1 Samuel 17-22

New King James Version

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at ^(A)Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. ² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. ³ The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.

⁴ And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named ^(B)Goliath, from ^(C)Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. ⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was ^[a]armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶ And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. ⁷ Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. ⁸ Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the ^(D)servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and ^(E)serve us.” ¹⁰ And the Philistine said, “I ^(F)defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹² Now David was ^(G)the son of that ^(H)Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had ^(I)eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. ¹³ The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The ^(J)names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴ David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. ¹⁵ But David occasionally went and returned from Saul ^(K)to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.

¹⁷ Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. ¹⁸ And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and ^(L)see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.” ¹⁹ Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰ So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. ²¹ For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. ²² And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. ²³ Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke ^(M)according to the same words. So David heard them. ²⁴ And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. ²⁵ So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, ^(N)will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”

²⁶ Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away ^(O)the reproach from Israel? For who is this ^(P)uncircumcised Philistine, that he should ^(Q)defy the armies of ^(R)the living God?”

²⁷ And the people answered him in this manner, saying, ^(S)“So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸ Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s ^(T)anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

²⁹ And David said, “What have I done now? ^(U)Is^[b] there not a cause?” ³⁰ Then he turned from him toward another and ^(V)said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.

³¹ Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. ³² Then David said to Saul, ^(W)“Let no man’s heart fail because of him; ^(X)your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

³³ And Saul said to David, ^(Y)“You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a ^(Z)lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, ³⁵ I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ Moreover David said, ^(AA)“The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, ^(AB)“Go, and the Lord be with you!”

³⁸ So Saul clothed David with his ^[c]armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹ David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹ So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he ^(AC)disdained^[d] him; for he was only a youth, ^(AD)ruddy and good-looking. ⁴³ So the Philistine ^(AE)said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ And the Philistine ^(AF)said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. ^(AG)But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have ^(AH)defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give ^(AI)the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, ^(AJ)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord ^(AK)does not save with sword and spear; for ^(AL)the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ^(AM)ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a ^(AN)sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his ^(AO)sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, ^(AP)they fled. ⁵² Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of ^[e]the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to ^(AQ)Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. ⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to ^(AR)Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, ^(AS)whose son is this youth?”

And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”

⁵⁶ So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”

⁵⁷ Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul ^(AT)with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

So David answered, ^(AU)“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Saul Resents David

18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, ^(AV)the ^[f]soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, ^(AW)and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day, ^(AX)and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a ^(AY)covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

⁵ So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and ^[g]behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. ⁶ Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the ^[h]Philistine, that ^(AZ)the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷ So the women ^(BA)sang as they danced, and said:

⁸ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying ^(BC)displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but ^(BD)the kingdom?” ⁹ So Saul ^[i]eyed David from that day forward.

¹⁰ And it happened on the next day that ^(BE)the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, ^(BF)and he prophesied inside the house. So David ^(BG)played music with his hand, as at other times; ^(BH)but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ And Saul ^(BI)cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

¹² Now Saul was ^(BJ)afraid of David, because ^(BK)the Lord was with him, but had ^(BL)departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from ^[j]his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and ^(BM)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and ^(BN)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But ^(BO)all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

David Marries Michal

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; ^(BP)I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight ^(BQ)the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, ^(BR)“Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸ So David said to Saul, ^(BS)“Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹ But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to ^(BT)Adriel the ^(BU)Meholathite as a wife.

^20 (BV)Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹ So Saul said, “I will give her to him, that she may ^[k]be a snare to him, and that ^(BW)the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, ^(BX)“You shall be my son-in-law today.”

²² And Saul commanded his servants, “Communicate with David secretly, and say, ‘Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

²³ So Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him, saying, ^[l]“In this manner David spoke.”

²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any ^(BY)dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take ^(BZ)vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul ^(CA)thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now ^(CB)the days had not expired; ²⁷ therefore David arose and went, he and ^(CC)his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And ^(CD)David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.

²⁸ Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; ²⁹ and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David’s enemy ^[m]continually. ³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines ^(CE)went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David ^(CF)behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

Saul Persecutes David

19 Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill ^(CG)David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, ^(CH)delighted greatly in David. ² So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. ³ And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell ^(CI)you.”

⁴ Thus Jonathan ^(CJ)spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let not the king ^(CK)sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. ⁵ For he took his ^(CL)life in his hands and ^(CM)killed the Philistine, and ^(CN)the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. ^(CO)Why then will you ^(CP)sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

⁶ So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” ⁷ Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence ^(CQ)as in times past.

⁸ And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, ^(CR)and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him.

⁹ Now ^(CS)the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. ¹⁰ Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul’s presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night.

^11 (CT)Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹² So Michal ^(CU)let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. ¹³ And Michal took ^[n]an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴ So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵ Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” ¹⁶ And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair for his head. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?”

And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! ^(CV)Why should I kill you?’ ”

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped, and went to ^(CW)Samuel at ^(CX)Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. ¹⁹ Now it was told Saul, saying, “Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!” ²⁰ Then ^(CY)Saul sent messengers to take David. ^(CZ)And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also ^(DA)prophesied. ²¹ And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. ²² Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. So he asked, and said, “Where are Samuel and David?”

And someone said, “Indeed they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then ^(DB)the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ^24 (DC)And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down ^(DD)naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, ^(DE)“Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Jonathan’s Loyalty to David

20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”

² So Jonathan said to him, “By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!”

³ Then David took an oath again, and said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But ^(DF)truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.”

⁴ So Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for you.”

⁵ And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the ^(DG)New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may ^(DH)hide in the field until the third day at evening. ⁶ If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over ^(DI)to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ ^7 (DJ)If he says thus: ‘It is well,’ your servant will be safe. But if he is very angry, be sure that ^(DK)evil is determined by him. ⁸ Therefore you shall ^(DL)deal kindly with your servant, for ^(DM)you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. Nevertheless, ^(DN)if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”

⁹ But Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?”

¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me, or what if your father answers you roughly?”

¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. ¹² Then Jonathan said to David: “The Lord God of Israel is witness! When I have ^[o]sounded out my father sometime tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do not send to you and tell you, ¹³ may ^(DO)the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And ^(DP)the Lord be with you as He has ^(DQ)been with my father. ¹⁴ And you shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die; ¹⁵ but ^(DR)you shall not ^[p]cut off your kindness from my ^[q]house forever, no, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” ¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the ^[r]house of David, saying, ^(DS)“Let the Lord require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”

¹⁷ Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; ^(DT)for he loved him as he loved his own soul. ¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David, ^(DU)“Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹ And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to ^(DV)the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel. ²⁰ Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target; ²¹ and there I will send a lad, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to the lad, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them and come’—then, ^(DW)as the Lord lives, there is safety for you and no harm. ²² But if I say thus to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you’—go your way, for the Lord has sent you away. ²³ And as for ^(DX)the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the Lord be between you and me forever.”

²⁴ Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. ²⁵ Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And ^[s]Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. ²⁶ Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is ^(DY)unclean.” ²⁷ And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”

²⁸ So Jonathan ^(DZ)answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.”

³⁰ Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? ³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he ^[t]shall surely die.”

³² And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, ^(EA)“Why should he be killed? What has he done?” ³³ Then Saul ^(EB)cast a spear at him to ^[u]kill him, ^(EC)by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.

³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully.

³⁵ And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him. ³⁶ Then he said to his lad, “Now run, find the arrows which I shoot.” As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷ When the lad had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried out after the lad and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” ³⁸ And Jonathan cried out after the lad, “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” So Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows and came back to his master. ³⁹ But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. ⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his ^[v]weapons to his lad, and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”

⁴¹ As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. ⁴² Then Jonathan said to David, ^(ED)“Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’ ” So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

David and the Holy Bread

21 Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And ^(EE)Ahimelech was ^(EF)afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”

² So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. ³ Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.”

⁴ And the priest answered David and said, “There is no ^[w]common bread on hand; but there is ^(EG)holy^[x] bread, ^(EH)if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”

⁵ Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And ^[y]the ^(EI)vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated ^(EJ)in the vessel this day.”

⁶ So the priest ^(EK)gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread ^(EL)which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.

⁷ Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was ^(EM)Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.

⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”

⁹ So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in ^(EN)the Valley of Elah, ^(EO)there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.”

And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

David Flees to Gath

¹⁰ Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And ^(EP)the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:

¹² Now David ^(ER)took these words ^[z]to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ So ^(ES)he changed his behavior before them, pretended ^[aa]madness in their hands, ^[ab]scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

David’s Four Hundred Men^(ET)

22 David therefore departed from there and ^(EU)escaped ^(EV)to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. ^2 (EW)And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was ^[ac]discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about ^(EX)four hundred men with him.

³ Then David went from there to Mizpah of ^(EY)Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” ⁴ So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

⁵ Now the prophet ^(EZ)Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

Saul Murders the Priests

⁶ When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered—now Saul was staying in ^(FA)Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him— ⁷ then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse ^(FB)give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? ⁸ All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that ^(FC)my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day.”

⁹ Then answered ^(FD)Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to ^(FE)Ahimelech the son of ^(FF)Ahitub. ^10 (FG)And he inquired of the Lord for him, ^(FH)gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ So the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob. And they all came to the king. ¹² And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub!”

He answered, “Here I am, my lord.”

¹³ Then Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day?”

¹⁴ So Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as ^(FI)faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house? ¹⁵ Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king impute anything to his servant, or to any in the house of my father. For your servant knew nothing of all this, little or much.”

¹⁶ And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all ^(FJ)your father’s house!” ¹⁷ Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king ^(FK)would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and ^[ad]struck the priests, and ^(FL)killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. ^19 (FM)Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the edge of the sword.

^20 (FN)Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, ^(FO)escaped and fled after David. ²¹ And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. ²² So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s ^[ae]house. ²³ Stay with me; do not fear. ^(FP)For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.”