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:

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?”

David at Adullam and Mizpah

22 David left Gath and escaped to the cave^(Q) of Adullam.^(R) When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. ² All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered^(S) around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.

³ From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?” ⁴ So he left them with the king of Moab,^(T) and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.

⁵ But the prophet Gad^(U) said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.^(V)

Saul Kills the Priests of Nob

⁶ Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated,^(W) spear in hand, under the tamarisk^(X) tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. ⁷ He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders^(Y) of thousands and commanders of hundreds? ⁸ Is that why you have all conspired^(Z) against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant^(AA) with the son of Jesse.^(AB) None of you is concerned^(AC) about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.”

⁹ But Doeg^(AD) the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub^(AE) at Nob.^{(AF) 10} Ahimelek inquired^(AG) of the Lord for him; he also gave him provisions^(AH) and the sword^(AI) of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek son of Ahitub and all the men of his family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. ¹² Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.”

“Yes, my lord,” he answered.

¹³ Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired^(AJ) against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”

¹⁴ Ahimelek answered the king, “Who^(AK) of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? ¹⁵ Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”

¹⁶ But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.^(AL)”

¹⁷ Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.”

But the king’s officials were unwilling^(AM) to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸ The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.”^(AN) So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.^{(AO) 19} He also put to the sword^(AP) Nob,^(AQ) the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.

²⁰ But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub,^(AR) named Abiathar,^(AS) escaped and fled to join David.^{(AT) 21} He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²² Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg^(AU) the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family. ²³ Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you^(AV) is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”

Psalm 31^[a](A)

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Psalm 34^[a][b]

Of David. When he pretended to be insane^(A) before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.

Peter Explains His Actions

11 The apostles and the believers^(A) throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.^{(B) 2} So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers^(C) criticized him ³ and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”^(D)

⁴ Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision.^(E) I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. ⁶ I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. ⁷ Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸ “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹ “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’^{(F) 10} This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹ “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea^(G) stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹² The Spirit told^(H) me to have no hesitation about going with them.^(I) These six brothers^(J) also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel^(K) appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴ He will bring you a message^(L) through which you and all your household^(M) will be saved.’

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on^(N) them as he had come on us at the beginning.^{(O) 16} Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with^[a] water,^(P) but you will be baptized with^[b] the Holy Spirit.’^{(Q) 17} So if God gave them the same gift^(R) he gave us^(S) who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”^(T)

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹ Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed^(U) traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,^(V) spreading the word only among Jews. ²⁰ Some of them, however, men from Cyprus^(W) and Cyrene,^(X) went to Antioch^(Y) and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news^(Z) about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The Lord’s hand was with them,^(AA) and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.^(AB)

²² News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas^(AC) to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done,^(AD) he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.^{(AE) 24} He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit^(AF) and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.^(AG)

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus^(AH) to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples^(AI) were called Christians first^(AJ) at Antioch.

²⁷ During this time some prophets^(AK) came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named Agabus,^(AL) stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world.^(AM) (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)^{(AN) 29} The disciples,^(AO) as each one was able, decided to provide help^(AP) for the brothers and sisters^(AQ) living in Judea. ³⁰ This they did, sending their gift to the elders^(AR) by Barnabas^(AS) and Saul.^(AT)