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
David Goes to Different Places
1David left Gath and ran away to the cave#22:1 cave Or possibly, “fortress.” of Adullam. David’s brothers and relatives heard that David was at Adullam and went to see him there. 2Many people joined David. There were men who were in some kind of trouble, men who owed a lot of money, and men who were just not satisfied with life. All kinds of people joined David, and he became their leader. He had about 400 men with him.
3David left Adullam and went to Mizpah in Moab. David said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God is going to do to me.” 4So David left his parents with the king of Moab. They stayed with the king of Moab as long as David was at the fort.
5But the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the fort. Go to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to Hereth Forest.
Saul Destroys Ahimelech’s Family
6Saul heard the report about David and his men while sitting under the tree on the hill at Gibeah. Saul had his spear in his hand. All of his officers were standing around him. 7Saul said to his officers who were standing around him, “Listen, men of Benjamin. Do you think that son of Jesse#22:7 that son of Jesse As usual, Saul refers to David by his father’s name, intending it as an insult. will give you fields and vineyards? He is not one of us, so don’t think he will give you anything or make you officers over 1000 or even 100 men! 8No, but all of you are plotting against me. None of you told me about my son Jonathan and the agreement he made with the son of Jesse. None of you cares enough about me to tell me that my own son Jonathan encouraged David to turn against me and attack me. And that is what David is doing now.”
9Doeg the Edomite was standing there with Saul’s officers. Doeg said, “I saw Jesse’s son at Nob. David came to see Ahimelech son of Ahitub. 10Ahimelech prayed to the Lord for David and gave him some food. He even gave David the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11Then King Saul ordered some men to bring the priest to him. Saul told them to bring Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all his relatives who were priests at Nob. So all of them came to the king. 12Saul said to Ahimelech, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.”
Ahimelech answered, “Yes, sir.”
13Saul said to him, “Why did you and Jesse’s son make secret plans against me? You gave David bread and a sword. You prayed to God for him. And right now, David is waiting to attack me.”
14Ahimelech answered, “David is very faithful to you. Not one of your other officers is as faithful as David. He is your own son-in-law and the captain of your bodyguards. Your own family respects David. 15That was not the first time I prayed to God for David. Not at all! Don’t blame me or any of my relatives. We are your servants. I know nothing about what is happening.”
16But the king said, “Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die.” 17Then the king told the guards at his side, “Go and kill the priests of the Lord because they are on David’s side too. They knew he was running away, but they didn’t tell me.”
The king’s officers refused to hurt the priests of the Lord. 18So the king gave the order to Doeg. Saul said, “Doeg, you go kill the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite went and killed the priests. That day he killed 85 men who were priests.#22:18 priests Literally, “men who wore the linen ephod.” 19Nob was the city of the priests. Doeg killed all the people of Nob. He used his sword and killed men, women, children and small babies. He even killed their cattle, donkeys, and sheep.
20But Abiathar son of Ahimelech escaped. He ran away and joined David. 21Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. 22Then David told Abiathar, “I saw Doeg the Edomite at Nob that day. I knew he would tell Saul! I am responsible for the death of your father’s family. 23Stay with me. Don’t be afraid, because the man who tried to kill you is the same man who wants to kill me. I will protect you if you stay with me.”
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