1 Samuel 21:5-7

Easy-to-Read Version

⁵David answered the priest, “We have not been with any women. My men keep their bodies^[a] holy every time we go out to fight, even on ordinary missions.^[b] And this is especially true today.”

⁶There was no bread except the holy bread, so the priest gave David this bread. This was the bread that the priests put on the holy table before the Lord. Each day they took this bread away and put fresh bread in its place.

⁷One of Saul’s officers was there that day. He was Doeg the Edomite, the leader of Saul’s shepherds.^[c] He had been kept there before the Lord.^[d]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

1 Samuel 21:5 bodies Literally, “vessels” or “weapons.”
1 Samuel 21:5 My men … missions See 2 Sam. 11:11 and the rules in Deut. 23:9-14.
1 Samuel 21:7 shepherds Or “messengers.”
1 Samuel 21:7 kept there before the Lord This might mean that Doeg was there as part of a special promise to God or some other religious reason. Or it might mean he was being held there because of some crime, such as accidentally killing a man.