Priests Killed 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 about it, they went down there to him. ² Then 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.

Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.

For the music director; set to ^[a]Al-tashheth. A ^[b]Mikhtam of David, ^[c]when he fled from Saul in the cave.

Prayer for Help in Trouble.

^[a]Maskil of David, when he was ^[b]in the cave. A Prayer.

⁸ From the Gadites valiant mighty men went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness, men trained for war who could handle a large shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and ^(A)they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains. ⁹ Ezer was the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third, ¹⁰ Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, ¹¹ Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh, ¹² Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, ¹³ Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbannai, the eleventh. ¹⁴ These men from the sons of Gad were ^[a]captains of the army; ^(B)the one who was least was equal to a hundred, and the greatest, to a thousand. ^15 (C)These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and they put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them, and said to them, “If you come peacefully to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no ^[b]wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide.” ¹⁸ Then ^(D)the Spirit ^[c]covered ^(E)Amasai like clothing, the chief of the thirty; and he said,

Then David received them and made them ^[d]captains of the troops.

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 ^[a]left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. ⁵ But ^(A)Gad the prophet said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; leave, and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went into the forest of Hereth.

⁶ Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now ^(B)Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing in front of him. ⁷ Saul said to his servants who were standing in front of him, “Hear now, you Benjaminites! Will the son of Jesse really give all of you fields and vineyards? ^(C)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 ^[b]informs me ^(D)when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you ^(E)who cares about me or ^[c]informs me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day.” ⁹ Then ^(F)Doeg the Edomite, who was ^[d]standing in front of the servants of Saul, responded and said, “^(G)I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to ^(H)Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. ¹⁰ And ^(I)he inquired of the Lord for him, ^(J)gave him provisions, and ^(K)gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent a messenger 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 ^[e]replied, “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 ^(L)by lying in ambush as it is this day?”

^14 (M)Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, the king’s own son-in-law, who ^[f]is commander over your bodyguard, and is honored in your house? ¹⁵ Did I just begin ^(N)to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! ^(O)Do not let the king impute anything against his servant or against any of the household of my father, because your servant knows nothing ^[g]at all of this whole affair.” ¹⁶ But the king said, “You shall certainly die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s household!” ¹⁷ And ^(P)the king said to the ^[h]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 ^[i]inform me.” But the ^(Q)servants of the king were unwilling to reach out with their hands to ^[j]attack the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ Then the king said to Doeg, “You, turn around and ^[k]attack the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned around and ^[l]attacked the priests, and ^(R)he killed on that day eighty-five men ^(S)who wore the linen ephod. ^19 (T)He also struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; he also struck oxen, donkeys, and sheep with the edge of the sword.

²⁰ But ^(U)one son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, ^(V)escaped and fled ^[m]to David. ²¹ Abiathar informed David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²² Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when ^(W)Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul. I myself ^[n]have turned against every person in your father’s household. ²³ Stay with me; do not be afraid, ^[o]even though ^(X)he who is seeking my life is seeking your life. For you are safe with me.”

Futility of Boastful Wickedness.

For the music director. A ^[a]Maskil of David, ^[b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

David Saves Keilah

23 Then they informed David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against ^(A)Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors.” ² So David ^(B)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ^[a]attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and ^[b]attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” ³ But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are fearful here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?” ⁴ So David inquired of the Lord once more. And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for ^(C)I am going to hand the Philistines over to you.” ⁵ Then David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines; and he drove away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^(D)fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. ⁷ When it was reported to Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has handed him over to me, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.” ⁸ So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. ⁹ But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to ^(E)Abiathar the priest, “^(F)Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. ¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, please, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” ¹² Then David said, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” And the Lord said, “^(G)They will hand you over.”