1 Samuel 21:1-9
New American Standard Bible
David Takes Consecrated Bread
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.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:3 Lit is there under your hand?
- 1 Samuel 21:3 Lit into my hand
- 1 Samuel 21:4 Lit under my hand
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Lit vessels
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Lit it be holy in the vessel
- 1 Samuel 21:8 Lit under your hand
- 1 Samuel 21:8 Lit in my hand
- 1 Samuel 21:9 Lit struck
1 Samuel 21:1-9
New Living Translation
David Runs from Saul
21 [a]David went to the town 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 said. “He told me not to tell anyone 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 have.”
4 “We don’t have any regular bread,” the priest replied. “But there is the holy bread, which you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently.”
5 “Don’t worry,” David replied. “I never allow my men to be with women when we are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!”
6 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 Now Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman, was there that day, having been detained before the Lord.[b]
8 David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword? The king’s business was so urgent that I didn’t even have time to grab a weapon!”
9 “I only have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah,” the priest replied. “It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. Take that if you want it, for there is nothing else here.”
“There is nothing like it!” David replied. “Give it to me!”
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
