1 Samuel 22
22
David at Adullam and Mizpah
1David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. His brothers and the other members of his family heard about it. So they went down to join him there. 2Everyone who was in trouble or owed money or was unhappy gathered around him. He became their commander. About 400 men were with him.
3From there David went to Mizpah in Moab. He spoke to the king of Moab. He said, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you. Let them stay until I learn what God will do for me.” 4So David left his parents with the king of Moab. They stayed with him as long as David was in his usual place of safety.
5But the prophet Gad spoke to David. He said, “Don’t stay in your usual place of safety. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
Saul Kills the Priests at Nob
6Saul heard that the place where David and his men were hiding had been discovered. Saul was sitting under a tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah. He was holding his spear. All his officials were standing at his side. 7Saul said to them, “Men of Benjamin, listen to me! Do you think Jesse’s son will give all of you fields and vineyards? Do you think he’ll make some of you commanders of thousands of men? Do you think he’ll make the rest of you commanders of hundreds? 8Is that why all of you have joined together against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with Jesse’s son. None of you is concerned about me. No one tells me that my son has stirred up Jesse’s son to hide and wait to attack me. But that’s exactly what’s happening now.”
9Doeg was standing with Saul’s officials. He was from Edom. He said, “I saw Jesse’s son David come to Ahimelek at Nob. Ahimelek is the son of Ahitub. 10Ahimelek asked the Lord a question for David. He also gave him food and the sword of Goliath, the Philistine.”
11Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek, the son of Ahitub. The king also sent for all the men in his family. They were the priests at Nob. All of them came to the king. 12Saul said, “Son of Ahitub, listen to me.”
“Yes, master,” he answered.
13Saul said to him, “Why have you and Jesse’s son joined together against me? Why did you give him bread and a sword? Why did you ask God a question for him? Now he has turned against me. He is hiding and waiting to attack me right now.”
14Ahimelek answered the king, “David is faithful to you. In fact, he’s more faithful to you than anyone else who serves you. He’s your own son-in-law. He’s the captain of your own personal guards. He’s highly respected by everyone in your palace. 15Was that day the first time I asked God a question for him? Of course not! Please don’t bring charges against me. Please don’t bring charges against anyone in my family. I don’t know anything at all about this whole matter.”
16But the king said, “Ahimelek, you will certainly be put to death. You and your whole family will be put to death.”
17Then the king gave an order to the guards at his side. He said, “Go and kill the priests of the Lord. They are on David’s side too. They knew he was running away from me. And they didn’t even tell me.”
But the king’s officials wouldn’t raise a hand to strike down the priests of the Lord.
18Then the king ordered Doeg, “You go and strike down the priests.” So Doeg, the Edomite, went and struck them down. That day he killed 85 priests who wore linen aprons. 19He also killed the people of Nob with his sword. Nob was a town where priests lived. Doeg killed its men and women. He killed its children and babies. He also destroyed its cattle, donkeys and sheep.
20But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelek, escaped. Ahimelek was the son of Ahitub. Abiathar ran away and joined David. 21He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22Then David said to Abiathar, “One day I was at Nob. I saw Doeg, the Edomite, there. I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. Your whole family has been killed. And I’m responsible for it. 23So stay with me. Don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you wants to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”
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1 Samuel 22: NIrV
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1 Samuel 22
22
1David escaped and went to the cave of Adullam. When they heard where he was his brothers and all the rest of his family went and joined him there. 2Everyone who was in trouble or in debt or resentful also came to him and he became their leader. He had around four hundred men with him.
3Then David went to Mizpeh in the country of Moab. He asked the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I find out what God is planning for me.” 4So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with the king all the time David lived in the stronghold.#22:4. “Stronghold”: probably referring to his camp at the cave of Adullam.
5But then the prophet Gad told David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go back to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
6Saul found out that David had returned and where he was. Saul was sitting under the tamarisk tree on the hill in Gibeah. He had his spear in his hand, with all his officials surrounding him.
7Saul said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Benjamin! Is the son of Jesse going to give all of you fields and vineyards and make you commanders and officers in the army? 8Is that why you've all plotted against me? Not a single one of you told me that my own son had made an agreement with Jesse's son. Not a single one of you has shown you cared about me, or explained to me that my son has encouraged him to try and kill me, which is what he's doing right now!”
9Doeg the Edomite, who was standing there with Saul's officers, spoke up, saying, “I saw the son of Jesse visit Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, at Nob. 10Ahimelech asked advice from the Lord for him and gave him food. He gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine as well.”
11The king sent a message to summon Ahimelech the priest, son of Ahitub, and all his family, who were priests at Nob. They all came to the king.
12“Now you listen, son of Ahitub,” the king shouted.
“What is it, my lord?” Ahimelech asked.
13“Why have you and the son of Jesse plotted against me? You gave him bread and a sword, and asked advice from God for him so that he could rebel against me and try and kill me, which is what he's doing right now!”
14“Who of all your officers is as trustworthy as David, the king's son-in-law? He is in charge of your bodyguard, and highly respected in your family!” Ahimelech responded. 15“And was that day the first time he asked advice from God on his behalf? Of course not! The king should not accuse me your servant or any of my family, for I didn't know anything about any of this.”
16“You're going to die for this!” the king declared. “You and all your family!”
17Then the king turned to his bodyguards standing there and ordered them, “Kill these priests of the Lord, because they're on David's side! They knew he was a fugitive and yet they didn't tell me!” But the king's guards refused to attack the priests of the Lord.
18So the king ordered Doeg, “You kill the priests!” Doeg the Edomite attacked and killed the priests, killing eighty-five men wearing the priestly ephod. 19Then he went to Nob, the town of the priests, and slaughtered its men and women, children and infants, cattle, donkeys, and sheep.
20But one of the sons of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, managed to escape. His name was Abiathar, and he ran away and joined David. 21He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22David told Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he was going to tell Saul about it. It's my fault that all your family have died. 23But you can stay with me and you don't need to be afraid, because the man who wants to kill you wants to kill me too. I'll take good care of you.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com