David Goes to See Ahimelech

21 David went to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech ·shook with fear [trembled; ^Cperhaps rumors of Saul’s displeasure were circulating] when he saw David, and he asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

² David answered him, “The king ·gave me a special order [sent me on a mission; commissioned me]. He told me, ‘No one must know ·what I am sending you to do or what I told you to do [about the mission I am sending you on].’ I told my [^Lyoung] men ·where to meet me [to meet me at a certain place]. ³ Now, what ·food do you have with you [^Lis at hand]? Give me five loaves of bread or anything you find.”

⁴ The priest said to David, “I don’t have any ·plain [ordinary; regular] bread here, but I do have some ·holy [consecrated; holy] bread [^Cfrom the Table of Presence; Ex. 25:23–30]. You may eat it if your men have ·kept themselves from [not recently slept with] women [^Csexual relations rendered a man ritually unclean; Lev. 15:16–18].”

⁵ David answered [^Lthe priest and said to him], “No women have been near us ·for days [or as usual on a campaign]. My men always keep ·themselves [their bodies/^Lvessels] holy, even ·when we do ordinary work [on an ordinary/common journey]. And this is especially true when the ·work [journey] is holy.”

⁶ So the priest gave David the ·holy [consecrated] bread ·from the presence of God [—the bread of the Presence—] because there was no other. Each day the holy bread was replaced with ·hot [fresh] bread.

⁷ One of Saul’s servants happened to be there that day. He had been ·held there [detained] before the Lord [^Cfor some unspecified ritual purpose]. He was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

⁸ David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword here? The king’s business was very ·important [urgent], so I ·left without [brought neither…nor] my sword or any other weapon.”

⁹ The priest answered, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, the one you ·killed [^Lstruck] in the Valley of Elah [ch. 17], is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ·holy vest [ephod; Ex. 28:6–14]. If you want it, you may take it. There’s no other sword here but that one.”

David said, “There is ·no other sword [none] like it. Give it to me.”

David Goes to Gath

¹⁰ That day David ·ran away [^Lfled] from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath [^Ca major Philistine town]. ¹¹ But the servants of Achish said to him, “·This is [^LIsn’t this…?] David, the king of the ·Israelites [^Lland]. ·He’s [^LIsn’t he…?] the man they dance and sing about, saying:

¹² David ·paid attention to [^Ltook to heart] these words and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. ¹³ So he ·pretended to be crazy in front of Achish and his servants [^Lchanged his behavior in their eyes/presence]. ·While he was with them [^LIn their hands], he acted like a madman and ·clawed [scratched; scribbled] on the doors of the gate and ·let spit run [drooled] down his beard.

¹⁴ Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He’s crazy! Why do you bring him to me? ¹⁵ ·I [Don’t I…?] have enough madmen. I don’t need you to bring him here to act like this in front of me! ·Don’t let him in [Must this one come into…?] my house!”

David at Adullam and Mizpah

22 David ·left Gath [^Lwent from there] and ·escaped to [took refuge in] the cave of Adullam [^Cin the lowlands of Judah, southwest of Jerusalem]. When his brothers and ·other relatives [^Lhis father’s household] heard that he was there, they went to ·see him [join him; ^Lhim]. ² Everyone who was in ·trouble [distress], or ·who owed money [in debt], or who was ·unsatisfied [discontented; had a grievance] gathered around David, and he became their ·leader [captain; commander]. About four hundred men were with him.

³ From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and spoke to the king of Moab. He said, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God ·is going [intends] to do for me.” ⁴ So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was hiding in the stronghold.

⁵ But the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. ·Go [Return] to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

Saul Destroys Ahimelech’s Family

⁶ Saul heard that David and his men had been ·seen [discovered; located]. Saul was sitting under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, and all his officers were standing around him. He had a spear in his hand. ⁷ Saul said to them, “·Listen [Hear now], men of Benjamin! Do you think the son of Jesse will give all of you fields and vineyards? Will David make you commanders over thousands of men or hundreds of men? ⁸ ·You have all made plans [^LIs that why you have all conspired…?] against me! No one tells me when my son makes an ·agreement [covenant; solemn pact; treaty] with the son of Jesse! No one ·cares about [feels sorry/pity for] me! No one tells me when my son has ·encouraged [stirred up; incited] my servant to ·ambush [lie in wait for] me this very day!”

⁹ Doeg the Edomite, who was standing there with Saul’s ·officers [officials; servants], said, “I saw the son of Jesse. He came to see Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. ¹⁰ Ahimelech ·prayed to [consulted; inquired of] the Lord for David and gave him ·food [provisions] and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and for all of ·Ahimelech’s relatives [^Lhis father’s household] who were priests at Nob. And they all came to the king. ¹² Saul said to Ahimelech, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.”

Ahimelech answered, “·Yes, master [^LHere I am, my lord/king].”

¹³ Saul said, “Why ·are [have] you and Jesse’s son [^Lconspired] against me? You gave him bread and a sword! You ·prayed to [consulted; inquired of] God for him. David has ·turned [rebelled; conspired; ^Lrisen up] against me and is ·waiting [lying in wait/ambush] ·to attack [for] me even now!”

¹⁴ Ahimelech answered [^Lthe king], “·You have no other servant who [^LWho of all your servants…?] is as ·loyal [faithful] as David, your own son-in-law and captain of your bodyguards. Everyone in your house ·respects [honors] him. ¹⁵ ·That was not [^LWas today…?] the first time I ·prayed to [consulted; inquired of] God for David. Don’t ·blame [accuse; charge] me or any of my relatives. I, your servant, know nothing about ·what is going on [all this; this whole affair].”

¹⁶ But the king said, “Ahimelech, you and all your ·relatives [^Lfather’s household] ·must [will surely] die!” ¹⁷ Then he told the ·guards [or bodyguard] at his side, “·Go [Turn; Forward] and kill the priests of the Lord, because ·they are on David’s side [^Ltheir hand is with David]. They knew he was running away, but they didn’t ·tell [warn] me.”

But the king’s ·officers [^Lservants] refused to ·kill [attack; raise a hand against] the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸ Then the king ordered Doeg, “·Go [Turn; Forward] and ·kill [attack; strike] the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite ·went [turned] and ·killed [attacked; struck] the priests. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ·holy vest [ephod; ^Ca distinctively priestly garment; Ex. 28:6–14]. ¹⁹ He also ·killed [struck; put to the sword] the people of Nob, the city of the priests. With the sword he killed men, women, children, babies, ·cattle [oxen], donkeys, and sheep.

²⁰ But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, who was the son of Ahitub, escaped. He ·ran away [fled] and joined David. ²¹ He told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. ²² Then David told him, “Doeg the Edomite was there at Nob that day. I knew he would surely tell Saul. So I ·am responsible for [caused] the death of all your father’s ·family [household]. ²³ Stay with me. Don’t be afraid. The man who ·wants to kill you [^Lseeks your life] also ·wants to kill me [^Lseeks my life]. You will be safe with me.”