword,
and fell upon it.
31:5. And when his armourbearer saw this, to wit, that Saul
was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
31:6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his
armourbearer, and all his men that same day together.
31:7. And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley,
and beyond the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were
fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons, forsook their
cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt there.
31:8. And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the
slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying in
mount Gelboe.
31:9. And they cut off Saul's head, and stripped him of his
armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round
about, to publish it in the temples of their idols and
among their people.
31:10. And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth,
but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.
31:11. Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard
all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
31:12. All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the
night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his
sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes
Galaad, and burnt them there.
31:13. And they took their bones, and buried them in the
wood of Jabes: and fasted seven days.