Beginning
David goes to the town of Nob
21 David went to visit Ahimelech the priest. He lived in the town of Nob.[a] Ahimelech shook with fear when he saw David. He asked David, ‘Why are you alone? Why is nobody with you?’[b]
2 David answered, ‘The king has asked me to do something special. He said to me, “Do not tell anyone where I have sent you. Do not say what I have told you to do.” So I have sent my soldiers to wait for me at a certain place. 3 Do you have anything to eat here? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else that you have.’
4 The priest answered David, ‘I do not have any ordinary bread that I can give to you. There is only the special holy bread. You can take it for your men to eat only if they have not had sex with women.’
5 David replied, ‘We have not been near women since we left our homes. The young men always keep themselves clean, even on ordinary journeys. So for today's important journey, they will certainly be clean.’
6 So the priest gave the holy bread to David because he did not have any other bread. This was the bread which had been on the table in the Lord's tent. The priest would take it from there each day and he would put hot, fresh bread in its place.
7 One of Saul's servants was there that day. His name was Doeg. He came from Edom. He was the leader of Saul's shepherds. He was staying in Nob to make offerings to the Lord.
8 David asked the priest, Ahimelech, ‘Is there any sword or spear here that I could take? The king sent me quickly to do an important job. So I left home without my sword or any other weapon.’
9 Ahimelech answered, ‘The sword of Goliath the Philistine is here. After you killed him in the valley of Elah, we kept the sword here. We covered it with a cloth and we put it behind the ephod. If you want it, you can take it. We do not have any other weapon except that one.’
David said, ‘Give it to me. There is no sword as good as that one.’
David goes to Gath
10 So on that day, David escaped from Saul. He went to Gath and he visited King Achish there. 11 The servants of King Achish said to him, ‘This man is David, the king of his country! The people sing this song about him when they dance:
“Saul has killed thousands of his enemies.
But David has killed tens of thousands of his enemies.” ’[c]
12 David thought carefully about what King Achish's servants were saying. It caused him to be very afraid of Achish, king of Gath. 13 So when David was with them, he pretended to be crazy. He made marks with his fingers on the doors of the city's gate. He let water run out of his mouth and go down his beard.
14 King Achish said to his servants, ‘Look at this man! He is completely crazy! Why did you bring him to me? 15 I have enough fools around me already. I do not need to see this crazy man as well. Keep him away from my house.’
David at Adullam and Mizpah
22 Then David left Gath and he went to a cave near Adullam.[d] His brothers and his father's family discovered where he had gone. So they all went to visit him. 2 Everybody who had trouble went to stay with David. People who had debts and those who were angry also went to him. About 400 men went to be with David and he became their leader.
3 David then went to Mizpah, a town in the land of Moab. David said to the king of Moab, ‘Please let my father and my mother stay with you for a short time. I need to learn what God will do to help me.’ 4 So David left his parents to stay with the king of Moab. They stayed with the king all the time that David was hiding near there.
5 The prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay and hide here. Go to the land of Judah.’ So David left his safe place and he went to Hereth forest.
Saul kills Ahimelech's family at Nob
6 One day, Saul was on the hill near Gibeah. He was sitting under a tamarisk tree. He was holding a spear. All his officers stood round him. Then someone told Saul that they knew where David and his men were hiding. 7 Saul said to his officers, ‘Listen to me, you men of Benjamin's tribe. Do you really think that this son of Jesse will give fields and vineyards to all of you? Will he make you all officers and leaders in his army? No! 8 So why are you trying to deceive me? None of you told me when my own son promised to be a friend of this son of Jesse. You do not feel sorry for me. Now my son is helping one of my own servants to attack me! Yes, he is waiting for his chance to kill me!’
9 Doeg, the man from Edom, was standing there with Saul's officers. He said, ‘I saw that son of Jesse when he came to Nob town. He visited Ahitub's son, Ahimelech. 10 Ahimelech asked the Lord what David should do. Then he gave some food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine to David.’
11 Then King Saul told his men to fetch Ahitub's son, Ahimelech, the priest. They also brought all his father's family who were priests at Nob. They all came to the king.
12 Saul said to Ahimelech, ‘Listen to me, son of Ahitub.’ Ahimelech answered, ‘I am listening, my king.’
13 Saul said to him, ‘You and this son of Jesse have been trying to kill me! You gave him bread and a sword. You prayed to God on his behalf. Now, at this moment, he is waiting for his chance to kill me!’
14 Ahimelech answered the king, ‘David is the most faithful servant that you have. He is your daughter's husband. He is the captain of the soldiers who keep you safe. Everyone in your house respects him. 15 I have often prayed to God on David's behalf. This was not the first time. King Saul, do not say that my family or I have done anything wrong. I do not know anything about what is happening.’
16 But King Saul said, ‘Ahimelech, you must die, together with all your family.’
17 Then the king said to the guards who were near him, ‘Now kill the Lord's priests! They have been helping David. They knew that he was running away from me. But they did not tell me.’ But the king's officers refused to hurt the Lord's priests.
18 So the king said to Doeg, ‘You must kill the priests.’ So Doeg, the man from Edom, killed the priests that same day. He killed 85 priests who wore linen ephods. 19 He also killed all the people in Nob, which was the town where the priests lived. He killed the men and women, children and babies. He also killed the cows, donkeys and sheep.
20 But one man called Abiathar escaped. He was one of Ahimelech's sons. Abiathar ran away to see David. 21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord's priests. 22 David said to him, ‘When I went to see your father at Nob, Doeg was there too. I knew that he would tell Saul about me. So I have caused the death of everybody in your father's family. 23 Please stay here with me. Do not be afraid. Saul wants to kill you and he wants to kill me too. You will be safe with me.’
David saves Keilah town
23 The Philistines were attacking the town of Keilah.[e] They were taking away the grain that the people had brought from their fields. Someone told David about this. 2 So David asked the Lord, ‘Should I go and attack those Philistines?’
The Lord answered him, ‘Go and attack the Philistines. Save Keilah town.’
3 But David's men said to him, ‘We are afraid when we are here in Judah. If we go to attack the Philistine army at Keilah, we will be in even more danger.’ 4 So David asked the Lord again. The Lord answered again, ‘Go to Keilah. I will put the Philistines under your power.’
5 So David and his men went to Keilah. They fought against the Philistines and they killed many of them. Also, they took away their animals. In that way, David saved the people who lived in Keilah.
6 When Ahimelech's son Abiathar had run away, he had come to David at Keilah. And he had brought the priests' ephod with him.
David escapes from Saul again
7 Someone told Saul that David was now at Keilah. Saul said, ‘God has now put David under my power. David has gone into a town that has high walls and strong gates. He will not be able to leave that place.’[f] 8 So Saul called his army to join him. They prepared to go to Keilah and to attack David and his men.
9 Somebody told David that Saul was preparing to attack him. David said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Bring the ephod here.’ 10 David prayed, ‘Lord, Israel's God. I am your servant. I have heard news that Saul is preparing to attack Keilah. He wants to destroy this town because I am here. 11 Will the leaders in Keilah give me to Saul? Will Saul really come here, as I have heard that he will? Lord, Israel's God, please tell me what will happen.’ The Lord said, ‘Saul will come.’
12 David asked the Lord again, ‘Will the leaders in Keilah give me and my men to Saul?’ The Lord said, ‘They will do that.’[g]
13 So David and his 600 men left Keilah. They moved around to stay in different places. People told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah. So Saul decided that he would not go there.
14 David stayed in places where he would be safe. They were in the desert, and in the hill country of Ziph.[h] Saul always tried to find David. But God did not let Saul catch David.
15 David was at Horesh in the Ziph Desert. He heard news that Saul was coming there to kill him. 16 Saul's son, Jonathan, went to visit David at Horesh. He told David to be brave, because God would keep him safe. 17 Jonathan said to David, ‘Do not be afraid. My father will never be able to hurt you. You will be the next king to rule over Israel. I will be your most important officer. My father Saul also knows that is true.’
18 Jonathan and David promised again in the Lord's name that they would be faithful friends of one another. Then Jonathan went to his home. David stayed at Horesh.
19 Some people from Ziph went to visit Saul at Gibeah. They said to Saul, ‘David is hiding among our people. He is on Hakilah hill, south of Jeshimon. He is hiding in the Horesh hills. 20 Now, King Saul, we know that you want to catch David. So you can come to our land at any time. We will help you to catch him.’
21 Saul replied, ‘I ask the Lord to bless you, because you have been kind to me. 22 Do a bit more to help me now. Make sure that you know where he is. Find the people who have seen him there. I have heard that David is very clever. 23 Find all the places where he hides. When you know all about him, come back and tell me. Then I will come with you. If he is still in that region, I will surely find him. I will look through all the land of Judah and I will catch him.’
24 So the people returned to Ziph before Saul himself went there. David and his men were in the Maon Desert. This was south of Jeshimon, in the Jordan Valley. 25 Saul and his men started to look for David. But David heard about this. So he and his men went to hide at a great rock in the Maon Desert. When Saul heard about this, he and his men went into the Maon Desert to find David.
26 Saul and his men were going along one side of the mountain. David and his men were on the other side of the mountain. They were moving quickly to escape from Saul. Saul and his men were getting very near to David and his men. They would soon catch them.
27 But then a man arrived with a message for Saul. He said to Saul, ‘Come quickly. The Philistines are attacking our land!’ 28 So Saul stopped chasing after David. Instead, he went to fight against the Philistines. So people call that place ‘The rock where they escaped’.
29 David left that place. He went to hide in the safe places at En Gedi.
David refuses to kill Saul
24 When Saul had finished fighting against the Philistines, he returned to his home. Someone told him that David was in the desert at En Gedi. 2 So Saul chose 3,000 of the best soldiers in Israel. They went to look for David and his men near Wild Goat Rocks.
3 Saul came to the place near the road where the shepherds keep their sheep. There was a cave near to this place. Saul went in there to use it as a toilet.
David and his men were hiding at the back of the same cave. 4 David's men said to him, ‘This is the day that the Lord told you about! The Lord said to you, “I will give your enemy to you. Then you can decide what is the right thing to do to him.” ’ So David stood up very quietly. He went and he cut off a small piece of cloth from Saul's coat. Saul did not know what had happened.
5 After that, David thought that he had done something wrong. He felt sorry that he had cut a piece of cloth from Saul's coat. 6 David said to his men, ‘I ask the Lord to stop me doing anything wrong to my master. The Lord has chosen him to be Israel's king. I must never do anything to hurt him. He is the king that the Lord has chosen.’ 7 David spoke like this to stop his men from attacking Saul.
Then Saul left the cave and he started to travel along the road.
8 After that, David went out of the cave. He shouted to Saul, ‘My master and my king!’ Saul looked behind him. David went down on his knees with his face on the ground to respect the king. 9 David said to Saul, ‘You should not listen to the people who say, “David wants to hurt you.” 10 You can see that the Lord has kept you safe today when I had a chance to hurt you in the cave. Some of my men wanted me to kill you, but I did not agree. I said, “I will not hurt my master, because the Lord has chosen him to be king.” 11 My father, look at what I have in my hand! It is a small piece of your coat. I cut this off the corner of your coat, but I did not kill you. So you must know that I do not want to do anything bad against you. I have not turned against you. I am not guilty of anything, but you are chasing after me so that you can kill me. 12 The Lord is the judge who will decide which of us is guilty. I pray that he will punish you for what you are doing to me. But I myself will never do anything to hurt you. 13 You know the proverb, “Evil people do evil things.” But I will never try to hurt you. 14 You are Israel's king. So why are you chasing after someone like me? I am less important than a dead dog or a little fly! 15 The Lord will be the judge to decide who is right. I pray that he will see that I am not guilty. I pray that he will save me from your power.’
16 When David stopped speaking, Saul said, ‘Is that really you, David my son?’ Then Saul started to weep loudly. 17 He said to David, ‘You are a better man than I am. You have been kind to me even when I have tried to hurt you. 18 You have shown me today how kind you have been to me. The Lord gave you a chance to hurt me, but you did not kill me. 19 If someone catches his enemy, he does not let him escape. But you have not tried to hurt me today. So I ask that the Lord will bless you in return. 20 I know that you will be the king of Israel one day. The kingdom will be strong when you rule. 21 So promise me in the Lord's name that you will not kill any of my descendants. Please make sure that people do not forget my family's name.’
22 So David made a strong promise to Saul. Then Saul returned to his home. But David and his men went back to the place where they had been hiding.
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