²⁶ He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”

¹⁷ Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were the priests. Seraiah was the court secretary.

⁶ Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, acted as secretary and wrote down the names and assignments in the presence of the king, the officials, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the family leaders of the priests and Levites. The descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar took turns casting lots.

David Runs from Saul

21 ^[a]David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. “Why are you alone?” he asked. “Why is no one with you?”

⁵ “You must bake twelve flat loaves of bread from choice flour, using four quarts^[a] of flour for each loaf. ⁶ Place the bread before the Lord on the pure gold table, and arrange the loaves in two stacks, with six loaves in each stack. ⁷ Put some pure frankincense near each stack to serve as a representative offering, a special gift presented to the Lord. ⁸ Every Sabbath day this bread must be laid out before the Lord as a gift from the Israelites; it is an ongoing expression of the eternal covenant. ⁹ The loaves of bread will belong to Aaron and his descendants, who must eat them in a sacred place, for they are most holy. It is the permanent right of the priests to claim this portion of the special gifts presented to the Lord.”