21David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech trembled with fear when he met him. He asked David, “Why are you alone? Why isn’t anyone with you?”

²David answered the priest Ahimelech, “The king gave me a special job to do. He said to me, ‘I don’t want anyone to know what I’m sending you to do. So don’t say anything about it.’ I’ve told my men to meet me at a certain place. ³Do you have anything for us to eat? Give me five loaves of bread, or anything else you can find.”

⁴But 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.”

⁵David 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.”

⁶So 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.

⁷One of Saul’s servants was there that day. He had been made to stay at the holy tent for a while. He was Doeg from Edom. He was Saul’s chief shepherd.

⁸David asked Ahimelech, “Don’t you have a spear or sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon. That’s because the king’s business had to be done right away.”

⁹The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath, the Philistine, is here. You killed him in the Valley of Elah. His sword is wrapped in a cloth. It’s behind the sacred linen apron. If you want it, take it. It’s the only sword here.”

David said, “There isn’t any sword like it. Give it to me.”

David Meets a Philistine King

¹⁰That day David ran away from Saul. He went to Achish, the king of Gath. ¹¹But the servants of Achish spoke to him. They said, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one the Israelites sing about when they dance? They sing,

“ ‘Saul has killed thousands of men.

David has killed tens of thousands.’ ”

¹²David paid close attention to what the servants were saying. He became very much afraid of what Achish, the king of Gath, might do. ¹³So he pretended to be out of his mind when he was with them. As long as he was in Gath, he acted like someone who was crazy. He made marks on the doors of the city gate. He let spit run down his beard.

¹⁴Achish said to his servants, “Just look at the man! He’s out of his mind! Why are you bringing him to me? ¹⁵Don’t I have enough crazy people around me already? So why do you have to bring this fellow here? Just look at how he’s carrying on in front of me! Why do you have to bring this man into my house?”

David Goes to Adullam and Mizpah

22David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. His brothers and the other members of his family heard about it. So they went down to join him there. ²Everyone who was in trouble or owed money or was unhappy gathered around him. He became their leader. About 400 men were with him.

³From there David went to Mizpah in Moab. He spoke to the king of Moab. He said, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you. Let them stay until I learn what God will do for me.” ⁴So David left his parents with the king of Moab. They stayed with him as long as David was in his usual place of safety.

⁵But the prophet Gad spoke to David. He said, “Don’t stay in your usual place of safety. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

Saul Kills the Priests of Nob

⁶Saul heard that the place where David and his men were hiding had been discovered. Saul was sitting under a tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah. He was holding his spear. All of his officials were standing around him.

⁷Saul said to them, “Men of Benjamin, listen to me! Do you think Jesse’s son will give all of you fields and vineyards? Do you think he’ll make some of you commanders of thousands of men? Do you think he’ll make the rest of you commanders of hundreds? ⁸Is that why all of you have joined together against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with Jesse’s son. None of you is concerned about me. No one tells me that my son has stirred up Jesse’s son to hide and wait to attack me. But that’s exactly what’s happening now.”

⁹Doeg was standing with Saul’s officials. He was from Edom. He said, “I saw Jesse’s son David come to Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech is the son of Ahitub. ¹⁰Ahimelech asked the Lord a question for David. He also gave him food and the sword of Goliath, the Philistine.”

¹¹Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. He sent for all of the men in his family. They were the priests at Nob. All of them came to the king.

¹²Saul said, “Son of Ahitub, listen to me.”

“Yes, master,” he answered.

¹³Saul said to him, “Why have you and Jesse’s son joined together against me? Why did you give him bread and a sword? Why did you ask God a question for him? Now he has turned against me. He is hiding and waiting to attack me right now.”

¹⁴Ahimelech answered the king, “David is true to you. In fact, he’s more true to you than anyone else who serves you. He’s your own son-in-law. He’s the captain of your own personal guards. He’s highly respected by everyone in your palace. ¹⁵Was that day the first time I asked God a question for him? Of course not!

“Please don’t bring charges against me. Please don’t bring charges against anyone in my family. I don’t know anything at all about this whole matter.”

¹⁶But the king said, “Ahimelech, you will certainly be put to death. You and your whole family will be put to death.”

¹⁷Then the king gave an order to the guards who were at his side. He said, “Go and kill the priests of the Lord. They are on David’s side too. They knew he was running away from me. And they didn’t even tell me.”

But the king’s officials wouldn’t raise a hand to strike down the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸Then the king ordered Doeg, “You go and strike the priests down.”

So Doeg, the Edomite, went and struck them down. That day he killed 85 men who wore linen aprons. ¹⁹He also killed the people of Nob with his sword. Nob was a town where priests lived. Doeg killed its men and women. He killed its children and babies. He also destroyed its cattle, donkeys and sheep.

²⁰But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escaped. Ahimelech was the son of Ahitub. Abiathar ran away and joined David. ²¹He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

²²Then David said to Abiathar, “One day I was at Nob. I saw Doeg, the Edomite, there. I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. Your whole family has been killed. And I’m accountable for it. ²³So stay with me. Don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you wants to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”

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