1 Samuel 22
22
David at the Cave of Adullam
1David departed from there and escaped to #See Ps. 57; 142 the cave of #2 Sam. 23:13; 1 Chr. 11:15Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2#[Judg. 9:4; 11:3] And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul,#22:2 Or discontented gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him #[ch. 23:13; 25:13]about four hundred men.
3And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay#22:3 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew go out with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5Then the prophet #2 Sam. 24:11, 18, 19; 1 Chr. 21:9, 11, 13, 18, 19; 29:29; 2 Chr. 29:25Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.
Saul Kills the Priests at Nob
6Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under #[ch. 31:13; Gen. 21:33]the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. 7And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse #[ch. 8:14]give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 8that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me #ch. 18:3 when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you #[ch. 23:21] is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, #ver. 13to lie in wait, as at this day.” 9Then answered #ch. 21:7; See Ps. 52 Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse #ch. 21:1 coming to Nob, to #[ch. 14:3]Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, 10#ch. 23:2, 4; 30:8; 2 Sam. 5:19, 23; [Num. 27:21] and he inquired of the Lord for him and #ch. 21:6, 9gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. 12And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 13And 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 #[See ver. 10 above] have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, #ver. 8to lie in wait, as at this day?” 14Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over#22:14 Septuagint, Targum; Hebrew and has turned aside to your bodyguard, and honored in your house? 15Is today the first time #[See ver. 10 above] that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, #ch. 25:36much or little.” 16And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” 17And the king said to #[2 Kgs. 10:25; 11:4, 6; 2 Chr. 12:10]the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord. 18Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, #[ch. 2:31]and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; #[ch. 15:3]both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.
20But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named #ch. 23:6, 9Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, #ch. 21:7when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. 23#[1 Kgs. 2:26]Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 22
22
People join David
1When David escaped from the town of Gath, he went to Adullam Cave. His brothers and the rest of his family found out where he was, and they followed him there.#Ps 57 Title; Ps 142 Title. 2A lot of other people joined him too. Some were in trouble, others were angry or in debt, and David was soon the leader of four hundred men.
3David left Adullam Cave and went to the town of Mizpeh in Moab, where he talked with the king of Moab. “Please,” David said, “let my father and mother stay with you until I find out what God will do with me.” 4So he brought his parents to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him while David was in hiding.
5One day the prophet Gad told David, “Don't stay here! Go back to Judah.” David then left and went to Hereth Forest.
Saul kills the priests of the Lord
6Saul was sitting under a small tree on top of the hill at Gibeah when he heard that David and his men had been seen. Saul was holding his spear, and his officers were standing in front of him. 7He told them:
Listen to me! You belong to the Benjamin tribe,#22.7 You…Benjamin tribe: David was from the Judah tribe and would have given special privileges to the people of his own tribe rather than to those of Benjamin. so if that son of Jesse ever becomes king, he won't give you fields or vineyards. He won't make you officers in charge of thousands or hundreds as I have done. 8But you're all plotting against me! Not one of you told me that my own son Jonathan had made an agreement with him. Not one of you cared enough to tell me that Jonathan had helped one of my officers#22.7-8 son of Jesse…officers: That is, David. Saul avoids even saying David's name. rebel. Now that son of Jesse is trying to ambush me.
9Doeg the Edomite was standing with the other officers and spoke up, “When I was in the town of Nob, I saw that son of Jesse. He was visiting the priest Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.#1 S 21.7-9; Ps 52 Title. 10Ahimelech talked to the LORD for him, then gave him food and the sword that had belonged to Goliath the Philistine.”
11Saul sent a message to Ahimelech and his whole family of priests at Nob, ordering them to come to him. When they came, 12Saul told them, “Listen to me, you son of Ahitub.”
“Certainly, Your Majesty,” Ahimelech answered.
13Saul demanded, “Why did you plot against me with that son of Jesse? You helped him rebel against me by giving him food and a sword, and by talking with God for him. Now he's trying to ambush me!”
14“Your Majesty, none of your officers is more loyal than David!” Ahimelech replied. “He's your son-in-law and the captain of your bodyguard. Everyone in your family respects him. 15This isn't the first time I've talked with God for David, and it's never made you angry before! Please don't accuse me or my family like this. I have no idea what's going on!”
16“Ahimelech,” Saul said, “you and your whole family are going to die.”
17Saul shouted to his bodyguards, “These priests of the LORD helped David! They knew he was running away, but they didn't tell me. Kill them!”
But the king's officers would not attack the priests of the LORD.
18Saul turned to Doeg, who was from Edom, and said, “Kill the priests!”
On that same day, Doeg killed eighty-five priests. 19Then he attacked the town of Nob, where the priests had lived, and he killed everyone there—men, women, children, and babies. He even killed their cattle, donkeys, and sheep.
Only Abiathar escapes from Nob
20Ahimelech's son Abiathar was the only one who escaped. He ran to David 21and told him, “Saul has murdered the priests at Nob!”
22David answered, “That day when I saw Doeg, I knew he would tell Saul! Your family died because of me. 23Stay here. Isn't the same person trying to kill both of us? Don't worry! You'll be safe here with me.”
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