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^(A) to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸ The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.”^(A) So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.^(B)