1 Samuel 21

And David came {to} Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech trembled to meet David, and he said to him, “Why {are} you by yourself and no man {is} with you?”

And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me {regarding} a matter and has said to me, ‘May a man not know anything {about} the matter {for} which I am sending you and {about} which I have commanded you.’ And I have informed the young men about a certain unnamed place. \*

And now, what is there under your hand? Give five {loaves of} bread into my hand, or the {thing} being found.”

And the priest answered David and said, “{There is} no common bread toward under my hand, but there is holy bread. If the young men have only kept themselves from women.” \*

And David answered the priest and said to him, “Surely a woman has been kept from us as yesterday and the third day in my going out. If the vessels of the men have been holy when it {was} a common journey, then indeed that it will be holy today with the vessels!”

So the priest gave to him the holy. For no bread was there except the bread of the face having been removed from to the face of God to put hot bread on the day of its being taken away. \*

Now a man {was} there from the servants of Saul on that day. He was detained to the face of God. And his name {was} Doeg the Edomite, the chief of the herders who {were} to Saul.

And David said to Ahimelech, “And is there not here under your hand a spear or a sword? For both my sword and also my weapons I did not take in my hand, because the matter of the king was being urged.”

And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck in the Valley of Elah, behold, it {is} wrapped in a cloak behind the ephod. If you would take it for yourself, take, for no other except it {is} in this {place}.” And David said, “{There is} none like it. Give {it} to me.” \*

And David arose and fled on that day from the face of Saul. And he came to Achish, the king of Gath.

But the servants of Achish said to him, “{Is} not this David the king of the land? Do they not sing about this {one} in the dances, saying, ‘Saul has struck his thousands, and David his myriads’?” \*

And David put these words in his heart, and he was very afraid from the face of Achish, the king of Gath.

So he changed his behavior in their eyes, and he acted insane in their hand. And he made marks on the doors of the gate, and he caused his saliva to go down to his beard. \*

And Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see a man raving. Why did you bring him to me?

Am I lacking ravers, that you have brought this {one} to rave near me? Should this {one} enter into my house?” \*