1Sa 21, 1Sa 26 | ESV | STEP | Then David came to Nob , to Ahimelech the priest . And Ahimelech came to meet David , trembling and said to him, Why are you alone , and no one with you?

1 ^{▼▼Ch 21:2 in Hebrew} Then David came to ^bNob, to ^cAhimelech the priest. And Ahimelech ^dcame to meet David, trembling and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is ^eholy bread— ^fif the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him ^gthe holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, ^hwhich is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was ⁱDoeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.

8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, ^j“The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in ^kthe Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”

David Flees to Gath

10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to ^lAchish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? ^mDid they not sing to one another of him in dances,

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
12 And David ⁿtook these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

1 Samuel 26

David Spares Saul Again

1 ^oThen the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” 2 So Saul arose and went down to ^pthe wilderness of Ziph with ^qthree thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, 4 David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. 5 Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with ^rAbner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within ^sthe encampment, while the army was encamped around him.

6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother ^tAbishai the son of Zeruiah, ^u“Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within ^vthe encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground ^wat his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, ^x“God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand ^yagainst the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, ^z“As the Lord lives, ^aathe Lord will strike him, or ^abhis day will come to die, ^acor he will go down into battle and perish. 11 ^adThe Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But take now the spear that is ^aeat his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because ^afa deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

13 Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. 14 And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 15 And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. ^agAs the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was ^ahat his head.”

17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, ^ai“Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” 18 And he said, ^aj“Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? 19 Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, ^akfor they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in ^althe heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek ^ama single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

21 Then Saul said, ^an“I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” 22 And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 ^aoThe Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will ^apsucceed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.