1 Samuel 24
1 After Saul [and his soldiers] returned [home] after fighting against the Philistia army, someone reported to Saul that David [and his men] had gone into the desert near En-Gedi.
And whanne Saul turnede ayen, aftir that he pursuede Filisteis, thei telden to hym, and seiden, Lo! Dauid is in the deseert of Engaddi.
2 [When] Saul [heard that, he] chose 3,000 men from various areas in Israel, and they went to search for David and his men at a place named Rocks of Wild Goats.
Therfor Saul took three thousinde of chosun men of al Israel, and yede to seke Dauid and hise men, yhe on moost brokun rochis, that ben `able to weie to wield geet aloone.
3 At a place where the road was alongside some sheep pens, Saul [left the road and] entered a cave to defecate [EUP]. [He did not know that] David and his men were hiding further inside that same cave!
And he cam to the fooldis of scheep, that offriden hem silf to the wei goere. And there was a denne, in to which denne Saul entride, that he schulde purge the wombe; forsothe Dauid and hise men weren hid in the ynnere part of the denne.
4 David’s men [saw Saul and] whispered to David, “Today is the day that Yahweh spoke about when he said, ‘I will enable you to defeat your enemy.’ You can do to him whatever you want to!” So David crept toward the entrance of the cave and [with his knife] he cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.
And the seruauntis of Dauid seiden to hym, Lo! the dai of which the Lord spak to the, Y schal bitake to thee thin enemy, that thou do to hym as it plesith in thin iyen. Therfor Dauid roos, and kittide the hemme of the mentil of Saul priuely.
5 [And then he returned to his men]. But then David felt guilty for having cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.
Aftir these thingis Dauid smoot his herte, for he hadde kit awei the hemme of the mentil of Saul.
6 He said to his men, “I should not have done that to the king! I hope/desire that Yahweh will never allow me to attack the one whom God has appointed, because Yahweh is the one who chose him [to be the king].”
And Dauid seide to hise men, The Lord be merciful to me, lest Y do this thing to my lord, the crist of the Lord, that Y sende myn hond `in to hym, for he is the crist of the Lord. The Lord lyueth, for no but the Lord smyte hym, ether his dai come, that he die, ether he go doun in to batel and perische, the Lord be merciful to me, that Y sende not myn hond in to the crist of the Lord.
7 By saying that, David restrained his men, and did not allow them to kill Saul.
Forsothe Saul roos out of the denne, and yede in the weie bigunnun.
8 After Saul left the cave and started to walk on the road again, David came out of the cave and shouted to Saul, “King Saul!” Saul turned around and looked, and David bowed down with his face touching the ground.
Sotheli Dauid roos aftir hym, and he yede out of the denne, and criede aftir the bak of Saul, and seide, My lord, the kyng! And Saul bihelde bihinde him silf; and Dauid bowide hym silf lowe to the erthe, and worschipide.
9 Then he said to Saul, “(Why do you pay attention to people when they say ‘David wants to harm you’?/You should not pay attention to people when they say ‘David wants to harm you’.) [RHQ]
And he seide to Saul, Whi herist thou the wordis of men spekynge, Dauid sekith yuel ayens thee?
10 Today you can see with your own eyes that [what they say is not true]. Yahweh put you in a place where my men and I could have killed you when you were in this cave. Some of my men told me that I should do that, but I did not do that. I said to them, ‘I will not harm my master, because he is the king whom Yahweh appointed.’
Lo! to dai thin iyen siyen, that the Lord bitook thee in myn hond in the denne, and Y thouyte that Y wolde sle thee, but myn iye sparide thee; for Y seide, Y schal not holde forth myn hond in to my lord, which is the crist, `that is, anoyntid, of the Lord.
11 Your majesty, look at this piece of your robe that is in my hand! I cut it from your robe, but I did not kill you. So now you should be able to understand that I am not planning to do anything evil to you. I have not done anything wrong to you, but you are searching for me to kill me.
But rathere, my fadir, se thou, and knowe the hemme of thi mentil in myn hond, for whanne Y kittide aweie the hemme of thi mentil, Y nolde holde forth myn hond in thee; perseyue thou, and see, for nether yuel nether wickidnesse is in myn hond, nether Y synnede ayens thee; but thou aspiest my lijf, that thou do it awei.
12 I hope/desire that Yahweh will judge and decide which of us ([is doing what is right/pleases him]). And I hope/desire that he will punish you for the wrong things that you have done to me. But I will not try to harm you.
The Lord deme bitwixe me and thee, and the Lord venge me of thee; but myn hond be not in thee,
13 There is a proverb that has the words, ‘Evil things are done by evil people.’ But [I am not evil, so] I will not do evil things to you.
as it is seid also in eld prouerbe, Wickidnesse schal go out of wickid men; therfor myn hond be not in thee.
14 “You are the king of Israel. So (why are you pursuing me?/you should not be pursuing me.) [RHQ] I am [as harmless as] [MET] a dead dog or a flea.
`Whom pursuest thou, kyng of Israel, whom pursuest thou? Thou pursuest a deed hound, and a quyk fle.
15 I hope/desire that Yahweh will judge which of us [is doing what (he wants/is right)]. I trust that he will [act like a lawyer and] judge (my case/what I have done), and that he will rescue me from your power [MTY].”
The Lord be iuge, and the Lord deme bitwixe me and thee, and se, and deme my cause, and delyuere me fro thin hond.
16 When David finished speaking, Saul [called out to him and] asked, “My son David, is that your voice [that I am hearing]?” Then he began to cry loudly.
Sotheli whanne Dauid hadde fillid spekynge siche wordis to Saul, Saul seide, Whether this is thi vois, my sone Dauid? And Saul reiside his vois, and wepte.
17 He said, “You are a better man than I am. You have done something very good to me when I tried to do something very bad to you.
And he seide to Dauid, Thou art more iust than Y; for thou yauest goodis to me; forsothe Y yeldide yuelis to thee.
18 When Yahweh put me in a place [in that cave] where you could have easily killed me, you did not do that.
And thou schewidist to me to dai, what goodis thou hast do to me, how the Lord bitook me in thin hond, and thou killidist not me.
19 (Who else would/No one else would) find his enemy and allow his enemy to escape [when he could kill him instead] [RHQ]. I hope/desire that Yahweh will reward you for being kindly to me today.
For who, `whanne he fyndith his enemy, schal delyuere hym in good weie? But the Lord yelde to thee this while, for that, that thou wrouytist to dai in me.
20 I know that [some day] you will surely become the king, and that your kingdom will prosper as you rule the Israeli people.
And now, for Y woot, that thou schalt regne moost certeynli, and schalt haue in thin hond the rewme of Israel, swere thou to me in the Lord,
21 Now while Yahweh is listening, solemnly promise to me that you will not kill my family and get rid of all my descendants.”
that thou do not a wei my seed aftir me, nether take a wey my name fro the hows of my fadir.
22 David solemnly promised Saul that he would not [harm Saul’s family]. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went back up into the place where they had been hiding.
And Dauid swoor to Saul. Therfor Saul yede in to his hows, and Dauid and hise men stieden to sikire placis.
