1 Samuel 22:9–19

^9*Doeg was standing there with Saul’s officers, and he said, “I saw David when he went to Ahimelech son of Ahitub in Nob. ^10*Ahimelech asked the Lord what David should do, and then he gave David some food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹So King Saul sent for the priest Ahimelech and all his relatives, who were also priests in Nob, and they came to him. ¹²Saul said to Ahimelech, “Listen, Ahimelech!” “At your service, sir,” he answered.

¹³Saul asked him, “Why are you and David plotting against me? Why did you give him some food and a sword, and consult God for him? Now he has turned against me and is waiting for a chance to kill me!”

¹⁴Ahimelech answered, “David is the most faithful officer you have! He is your own son-in-law, captain of^p your bodyguard, and highly respected by everyone in the royal court. ¹⁵Yes, I consulted God for him, and it wasn’t the first time.^q As for plotting against you, Your Majesty must not accuse me or anyone else in my family. I don’t know anything about this matter!”

¹⁶The king said, “Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die.” ¹⁷Then he said to the guards standing near him, “Kill the Lord’s priests! They conspired with David and did not tell me that he had run away, even though they knew it all along.” But the guards refused to lift a hand to kill the Lord’s priests. ¹⁸So Saul said to Doeg, “You kill them!”—and Doeg killed them all. On that day he killed 85 priests who were qualified to carry the ephod. ¹⁹Saul also ordered all the other inhabitants of Nob, the city of priests, to be put to death: men and women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys, and sheep—they were all killed.