The Priests Slain at Nob

22 So David departed from there and ^(A)escaped to ^(B)the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. ² Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who ^[a]was in debt, and everyone who was ^[b]discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were ^(C)about four hundred men with him.

³ And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” ⁴ Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. ^5 (D)The prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

⁶ Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now ^(E)Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. ⁷ Saul said to his servants who stood around him, “Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? ^(F)Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? ⁸ For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who ^[c]discloses to me ^(G)when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you ^(H)who is sorry for me or ^[d]discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day.” ⁹ Then ^(I)Doeg the Edomite, who was ^[e]standing by the servants of Saul, said, “^(J)I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to ^(K)Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. ^10 (L)He inquired of the Lord for him, ^(M)gave him provisions, and ^(N)gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king. ¹² Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” And he ^[f]answered, “Here I am, my lord.” ¹³ Saul then said to him, “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he would rise up against me ^(O)by lying in ambush as it is this day?”

^14 (P)Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, even the king’s son-in-law, who ^[g]is captain over your guard, and is honored in your house? ¹⁵ Did I just begin ^(Q)to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! ^(R)Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing ^[h]at all of this whole affair.” ¹⁶ But the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s household!” ¹⁷ And ^(S)the king said to the ^[i]guards who were attending him, “Turn around and put the priests of the Lord to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not ^[j]reveal it to me.” But the ^(T)servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hands to ^[k]attack the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and ^[l]attack the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned around and ^[m]attacked the priests, and ^(U)he killed that day eighty-five men ^(V)who wore the linen ephod. ¹⁹ And ^(W)he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword.

²⁰ But ^(X)one son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, ^(Y)escaped and fled after David. ²¹ Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²² Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when ^(Z)Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household. ²³ Stay with me; do not be afraid, for ^(AA)he who seeks my life seeks your life, for you are ^[n]safe with me.”

Tsadhe.

Paul’s Stewardship

3 For this reason I, Paul, ^(A)the prisoner of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)for the sake of you ^(D)Gentiles— ² if indeed you have heard of the ^(E)stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; ^3 (F)that ^(G)by revelation there was ^(H)made known to me ^(I)the mystery, ^(J)as I wrote before in brief. ^4 [a]By referring to this, when you read you can understand ^(K)my insight ^[b]into the ^(L)mystery of Christ, ⁵ which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy ^(M)apostles and prophets ^[c]in the Spirit; ⁶ to be specific, that the Gentiles are ^(N)fellow heirs and ^(O)fellow members of the body, and ^(P)fellow partakers of the promise in ^(Q)Christ Jesus through the gospel, ^7 (R)of which I was made a ^(S)minister, according to the gift of ^(T)God’s grace which was given to me ^(U)according to the working of His power. ⁸ To me, ^(V)the very least of all ^[d]saints, this grace was given, to ^(W)preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable ^(X)riches of Christ, ⁹ and to ^[e]bring to light what is the administration of the ^(Y)mystery which for ages has been ^(Z)hidden in God ^(AA)who created all things; ¹⁰ so that the manifold ^(AB)wisdom of God might now be ^(AC)made known through the church to the ^(AD)rulers and the authorities in ^(AE)the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was in ^(AF)accordance with the ^[f]eternal purpose which He ^[g]carried out in ^(AG)Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and ^[h](AH)confident ^(AI)access through faith ^[i]in Him. ¹³ Therefore I ask ^[j]you not ^(AJ)to lose heart at my tribulations ^(AK)on your behalf, ^[k]for they are your glory.

¹⁴ For this reason I ^(AL)bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom ^[l]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to ^(AM)the riches of His glory, to be ^(AN)strengthened with power through His Spirit in ^(AO)the inner man, ¹⁷ so that ^(AP)Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being ^(AQ)rooted and ^(AR)grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with ^(AS)all the ^[m]saints what is ^(AT)the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know ^(AU)the love of Christ which ^(AV)surpasses knowledge, that you may be ^(AW)filled up to all the ^(AX)fullness of God.

^20 (AY)Now to Him who is ^(AZ)able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, ^(BA)according to the power that works within us, ^21 (BB)to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ^[n]forever and ever. Amen.