Beginning

21 ¶ Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech, the priest, and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no one with thee?

² And David said unto Ahimelech, the priest, The king has commanded me a business and has said unto me, Let no one know anything of this business about which I send thee and what I have commanded thee, and I have appointed my servants to a certain place.

³ Now, therefore, what is under thy hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand or what there is present.

⁴ And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand; there is only sacred bread, which I will give thee if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

⁵ And David answered the priest and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us since yesterday and the day before yesterday since I came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy although the way is profane; how much more that today it shall be sanctified with the vessels.

⁶ So the priest gave him the sacred bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread that had been taken from before the LORD to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

⁷ Now a certain man of the slaves of Saul was there that day, fulfilling a vow before the LORD, and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the principal of the pastors of Saul.

⁸ And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand a spear or a sword? For I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me because the king’s business required haste.

⁹ And the priest replied, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou didst overcome in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a veil behind the ephod; if thou wilt take that, take it, for there is none other except that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it to me.

¹⁰ ¶ And David arose and fled that day from the presence of Saul and went to Achish, the king of Gath.

¹¹ And the slaves of Achish said unto him, Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands?

¹² And David laid up these words in his heart and was sore afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.

¹³ And he changed his behaviour before them and feigned himself a fool in their hands and scrabbled on the doors of the gate and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

¹⁴ Then Achish said unto his slaves, Behold, ye see the man is mad; why then have ye brought him to me?

¹⁵ Have I need of mad men that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?

22 ¶ And David departed from there and escaped to the cave Adullam; {Heb. righteousness or justice of the people} and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.

² And every one that was in distress and every one that was in debt and all whose souls were bitter gathered themselves unto him, and he became the captain over them, and there were about four hundred men with him.

³ And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab, and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth and be with you until I know what God will make of me.

⁴ And he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the fortress.

⁵ And the prophet Gad said unto David, do not abide in this fortress; depart, and go into the land of Judah. Then David departed and came into the forest of Hareth.

⁶ ¶ When Saul heard how David had appeared and the men that were with him (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his slaves were standing about him),

⁷ then Saul said unto his slaves that stood about him, Hear now, ye sons of Jemini, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds

⁸ that all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one that shows me that my son has made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me or shows unto me that my son has stirred up my slave against me, to lie in wait against me, as at this day?

⁹ Then Doeg, the Edomite, who was set over the slaves of Saul, answered and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub.

¹⁰ And he enquired of the LORD for him and gave him provision and gave him the sword of Goliath, the Philistine.

¹¹ Then the king sent to call Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nob; and they all came to the king.

¹² And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord.

¹³ And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread and a sword and hast enquired of God for him that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

¹⁴ Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who is so faithful among all thy slaves as David, the king’s son-in-law, who goes at thy bidding and is honourable in thy house?

¹⁵ Did I begin to enquire of God for him today? Be it far from me; let not the king impute any thing unto his slave nor to all the house of my father, for thy slave knew nothing of all this, less or more.

¹⁶ And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou and all thy father’s house.

¹⁷ Then the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn and slay the priests of the LORD because their hand also is with David and because they knew when he fled and did not show it to me. But the slaves of the king would not put forth their hands to fall upon the priests of the LORD.

¹⁸ Then the king said to Doeg, Turn thou and fall upon the priests. And Doeg, the Edomite, turned and he fell upon the priests and slew on that day eighty-five men that wore a linen ephod.

¹⁹ And Nob, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings and oxen and asses and sheep with the edge of the sword.

²⁰ ¶ And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.

²¹ And Abiathar gave David the news that Saul had slain the LORD’s priests.

²² And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day when Doeg, the Edomite, was there that he would surely tell Saul. I have given cause before Saul against all the persons of thy father’s house.

²³ Abide thou with me; do not fear, for he that seeks my life seeks thy life; it is good that thou shalt be kept with me.

23 ¶ Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.

² Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go and smite the Philistines and save Keilah.

³ But David’s men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah, how much more than if we go to Keilah against the army of the Philistines?

⁴ Then David enquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.

⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ And it came to pass when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, fled to David to Keilah that the ephod came in his hand.

⁷ ¶ And it was told Saul how David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in by entering into a town that has gates and bars.

⁸ And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.

⁹ But David understood that Saul devised evil against him, and he said to Abiathar, the priest, Bring here the ephod.

¹⁰ Then David said, O LORD God of Israel, thy slave has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

¹¹ Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down as thy slave has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy slave. And the LORD said, He will come down.

¹² Then David said, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up.

¹³ So David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah and went from one place to another. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah, and he forbare to go forth.

¹⁴ ¶ And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

¹⁵ And David, seeing that Saul had come out to seek his soul, stayed in the woods in the wilderness of Ziph.

¹⁶ Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.

¹⁷ And he said unto him, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul, my father, shall not find thee, and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and even my father knows this.

¹⁸ And the two made a covenant before the LORD, and David abode in the woods, and Jonathan returned to his house.

¹⁹ ¶ Then those of Ziph came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the woods in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the right hand side of the wilderness?

²⁰ Now, therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.

²¹ And Saul said, Blessed are ye of the LORD, for ye have compassion on me.

²² Go, I pray you, prepare yet and know and see his place where he places his foot and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he deals with great prudence.

²³ See, therefore, and take knowledge of all the hiding places where he hides himself and come again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you; and it shall come to pass, if he is in the land that I will search him out with all the thousands of Judah.

²⁴ And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul, but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon in the plain on the right hand side of the wilderness.

²⁵ Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David, and he came down from there into a rock and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶ And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David made haste to get away from the presence of Saul, for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.

²⁷ But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Make haste and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land.

²⁸ Saul returned, therefore, from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. For this reason they called that place Selahammahlekoth. {Heb. the rock of divisions}

²⁹ And David went up from there and dwelt in strong holds at Engedi.

24 ¶ And it came to pass when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.

² Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

³ And he came to a flock of sheep by the way where there was a cave, and Saul went in to cover his feet, and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.

⁴ Then the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thy enemy into thy hand that thou may do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose and silently cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe.

⁵ And it came to pass afterward that David’s heart smote him because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.

⁶ And he said unto his men, The LORD keep me from doing this thing unto my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.

⁷ So David stayed his servants with these words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way.

⁸ David also arose afterward and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth and worshipped.

⁹ ¶ And David said to Saul, Why hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeks thy hurt?

¹⁰ Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee today into my hand in the cave, and some bade me kill thee, but I forgave thee, and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.

¹¹ Moreover, my father, see; see the skirt of thy robe is even in my hand, for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe and did not kill thee, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou doest hunt my life to take it.

¹² The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee, but my hand shall not be upon thee.

¹³ As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceeds from the wicked, but my hand shall not be upon thee.

¹⁴ After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog? After a flea?

¹⁵ The LORD, therefore, shall judge, and he shall judge between me and thee. Let him see and plead my cause, and defend me from thy hand.

¹⁶ ¶ And it came to pass, when David had finished speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

¹⁷ And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I, for thou hast repaid me with good, whereas I have repaid thee with evil.

¹⁸ And thou hast showed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me; forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thy hand, thou didst not kill me.

¹⁹ For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe and sound? The LORD reward thee with good for that which thou hast done unto me this day.

²⁰ And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel shall be firm and stable in thy hand.

²¹ Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house.

²² Then David swore unto Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up unto the fortress.