David and the Priests

21 David came to Ahimelek the priest at Nob. When he came to meet David, Ahimelek was trembling with fear, and he said to David, “Why are you alone? Why isn’t there anyone with you?”^[a]

² David said to Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about where I am sending you or about your orders.’ I have instructed the young men to wait for me at a certain place. ³ So what do you have on hand? Please give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is available.”

⁴ The priest answered David, “I do not have any ordinary bread, but there is holy^[b] bread—I can give it to you^[c] only if your young men have kept themselves away from women.”^[d]

⁵ David answered the priest, “Yes indeed, women have been kept away from us just as they have been on previous occasions. Whenever I go out on a mission, the bodies^[e] of the young men are kept holy even if it is only an ordinary journey. How much more then shall their bodies be holy today?”

⁶ So the priest gave him holy bread, because there was no bread there except for the Bread of the Presence which had been removed from the presence of the Lord and replaced with hot bread.

⁷ Now one of Saul’s servants was present that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite. He was in charge of Saul’s shepherds.

⁸ David said to Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or sword on hand here? I didn’t bring my sword or my gear with me, because the king’s mission was so urgent.”

⁹ The priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the place where the special vest is kept. If you would like to take that, take it, because there is nothing else here.”

David said, “There is no other like that one. Give it to me.”

David Among the Philistines

¹⁰ David quickly fled from Saul that day and went to Achish king of Gath. ¹¹ The officials of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Didn’t they dance and sing songs about him, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”

¹² David took those words to heart, so he was very afraid of Achish king of Gath. ¹³ He changed his behavior in their presence and pretended to be insane while he was in their hands. He scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spit run down his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, can’t you see that the man is insane? Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Don’t I have enough madmen? Did you have to bring this madman into my presence? Should I keep this man in my house?”

Further Stops on David’s Flight

22 So David departed from there and escaped to the cave at Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s entire household heard about it, they went down to join him there. ² Everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. There were about four hundred men with him.

³ David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you, until I find out what God will do for me.” ⁴ So he brought them to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time that David was in the stronghold.

⁵ The prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Leave and go to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the Forest of Hereth.

The Massacre of the Priests

⁶ Saul heard that David and the men with him had been located.

Saul was sitting under the tamarisk tree on an elevated location in Gibeah. He had his spear in his hand, and all his attendants were standing around him. ⁷ Saul said to his attendants who were standing around him, “Listen, you Benjaminites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all officers over thousands and officers over hundreds? ⁸ So why have all of you conspired against me? Why is there no one who informs me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse? Why is there not one of you who sympathizes with me or informs me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, so that he is waiting to ambush me, as he is today?”

⁹ Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing beside Saul’s attendants, replied, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub at Nob. ¹⁰ The priest inquired of the Lord for him and gave him supplies and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king summoned the priest, Ahimelek son of Ahitub, along with all of his father’s house, that is, all the priests who were in Nob, and all of them came to the king. ¹² Saul said, “Listen, you son of Ahitub.”

He answered, “I am listening, my lord.”

¹³ Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, by giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he can rise up against me and lie in ambush, as he is doing today?”

¹⁴ Then Ahimelek answered the king, “Who among all your servants is as faithful as David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the head of your elite troops,^[f] and is honored in your house. ¹⁵ Have I just begun to inquire of God for him today? Certainly not! The king should not charge anything against his servant or against all the house of my father, for your servant knows nothing at all about this matter, in whole or in part.”

¹⁶ The king said, “You shall certainly die, Ahimelek, you and all your father’s house.” ¹⁷ Then the king said to the bodyguards^[g] who were standing around him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand too is with David. They knew that he was fleeing, but they did not inform me.”

But the attendants of the king would not raise a hand against the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸ The king said to Doeg, “You turn and attack the priests!”

Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the special linen garment.^{[h] 19} He struck Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing babies, as well as cattle, donkeys, and sheep—all of them with the edge of the sword. ²⁰ But one of the sons of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, whose name was Abiathar, escaped and fled to David.

²¹ Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests.

²² David said to Abiathar, “On that day when Doeg the Edomite was present, I knew without a doubt that he would tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of all the members of your father’s house. ²³ Stay with me. Do not be afraid, for the one who seeks my life also seeks your life. You will be safe with me.”