1 Samuel 21-24New King James Version (NKJV)
David and the Holy Bread
21 Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the
priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you
alone, and no one is with you?”
2 So David said to Ahimelech the
priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let
anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have
commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and
such a place. 3 Now therefore, what have you on
hand? Give mefive loaves of bread in my hand, or
whatever can be found.”
4 And the priest answered David and
said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread,
if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”
5 Then David answered the priest, and
said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three
days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the
bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the
vessel this day.”
6 So the priest gave him holy bread; for
there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before
the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the
day when it was taken away.
7 Now a certain man of the servants
of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And
his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen
who belonged to Saul.
8 And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there
not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my
weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”
9 So the priest said, “The sword of
Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is,
wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there
is no other except that one here.”
And David said, “There is none like it; give it
to me.”
David Flees to Gath
10 Then David arose and fled that day
from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And
the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of
the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:
12 Now David took these words to
heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So
he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands,
scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his
beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look,
you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 Have
I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play
the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my
house?”
David’s Four Hundred Men
22 David therefore departed from there and
escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house
heard it, they went down there to him.2 And
everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in
debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he
became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.
3 Then David went from there to
Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and
mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4 So
he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that
David was in the stronghold.
5 Now the prophet Gad said to David,
“Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” So David
departed and went into the forest of Hereth.
Saul Murders the Priests
6 When Saul heard that David and the
men who were with him had been discovered—now Saul was staying
in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all
his servants standing about him— 7 then Saul said
to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjamites! 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 All
of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who
reveals to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there
is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has
stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this
day.”
9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who
was set over the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse going to
Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10 And he
inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the
sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11 So the king sent to call Ahimelech
the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests
who were in Nob. And they all came to the king. 12 And
Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub!”
He answered, “Here I am, my lord.”
13 Then Saul said to him, “Why have
you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him
bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise
against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day?”
14 So Ahimelech answered the king and
said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as
David, who is the king’s son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable
in your house? 15 Did I then begin to inquire of
God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king impute anything to his
servant, or to any in the house of my father. For your servant
knew nothing of all this, little or much.”
16 And the king said, “You shall
surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!” 17 Then
the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of
the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and
because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of
the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of
the Lord. 18 And the king said to Doeg, “You
turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests,
and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. 19 Also
Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men
and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the
edge of the sword.
20 Now one of the sons of Ahimelech
the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21 And
Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. 22 So
David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there,
that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all
the persons of your father’s house. 23 Stay with
me; do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me
you shall be safe.”
David Saves the City of Keilah
23 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the
Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing
floors.”
2 Therefore David inquired of
the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?”
And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the
Philistines, and save Keilah.”
3 But David’s men said to him, “Look,
we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the
armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired
of the Lord once again.
And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go
down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And
David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them
with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the
inhabitants of Keilah.
6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the
son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went
down with an ephod in his hand.
7 And Saul was told that David had
gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has
shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Then
Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege
David and his men.
9 When David knew that Saul plotted
evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then
David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant 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 into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your
servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.”
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 you.”
13 So David and his men, about six
hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then
it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the
expedition.
David in Wilderness Strongholds
14 And David stayed in strongholds in
the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul
sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. 15 So
David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in
the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest.[b] 16 Then
Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his
hand in God.17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the
hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I
shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 18 So
the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the
woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.
19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul
at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in
the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 20 Now
therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come
down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s
hand.”
21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you
of the Lord, for you have compassion on me.22 Please
go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who
has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. 23 See
therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and
come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he
is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans[c] of Judah.”
24 So they arose and went to Ziph
before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of
Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25 When
Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore
he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul
heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then
Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side
of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his
men were encircling David and his men to take them.
27 But a messenger came to Saul,
saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 Therefore
Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they
called that place the Rock of Escape.[d] 29 Then
David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.
David Spares Saul
24 Now it happened, when Saul had returned from
following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note!
David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” 2 Then
Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and
his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 So he
came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave;
and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the
recesses of the cave.) 4 Then the men of David said
to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I
will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good
to you.’” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 Now
it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s
robe. 6 And he said to his men,
“The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master,
the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the
anointed of the Lord.” 7 So David restrained
his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise
against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.
8 David also arose afterward, went
out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when
Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed
down. 9 And David said to Saul: “Why do you listen
to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? 10 Look,
this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into
my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to
kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not
stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s
anointed.’ 11 Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see
the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your
robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither
evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt
my life to take it.12 Let the Lord judge
between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand
shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the
ancients says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be
against you.14 After whom has the king of Israel come
out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? 15 Therefore
let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and
plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”
16 So it was, when David had finished
speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your voice,
my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.17 Then
he said to David: “You are more righteous than I; for you have
rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. 18 And
you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when
the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. 19 For
if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may
the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this
day. 20 And now I know indeed that you shall surely
be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your
hand. 21 Therefore swear now to me by
the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that
you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”
22 So David swore to Saul. And Saul
went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
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