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1 Samuel 21
Living Bible
1 Samuel 21
Living Bible
21 David went to the city of Nob to see Ahimelech, the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him.
“Why are you alone?” he asked. “Why is no one with you?”
2 “The king has sent me on a private matter,” David lied. “He told me not to tell anybody why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me later. 3 Now, what is there to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you can.”
4 “We don’t have any regular bread,” the priest replied, “but there is the holy bread, which I guess you can have if only your young men have not slept with any women for a while.”
5 “Rest assured,” David replied. “I never let my men run wild when they are on an expedition, and since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more so on this one!”
6 So, 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.
7 (Incidentally, Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman, was there at that time for ceremonial purification.[a])
8 David asked Ahimelech if he had a spear or sword he could use. “The king’s business required such haste, and I left in such a rush that I came away without a weapon!” David explained.
9 “Well,” the priest replied, “I have the sword of Goliath, the Philistine—the fellow you killed in the valley of Elah. It is wrapped in a cloth in the clothes closet.[b] Take that if you want it, for there is nothing else here.”
“Just the thing!” David replied. “Give it to me!”
10 Then David hurried on, for he was fearful of Saul, and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 But Achish’s officers weren’t happy about his being there. “Isn’t he the top leader of Israel?” they asked.
“Isn’t he the one the people honor at their dances, singing, ‘Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands’?”
12 David heard these comments and was afraid of what King Achish might do to him, 13 so he pretended to be insane! He scratched on doors and let his spittle flow down his beard, 14-15 until finally King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? We already have enough of them around here! Should such a fellow as this be my guest?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:7 was there at that time for ceremonial purification, literally, “detained before the Lord.”
- 1 Samuel 21:9 in the clothes closet, literally, “behind the ephod.”
1 Samuel 21
New International Version
1 Samuel 21
New International Version
David at Nob
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.”
David at Gath
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?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:1 In Hebrew texts 21:1-15 is numbered 21:2-16.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Or from us in the past few days since
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The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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