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1 Samuel 21:4–6

4 The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread 1on hand, but there is aconsecrated bread; if only the young men have bkept themselves from women.”

5 David answered the priest and said to him, “aSurely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the bvessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will 1their vessels be holy?

6 So athe priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bbread of the Presence which was removed from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.

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1 Samuel 21:4–6 — The New International Version (NIV)

But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”

David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — English Standard Version (ESV)

And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — New Living Translation (NLT)

“We don’t have any regular bread,” the priest replied. “But there is the holy bread, which you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently.”

“Don’t worry,” David replied. “I never allow my men to be with women when we are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!”

Since there was no other food available, the priest gave him the holy bread—the Bread of the Presence that was placed before the Lord in the Tabernacle. It had just been replaced that day with fresh bread.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”

Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.”

So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — New Century Version (NCV)

The priest said to David, “I don’t have any plain bread here, but I do have some holy bread. You may eat it if your men have kept themselves from women.”

David answered, “No women have been near us for days. My men always keep themselves holy, even when we do ordinary work. And this is especially true when the work is holy.”

So the priest gave David the holy bread from the presence of God because there was no other. Each day the holy bread was replaced with hot bread.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women. And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days; when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey; how much more then to-day shall their vessels be holy? So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before Jehovah, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. And David answered the priest and said to him, Yes indeed, women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, and the more so, because to-day new is hallowed in the vessels. And the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the shew-loaves that were taken from before Jehovah, to put on hot bread in the day when they were taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

“I don’t have any ordinary bread,” the chief priest answered David. “But there is holy bread for the young men if they haven’t had sexual intercourse ⸤today⸥.” 

David answered the priest, “Of course women have been kept away from us as usual when we go ⸤on a mission⸥. The young men’s bodies are kept holy even on ordinary campaigns. How much more then will their bodies be holy today?” 

So the priest gave him holy ⸤bread⸥ because he only had the bread of the presence which had been taken from the Lord’s presence and replaced with warm bread that day. 

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat it only if they have kept themselves from women.”

David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle. The young men’s bodies are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.” So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from the presence of the Lord. When the bread was removed, it had been replaced with warm bread.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The priest answered David, “I have no ordinary bread at hand, only holy bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.” David answered the priest, “Indeed women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition; the vessels of the young men are holy even when it is a common journey; how much more today will their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him the holy bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread here at hand; there is only holy bread, but only if the young men have kept themselves from women.” David answered the priest and said to him, “Indeed, women were held back from us as it has been when I’ve gone out before. And the things of the young men are holy when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will the things be holy?” So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which was removed from before Yahweh, in order to set hot bread there on the day when it was taken away.

1 Samuel 21:4–6 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any bread that isn’t holy. I only have some holy bread here. But it’s for men who haven’t made love to women recently.”

David replied, “Well, we haven’t made love to women recently. That’s the way it is every time I lead my men out to battle. We keep ourselves holy even when we do jobs that aren’t holy. And that’s even more true today.”

So the priest gave him the holy bread. It was the only bread he had. It had been removed from the table that was in front of the Lord. On the same day, hot bread had been put in its place.


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