1 Kings 21
21
1And David came to Nobe to Achimelech the priest: and Achimelech was astonished at David's coming. And he said to him: Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
2And David said to Achimelech the priest: The king hath commanded me a business, and said: Let no man know the thing for which thou art sent by me, and what manner of commands I have given thee. And I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.
3Now therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though it were but five loaves, give me, or whatsoever thou canst find.
4And the priest answered David, saying: I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women?
5And David answered the priest, and said to him: Truly, as to what concerneth women, we have refrained ourselves from yesterday and the day before, when we came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy. Now this way is defiled: but it shall also be sanctified this day in the vessels.
6The priest therefore gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there, but only the loaves of proposition, which had been taken away from before the face of the Lord, that hot loaves might be set up.
7Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within the tabernacle of the Lord: and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of Saul's herdsmen.
8And David said to Achimelech: Hast thou here at hand a spear, or a sword? for I brought not my own sword, nor my own weapons with me, for the king's business required haste.
9And the priest said: Lo, here is the sword of Goliath the Philistine whom thou slewest in the valley of Terebinth, wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod. If thou wilt take this, take it: for here is no other but this. And David said: There is none like that. Give it me.
10And David arose and fled that day from the face of Saul: and came to Achis the king of Geth:
11And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said to him: Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
12But David laid up these words in his heart, and was exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis the king of Geth.
13And he changed his countenance before them, and slipt down between their hands. And he stumbled against the doors of the gate; and his spittle ran down upon his beard.
14And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad. Why have you brought him to me?
15Have we need of madmen, that you have brought in this fellow, to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?
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1 Kings 21: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
1 Samuel 21
21
David Runs from Saul
1 # 21:1 Verses 21:1-15 are numbered 21:2-16 in Hebrew text. David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. “Why are you alone?” he asked. “Why is no one with you?”
2“The king has sent me on a private matter,” David said. “He told me not to tell anyone why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me later. 3Now, what is there to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have.”
4“We don’t have any regular bread,” the priest replied. “But there is the holy bread, which you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently.”
5“Don’t worry,” David replied. “I never allow my men to be with women when we are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!”
6Since there was no other food available, the priest gave him the holy bread—the Bread of the Presence that was placed before the Lord in the Tabernacle. It had just been replaced that day with fresh bread.
7Now Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman, was there that day, having been detained before the Lord.#21:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
8David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword? The king’s business was so urgent that I didn’t even have time to grab a weapon!”
9“I only have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah,” the priest replied. “It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. Take that if you want it, for there is nothing else here.”
“There is nothing like it!” David replied. “Give it to me!”
10So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. 11But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing,
‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
12David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. 13So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.
14Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? 15We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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