21 David went to visit Ahimelech the priest. He lived in the town of Nob. [ a ] Ahimelech shook with fear when he saw David. He asked David, ‘Why are you alone? Why is nobody with you?’ [ b ]
2 David answered, ‘The king has asked me to do something special. He said to me, “Do not tell anyone where I have sent you. Do not say what I have told you to do.” So I have sent my soldiers to wait for me at a certain place. 3 Do you have anything to eat here? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else that you have.’
4 The priest answered David, ‘I do not have any ordinary bread that I can give to you. There is only the special holy bread. You can take it for your men to eat only if they have not had sex with women.’
5 David replied, ‘We have not been near women since we left our homes. The young men always keep themselves clean, even on ordinary journeys. So for today's important journey, they will certainly be clean.’
6 So the priest gave the holy bread to David because he did not have any other bread. This was the bread which had been on the table in the Lord 's tent. The priest would take it from there each day and he would put hot, fresh bread in its place.
7 One of Saul's servants was there that day. His name was Doeg. He came from Edom. He was the leader of Saul's shepherds. He was staying in Nob to make offerings to the Lord .
8 David asked the priest, Ahimelech, ‘Is there any sword or spear here that I could take? The king sent me quickly to do an important job. So I left home without my sword or any other weapon.’
9 Ahimelech answered, ‘The sword of Goliath the Philistine is here. After you killed him in the valley of Elah, we kept the sword here. We covered it with a cloth and we put it behind the ephod. If you want it, you can take it. We do not have any other weapon except that one.’
David said, ‘Give it to me. There is no sword as good as that one.’
10 So on that day, David escaped from Saul. He went to Gath and he visited King Achish there. 11 The servants of King Achish said to him, ‘This man is David, the king of his country! The people sing this song about him when they dance:
“Saul has killed thousands of his enemies.
But David has killed tens of thousands of his enemies.” ’ [ c ]
12 David thought carefully about what King Achish's servants were saying. It caused him to be very afraid of Achish, king of Gath. 13 So when David was with them, he pretended to be crazy. He made marks with his fingers on the doors of the city's gate. He let water run out of his mouth and go down his beard.
14 King Achish said to his servants, ‘Look at this man! He is completely crazy! Why did you bring him to me? 15 I have enough fools around me already. I do not need to see this crazy man as well. Keep him away from my house.’
21 Then David left and Jonathan went back to the town. David went to the town named Nob [ a ] to see Ahimelech the priest.
Ahimelech went out to meet David. He was afraid of David and asked, “Why are you alone? Why isn’t anyone with you?”
2 David answered him, “The king gave me a special order. He told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know about this mission. No one must know what I told you to do.’ I told my men where to meet me. 3 Now, what food do you have with you? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you have to eat.”
4 The priest said to David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread here, but I do have some of the holy bread. Your officers can eat it if they have not had sexual relations with any women.” [ b ]
5 David answered the priest, “We have not been with any women. My men keep their bodies [ c ] holy every time we go out to fight, even on ordinary missions. [ d ] And this is especially true today.”
6 There was no bread except the holy bread, so the priest gave David this bread. This was the bread that the priests put on the holy table before the Lord . Each day they took this bread away and put fresh bread in its place.
7 One of Saul’s officers was there that day. He was Doeg the Edomite, the leader of Saul’s shepherds. [ e ] He had been kept there before the Lord . [ f ]
8 David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword here? The king’s business is very important. I had to leave quickly, and I didn’t bring my sword or any other weapon.”
9 The priest answered, “The only sword here is the sword of Goliath the Philistine. It is the sword you took from him when you killed him in the Valley of Elah. That sword is behind the ephod, wrapped in a cloth. You may take it if you want to.”
David said, “Goliath’s sword—there’s not another one like it. Give it to me.”
10 That day David ran away from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 Achish’s officers said, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land of Israel? He is the one the Israelites sing about. They dance and sing this song about him:
“Saul has killed thousands of enemies,
but David has killed tens of thousands.”
12 David paid close attention to what they said. He was afraid of King Achish of Gath, 13 so he pretended to be crazy in front of Achish and his officers. While David was with them, he acted like a crazy man. He spat on the doors of the gate. He let spit fall down his beard.
14 Achish said to his officers, “Look at the man! He is crazy. Why did you bring him to me? 15 I have enough crazy men. I don’t need you to bring this man to my house to act crazy in front of me. Don’t let this man come into my house again.”
21 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.
3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord ; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.
8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.
9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.
10 And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
21 Then David came to ( A ) Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech ( B ) came trembling to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ‘ ( C ) No one is to know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3 Now then, what [ a ] do you have on hand? Give [ b ] me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 4 The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread [ c ] on hand, but there is ( D ) consecrated bread, if only the young men have ( E ) kept themselves from women.” 5 David answered the priest and said to him, “ ( F ) Be assured, women have been denied to us as previously when I left and the [ d ] ( G ) bodies of the young men were consecrated, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then will [ e ] their bodies be consecrated today?” 6 So ( H ) the priest gave him consecrated bread ; for there was no bread there except the ( I ) bread of the Presence which was removed from its place before the Lord , in order to put hot bread in its place on the day it was taken away.
7 Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord ; and his name was ( J ) Doeg the Edomite, the ( K ) chief of Saul’s shepherds.
8 David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there no spear or sword [ f ] on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons [ g ] with me, because the king’s matter was urgent.” 9 Then the priest said, “ ( L ) The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you [ h ] killed ( M ) in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it . For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
10 Then David set out and fled that day from Saul, and went to ( N ) Achish king of Gath. 11 But the ( O ) servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? ( P ) Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying,
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
12 David ( Q ) took these words [ i ] to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. 13 So he ( R ) disguised his sanity while in their sight and acted insanely in their [ j ] custody, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is behaving like an insane person. Why do you bring him to me? 15 Do I lack insane people, that you have brought this one to behave like an insane person in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”
21 [ a ] David went to Nob, ( A ) to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled ( B ) when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
2 David 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. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”
4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread ( C ) on hand; however, there is some consecrated ( D ) bread here—provided the men have kept ( E ) themselves from women.”
5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual ( F ) whenever [ b ] I set out. The men’s bodies are holy ( G ) even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, ( H ) 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.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord ; he was Doeg ( I ) the Edomite, ( J ) Saul’s chief shepherd.
8 David 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.”
9 The priest replied, “The sword ( K ) of Goliath ( L ) the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, ( M ) 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.”
10 That day David fled from Saul and went ( N ) to Achish king of Gath. 11 But 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’?” ( O )
12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane ( P ) 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.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am 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?”
