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 at Adullam and Mizpah
1David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. His brothers and other relatives heard that he was there. And they went to see him. 2Many people joined David. All those who were in trouble, who owed money or who were unsatisfied gathered around him. And he became their leader. He had about 400 men 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 is going to do for me.” 4So he left them with the king of Moab. And they stayed with the king as long as David was hiding in the protected place.
5But the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the protected place. Go to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
Saul Destroys Ahimelech’s Family
6Saul heard that David and his men had been seen. He sat under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah. All his officers were standing around him. He had a spear in his hand. 7Saul said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Do you think the son of Jesse will give all of you fields and vineyards? Will David make you commanders over thousands of men or hundreds of men? 8You have all made plans against me! No one tells me when my son makes an agreement with the son of Jesse! No one cares about me! No one tells me my son has encouraged my servant to ambush me! And David is doing this now!”
9Doeg the Edomite was standing there with Saul’s officers. He said, “I saw the son of Jesse. He came to see Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. 10Ahimelech prayed to the Lord for David. He also gave him food. And he gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub. He sent for all of Ahimelech’s relatives who were priests at Nob. And they all came to the king. 12Saul said to Ahimelech, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.”
Ahimelech answered, “Yes, master.”
13Saul said, “Why have you and Jesse’s son made plans against me? You gave him bread and a sword! You prayed to God for him. David is waiting to attack me. He is doing this now!”
14Ahimelech answered, “David is very loyal to you. You have no other servant who is as loyal as David. He is your own son-in-law and captain of your bodyguards. All the people in your house respect him. 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 going on.”
16But the king said, “Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die!” 17Then he told the guards at his side, “Go and kill the priests of the Lord. Do this because they are on David’s side. They knew he was running away, but they didn’t tell me!”
But the king’s officers refused to hurt the priests of the Lord.
18Then the king ordered Doeg, “Go and kill the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite went and killed the priests. That day he killed 85 men who wore the linen holy vest. 19He also killed the people of Nob, the city of the priests. With the sword he killed men, women, children and small babies. And he killed cattle, donkeys and sheep.
20But Abiathar escaped. He was a son of Ahimelech, who was the son of Ahitub. Abiathar ran away and joined David. 21He told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. 22Then David told him, “Doeg the Edomite was there at Nob that day. I knew he would surely tell Saul. So I am responsible for the death of all your father’s family. 23The man who wants to kill you also wants to kill me. Stay with me. Don’t be afraid. You will be safe with me.”
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