David at Nob

21 ^[a]David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was trembling as he went to meet David. “Why are you alone?” he asked David. “Why is no one with you?”

² “The king ordered me to do something,” David answered the priest Ahimelech, “and he told me, ‘No one must know anything about this mission I’m sending you on and about the orders I’ve given you. I’ve stationed ^[b] my young men at a certain place.’ ” ³ ⌞David added,⌟ “Now, what do you have ⌞to eat⌟? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find.”

⁴ “I don’t have any ordinary bread,” the chief priest answered David. “But there is holy bread for the young men if they haven’t had sexual intercourse ⌞today⌟.”

⁵ David answered the priest, “Of course women have been kept away from us as usual when we go ⌞on a mission⌟. The young men’s bodies are kept holy even on ordinary campaigns. How much more then will their bodies be holy today?”

⁶ So the priest gave him holy ⌞bread⌟ because he only had the bread of the presence which had been taken from the Lord’s presence and replaced with warm bread that day.

⁷ That same day one of Saul’s servants who was obligated to stay in the Lord’s presence was there. His name was Doeg. A foreman for Saul’s shepherds, he was from Edom.

⁸ David asked Ahimelech, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I didn’t take either my spear or any other weapon because the king’s business was urgent.”

⁹ The chief priest answered, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Elah Valley, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the priestly ephod.^[c] If you want to take it, take it. There’s no other weapon here.”

David said, “There’s none like it. Let me have the sword.”

David at Gath

¹⁰ That day David left. He was ⌞still⌟ fleeing from Saul when he came to King Achish of Gath. ¹¹ Achish’s officers asked, “Isn’t this David, the king of ⌞his⌟ country? He’s the one they used to sing about in the dances:

¹² When David realized what they had said, he was terrified of King Achish of Gath. ¹³ So he changed his behavior ⌞when he was⌟ in their presence and acted insane ⌞as long as he was⌟ under their authority. He scribbled on the doors of the city gate and let his spit run down his beard.

¹⁴ Achish said to his officers, “Look at him! Don’t you see ⌞that he’s⌟ insane? Why bring him to me? ¹⁵ Do I have such a shortage of lunatics that you bring this man so that he can show me he is insane? Does this man have to come into my house?”

David in Judah and Moab

22 So David escaped from that place and fled to the cave at Adullam. When his brothers and all ⌞the rest⌟ of his family heard about it, they went to him. ² Then everyone who was in trouble, in debt, or bitter about life joined him, and he became their commander. There were about four hundred men with him.

³ From there David went to Mizpah in Moab. He asked the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God is going to do for me.” ⁴ He brought them to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was living in his fortified camp.

⁵ “Don’t live in your fortified camp,” the prophet Gad told David. “Go to the land of Judah.” So David went to the forest of Hereth.

Saul Massacres the Priests at Nob

⁶ Saul heard that David and his men had been found. Saul was staying in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at the worship site ^[d] with his spear in his hand and all his officials standing around him. ⁷ He said to his officials, “Listen here, men of Benjamin! Will Jesse’s son give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all officers over a regiment or a battalion of soldiers? ⁸ All of you are plotting against me, and no one informed me when my son entered into a loyalty pledge with Jesse’s son. No one felt sorry for me and informed me that my son has encouraged my servant David to ambush me, as he’s doing now.”

⁹ Then Doeg from Edom, standing with Saul’s officials, answered him, “I saw Jesse’s son when he came to Ahimelech, Ahitub’s son, in Nob. ¹⁰ Ahimelech prayed to the Lord for David and gave him food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech, who was Ahitub’s son, and his entire family who were the priests in Nob. All of them came to the king. ¹² Saul said, “Listen here, son of Ahitub!”

“Yes, sir?” he responded.

¹³ Saul asked him, “Why did you and Jesse’s son plot against me? You gave him bread and a sword and prayed to God for him so that he can rise up against me and ambush me, as he’s doing now.”

¹⁴ Ahimelech asked the king, “But whom among all your officials can you trust like David? Your Majesty, he’s your son-in-law, the commander of your bodyguard. He’s honored in your own household. ¹⁵ Is this the first time I have prayed to God for him? Not at all! You shouldn’t blame me or anyone in my family for this. I knew nothing at all about this.”

¹⁶ Saul said, “Ahimelech, you and your entire family are going to die.”

¹⁷ “Turn and kill the Lord’s priests because they support David,” the king said to the runners standing around him. “When they knew David was fleeing, they didn’t inform me.” But the king’s men refused to attack the Lord’s priests.

¹⁸ So the king said to Doeg, “You turn and attack the priests.” Doeg from Edom turned and attacked the priests, and that day he killed 85 men wearing the linen priestly ephod.^{[e] 19} He also killed the people of Nob, the city of the priests. Using ⌞his⌟ sword, he killed men and women, children and infants, cows, donkeys, and sheep.

²⁰ But Ahimelech, Ahitub’s son, had one son who escaped. His name was Abiathar. He fled to David. ²¹ Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests.

²² David told Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg from Edom was there that he would be certain to tell Saul. I am the one responsible ^[f] for all the lives of your family. ²³ Stay with me. Don’t be afraid. The one who is seeking my life is ⌞also⌟ seeking your life. However, you will be under my protection.”

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 David was asked, “Did you know that the Philistines are fighting against Keilah? They are robbing the threshing floors.” ^[g]

² David asked the Lord, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?”

“Go,” the Lord told David, “attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

³ David’s men told him, “We’re afraid of staying here in Judah. How much more ⌞afraid do you think we’ll be⌟ if we go to Keilah against the Philistine army?”

⁴ David asked the Lord again, and the Lord answered him. He said, “Go to Keilah. I’m giving you the power to defeat the Philistines.”

⁵ David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines, drove off their livestock, and decisively defeated them. So David rescued the people who lived in Keilah.

⁶ When Ahimelech’s son Abiathar fled to David at Keilah, Abiathar brought a priestly ephod ^[h] with him.

⁷ When Saul was told that David went to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hands. He has trapped himself by going into a city which has ⌞a gate with⌟ a double door ⌞held shut by⌟ a bar.” ⁸ So Saul called together all the troops to go to war and blockade Keilah, where David and his men were.

⁹ When David learned that Saul was planning to harm him, he told the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, I have actually heard that Saul is going to come to Keilah and destroy the city on account of me. ¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come here as I have heard? Lord God of Israel, please tell me.”

“He will come,” the Lord answered.

¹² “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” David asked.

“They will hand you over,” the Lord answered.

¹³ So David and his men, about six hundred ^[i] in all, left Keilah. They went wherever they could go. Then Saul was told, “David has escaped from Keilah!” So he gave up the campaign. ¹⁴ David lived in fortified camps in the desert, and he lived in fortified camps in the mountains of the desert of Ziph. Saul was always searching for him, but God didn’t let him capture David.

David in the Desert of Ziph

¹⁵ David was afraid because ^[j] Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph. ¹⁶ Saul’s son Jonathan came to David at Horesh. He strengthened David’s ⌞faith⌟ in the Lord.^{[k] 17} “Don’t be afraid,” he told David, “my father Saul won’t find you. You will rule Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this.” ¹⁸ Both of them made a pledge in the Lord’s presence. David stayed in Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

¹⁹ Then the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah. They said, “David is hiding with us in fortified camps at Horesh on the hills of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon. ²⁰ Come, Your Majesty, whenever you want. We will hand him over to you.”

²¹ Saul responded, “The Lord bless you for feeling sorry for me! ²² Please make more plans, and watch where he goes. Who has seen him there? I’m told he’s very clever. ²³ Watch and learn about all the hiding places where he may be hiding, and come back to me with the facts. Then I’ll go with you, and if he’s in the country, I’ll search for him among all the families of Judah.” ²⁴ They left for Ziph ahead of Saul.

David in the Desert of Maon

David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plains south of Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men came to look for him, David was told the news. So he went to his mountain stronghold in the desert of Maon. Saul heard about it and pursued David into the desert of Maon. ²⁶ Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, and Saul and his men were going around ⌞the mountain⌟ toward David and his men, trying to capture them. ²⁷ Then a messenger came to Saul and said, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the country.”

²⁸ Saul gave up pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. So that place was called Slippery Rock.^{[l] 29} From there David went to stay in the fortified camps of En Gedi.

David Spares Saul’s Life

24 ^[m]When Saul came back from ⌞fighting⌟ the Philistines, he was told “Now David is in the desert near En Gedi.” ² Then Saul took 3,000 of the best-trained men from all Israel and went to search for David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³ He came to some sheep pens along the road where there was a cave. Saul went into ⌞it⌟ to relieve himself while David and his men were sitting further back in the cave.

⁴ David’s men told him, “Today is the day the Lord referred to when he said, ‘I’m going to hand your enemy over to you. You will do to him whatever you think is right.’ ”

David quietly got up and cut off the border of Saul’s robe. ⁵ But afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the border of Saul’s robe. ⁶ He said to his men, “It would be unthinkable for me to raise my hand against His Majesty, the Lord’s anointed king, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” ⁷ So David stopped his men by saying this to them and didn’t let them attack Saul.

Saul left the cave and went out onto the road. ⁸ Later, David got up, left the cave, and called to Saul, “Your Majesty!” When Saul looked back, David knelt down with his face touching the ground. ⁹ David asked Saul, “Why do you listen to rumors that I am trying to harm you? ¹⁰ Today you saw how the Lord handed you over to me in the cave. Although I was told to kill you, I spared you, saying, ‘I will not raise my hand against Your Majesty because you are the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹ My master, look at this! The border of your robe is in my hand! Since I cut off the border of your robe and didn’t kill you, you should know and be able to see I mean no harm or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you, but you are trying to ambush me in order to take my life. ¹² May the Lord decide between you and me. May the Lord take revenge on you for what you did to me. However, I will not lay a hand on you. ¹³ It’s like people used to say long ago, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ But I will not lay a hand on you. ¹⁴ Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? One flea? ¹⁵ So the Lord must be the judge. He will decide between you and me. He will watch and take my side in ⌞this⌟ matter and set me free from you.”

¹⁶ When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that you speaking, my servant David?” and Saul cried loudly. ¹⁷ He told David, “You are more righteous than I. You treated me well while I treated you badly. ¹⁸ Today you have proved how good you’ve been to me. When the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me. ¹⁹ When a person finds an enemy, does he send him away unharmed? The Lord will repay you completely for what you did for me today. ²⁰ Now I know that you certainly will rule as king, and under your guidance the kingdom of Israel will prosper. ²¹ Swear an oath to the Lord for me that you will not wipe out my descendants or destroy my name in my father’s family.”

²² So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went home, and David and his men went to their fortified camp.