² David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king sent me on some business, and he said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about this task on which I am sending you or what I commanded you to do.’ I have sent my young men to such and such a place. ³ Now, therefore, what do you have at hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”

⁴ The priest answered David saying, “I do not have any regular bread at hand, but there is consecrated bread, if the young men have abstained from being with women.”