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1 Samuel 21
New International Version
1 Samuel 21
New International Version
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:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”(O)
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?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:1 In Hebrew texts 21:1-15 is numbered 21:2-16.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Or from us in the past few days since
1 Samuel 21
King James Version
1 Samuel 21
King James Version
21 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.
3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.
4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.
5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.
6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in 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 Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.
8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.
9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.
10 And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
1 Samuel 21
New King James Version
1 Samuel 21
New King James Version
David and the Holy Bread
21 Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And (A)Ahimelech was (B)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 [a]common bread on hand; but there is (C)holy[b] bread, (D)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 [c]the (E)vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated (F)in the vessel this day.”
6 So the priest (G)gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread (H)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 (I)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 (J)the Valley of Elah, (K)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 (L)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:
(M)‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
12 Now David (N)took these words [d]to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So (O)he changed his behavior before them, pretended [e]madness in their hands, [f]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?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:4 ordinary
- 1 Samuel 21:4 consecrated
- 1 Samuel 21:5 The young men are ceremonially undefiled
- 1 Samuel 21:12 Lit. in his heart
- 1 Samuel 21:13 insanity
- 1 Samuel 21:13 scribbled
撒母耳记上 21
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
撒母耳记上 21
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
大卫在挪伯获亚希米勒帮助
21 大卫到了挪伯祭司亚希米勒那里，亚希米勒战战兢兢地迎接大卫，对他说：“你为甚么独自一人，没有人跟随你呢？”（本节在《马索拉文本》为21:2） 2 大卫对亚希米勒祭司说：“王吩咐我作一件事，对我说：‘我差派你，吩咐你去办的这事，你不要让任何人知道，我已经指示我的仆人在某地会面。’ 3 现在你手中有甚么？求你给我五个饼，或是别的食物。” 4 祭司回答大卫：“我手中没有普通的饼，只有圣饼。只有那些没有亲近过女人的年轻人，才可以吃的。” 5 大卫回答祭司说：“像以往我出征的时候一样，这次我们出征前，确实没有亲近女人。虽然这是一次普通的任务，众仆人的器皿还是清洁的，何况今天这些器皿更加是清洁的。” 6 于是祭司把圣饼给他，因为在那里没有别的饼，只有陈设饼，就是那些刚从耶和华面前拿下来，为要换上热的。
7 那天有一个扫罗的臣仆在那里，留在耶和华面前。他名叫多益，是以东人，是扫罗牧羊人中的领袖。
8 大卫问亚希米勒：“你手下有枪有刀没有？因为王的事很急迫，所以我手里连刀剑或其他武器都没有带来。” 9 祭司回答：“有一把刀，是你从前在以拉谷击杀的那非利士人歌利亚的刀。这刀用布包着，放在以弗得后面，你若是要拿去自用，就拿去吧，因为这里除了这刀以外，再没有别的武器了。”大卫说：“没有比这更好的刀了，请你给我吧！”
大卫在迦特装疯
10 那一天大卫起来，从扫罗面前逃走，到了迦特王亚吉那里。 11 亚吉的臣仆对亚吉说：“这不是那地的王大卫吗？那里的妇女不是指着他跳舞歌唱说：
‘扫罗杀死千千，
大卫杀死万万’吗？”
12 大卫把这些话记在心里，他非常怕迦特王亚吉， 13 就在众人面前假装神智不健全，在他们手下装疯，在城门的门扇上胡乱涂写，又让唾沫流到胡须上。 14 亚吉就对他的臣仆说：“你们看，这个人疯了，你们为甚么把他带到我这里来呢？ 15 难道我缺少疯子吗？你们竟把这人带来我面前发疯。这人怎可以进我的家呢？”
1 Samuel 21
English Standard Version
1 Samuel 21
English Standard Version
David and the Holy Bread
21 [a] Then David came to (A)Nob, to (B)Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech (C)came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is (D)holy bread—(E)if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him (F)the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, (G)which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.
7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was (H)Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen.
8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, (I)“The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in (J)the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”
David Flees to Gath
10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to (K)Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? (L)Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
12 And David (M)took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:1 Ch 21:2 in Hebrew
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Chinese New Version (Simplified) (CNVS)
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.