^7 (A)Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And ^(B)Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed

²⁶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to ^(A)Anathoth, to your own fields, for ^[a]you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, ^(B)because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.”

^20 (A)Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, ^(B)escaped and fled after David. ²¹ And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests.

²⁶ how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, ^(A)which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

² Therefore David ^(A)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ^[a]attack these Philistines?”

And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

³ But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” ⁴ Then David inquired of the Lord once again.

And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” ⁵ And David and his men went to Keilah and ^(B)fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^(C)fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷ And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” ⁸ Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹ When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, ^(D)he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”