1 Samuel 21–22

David at Nob

21^aDavid went to Nob,^c to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled^d when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

²David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. ³Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

⁴But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread^e on hand; however, there is some consecrated^f bread here—provided the men have kept^g themselves from women.”

⁵David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual^h whenever^b I set out. The men’s bodies are holyⁱ even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” ⁶So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,^j 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.

⁷Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg^k the Edomite,^l Saul’s chief shepherd.

⁸David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.”

⁹The priest replied, “The sword^m of Goliathⁿ the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah,^o is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.”

David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

David at Gath

¹⁰That day David fled from Saul and went^p to Achish king of Gath. ¹¹But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:

“ ‘Saul has slain his thousands,

and David his tens of thousands’?”^q

¹²David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. ¹³So he pretended to be insane^r in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

¹⁴Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? ¹⁵Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

David at Adullam and Mizpah

22David left Gath and escaped to the cave^s of Adullam.^t When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. ²All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered^u around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.

³From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?” ⁴So he left them with the king of Moab,^v and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.

⁵But the prophet Gad^w said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.^x

Saul Kills the Priests of Nob

⁶Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated,^y spear in hand, under the tamarisk^z tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. ⁷He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders^a of thousands and commanders of hundreds? ⁸Is that why you have all conspired^b against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant^c with the son of Jesse.^d None of you is concerned^e about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.”

⁹But Doeg^f the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub^g at Nob.^{h 10}Ahimelek inquiredⁱ of the Lord for him; he also gave him provisions^j and the sword^k of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek son of Ahitub and all the men of his family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. ¹²Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.”

“Yes, my lord,” he answered.

¹³Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired^l against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”

¹⁴Ahimelek answered the king, “Who^m of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? ¹⁵Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”

¹⁶But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.ⁿ”

¹⁷Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.”

But the king’s officials were unwilling^o to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.”^p So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.^{q 19}He also put to the sword^r Nob,^s the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.

²⁰But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub,^t named Abiathar,^u escaped and fled to join David.^{v 21}He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²²Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg^w the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family. ²³Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you^x is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”