1 Samuel 21
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!”
10 So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing,
‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
12 David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. 13 So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.
14 Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? 15 We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”
1 Samuel 21
Common English Bible
David helped at Nob
21 [a] David came to Nob where Ahimelech was priest. Ahimelech was shaking in fear when he met David. “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” he asked.
2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king has given me orders, but he instructed me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or about your orders.’ As for my troops, I told them to meet me at an undisclosed location. 3 Now what do you have here with you? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find.”
4 “I don’t have any regular bread on hand,” the priest answered David, “just holy bread—but only if your troops have abstained from sexual activity.”
5 “Definitely,” David answered the priest. “Whenever I go out to war, women are off-limits; that’s our standard operating procedure. Even on regular missions, the men’s gear is[b] kept holy. That’s even more true today, with the mission holy along with the gear.”[c] 6 So the priest gave David holy bread, because there was no other bread except the bread of the presence, which is removed from the Lord’s presence and replaced by warm bread as soon as it is taken away.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained in the Lord’s presence. His name was Doeg. He was an Edomite and Saul’s head shepherd.
8 David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword on hand? I didn’t bring my sword or gear with me because the king’s mission was urgent.”
9 The priest said, “The sword of Goliath, the Philistine you killed in the Elah Valley, is here wrapped in a cloth behind a priestly vest.[d] If you want it, take it, because there are no other swords here.”
David said, “No sword is as good as that one! Give it to me!”
David pretends to be crazy
10 So David got up and continued running from Saul. He went to Achish, Gath’s king. 11 Achish’s servants said to him, “Isn’t that David, king of the land? He’s the one people sing about in their dances,
‘Saul has killed his thousands,
but David has killed his tens of thousands!’”
12 David took these words very seriously and became very frightened of Achish, Gath’s king. 13 So he changed the way he acted with them, pretending to be insane while he was with them.[e] He scratched marks on the doors of the city gates[f] and let spit run down his chin.
14 “Can’t you see he’s crazy?” Achish asked his servants. “Why bring him to me? 15 Am I short on insane people that you’ve brought this person to go crazy right in front of me? Do you really think I’m going to let this man enter my house?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:1 21:2 in Heb
- 1 Samuel 21:5 MT; LXX all the men are
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Heb uncertain
- 1 Samuel 21:9 DSS (4QSamb); MT behind the priestly vest (Heb ephod)
- 1 Samuel 21:13 Or in their hand; Heb uncertain
- 1 Samuel 21:13 Or with correction he spit on the doors of the city gate or he fell down at the doors of the city gate (cf LXX).
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible