1 Samuel 21
21
David Goes to See Ahimelech
1David went to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech shook with fear when he saw David. He asked David, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
2David answered him, “The king gave me a special order. He told me, ‘No one must know about the work I am sending you to do. And no one must know what I told you to do.’ I told my men where to meet me. 3Now, what food do you have with you? Give me five loaves of bread or anything you find.”
4The priest said to David, “I don’t have any plain bread here. But I do have some holy bread# This was the bread that showed the people were in the presence of God. Normally only the priests should eat this bread. here. You may eat it if your men have kept themselves from women.”
5David answered, “Women have been kept from us. My men always keep their bodies holy, even when we do ordinary work. And this is especially true when the work is holy.”
6There was no bread except the bread made holy for the Lord. So the priest gave David the bread that showed the people were in the presence of God. This was the bread the priests had taken from the holy table before the Lord. Each day they took this bread away and put hot bread in its place.
7Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day. He had been held there before the Lord. He was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.
8David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword here? The king’s business was very important. I had to leave quickly, and I didn’t bring my sword or any other weapon.”
9The priest answered, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine is here. He is the one you killed in the Valley of Elah. His sword is wrapped in a cloth. It is behind the holy vest. If you want it, you may take it. There’s no other sword here but that one.”
David said, “There is no other sword like Goliath’s. Give it to me.”
David Goes to Gath
10That day David ran away from Saul. He went to Achish king of Gath. 11But the servants of Achish said to him, “This is David king of the Israelites. He’s the man the Israelite women sing about when they dance. They sing:
‘Saul has killed thousands of his enemies.
But David has killed tens of thousands.’”
12David paid attention to these words. And he was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13So he pretended to be insane in front of Achish and his servants. While he was with them, he acted like a madman. He made marks on the doors of the gate. He let spit run down his beard.
14Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He’s insane! Why do you bring him to me? 15I have enough madmen. I don’t need you to bring him here to act like this in front of me! Don’t leave him in my house!”
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1 Samuel 21: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Shemu’ĕl Aleph (1 Samuel) 21
21
1And Dawiḏ came to Noḇ, to Aḥimeleḵ the priest. And Aḥimeleḵ trembled when he met Dawiḏ, and asked him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”
2And Dawiḏ said to Aḥimeleḵ the priest, “The sovereign has commanded me a word, and said to me, ‘Let no one know whatever of the word about which I send you, and which I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place.
3“And now, what do you have on hand? Give five loaves into my hand, or whatever is found.”
4And the priest answered Dawiḏ and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is set-apart bread – provided the young men have kept themselves from women.”
5And Dawiḏ 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 set-apart, and it is an ordinary mission, and also, it was set-apart in the vessel today.”
6Then the priest gave him set-apart bread, for there was no bread there except the showbread which had been taken from before יהוה, in order to put hot bread in on the day it is taken away.
7Now one of the servants of Sha’ul was there that day, detained before יהוה. And his name was Do’ĕḡ, an Eḏomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Sha’ul.
8And Dawiḏ said to Aḥimeleḵ, “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 matter of the sovereign was urgent.”
9And the priest said, “The sword of Golyath the Philistine, whom you struck in the Valley of Ělah. See, it is wrapped in a garment behind the shoulder garment. If you would take it, take it. For there is none other except this one here.” And Dawiḏ said, “There is none like it, give it to me.”
10And Dawiḏ rose and fled that day from before Sha’ul, and went to Aḵish the sovereign of Gath.
11But the servants of Aḵish said to him, “Is this not Dawiḏ the sovereign of the land? Did they not sing of him to each other in dances, saying, ‘Sha’ul struck his thousands, and Dawiḏ his ten thousands’?”
12And Dawiḏ took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Aḵish the sovereign of Gath,
13and changed his behaviour before them, and feigned madness in their hands, and scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down on his beard.
14Then Aḵish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is acting like a madman. Why do you bring him to me?
15“Am I short of madmen, that you have brought this one to act as a madman near me? Should this one come into my house?”
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