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1 Samuel 21:2-7
New Catholic Bible
1 Samuel 21:2-7
New Catholic Bible
2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king sent me on some business, and he said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about this task on which I am sending you or what I commanded you to do.’ I have sent my young men to such and such a place. 3 Now, therefore, what do you have at hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”
4 The priest answered David saying, “I do not have any regular bread at hand, but there is consecrated bread, if the young men have abstained from being with women.” 5 David answered the priest saying, “We have assuredly abstained from being with women these three days since I set out. The young men’s gear is consecrated even on missions that are not consecrated. How much more is their gear consecrated today.”
6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, because there was no other bread than the shewbread. The shewbread had been removed from before the Lord and taken away when it was replaced by the hot bread.[a]
7 One of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg, the Edomite, and he was Saul’s chief shepherd.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:6 Ahimelech disregarded the law to give the holy bread—meant only for the priests—to David and his men. This act of kindness upheld the higher law (Lev 19:18). Jesus would later echo the precedence of the law of charity in Mt 12:1-8; Lk 6:1-5.
1 Samuel 21:2-7
New International Version
1 Samuel 21:2-7
New International Version
2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”
4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread(A) on hand; however, there is some consecrated(B) bread here—provided the men have kept(C) themselves from women.”
5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual(D) whenever[a] I set out. The men’s bodies are holy(E) even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,(F) since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg(G) the Edomite,(H) Saul’s chief shepherd.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:5 Or from us in the past few days since
1 Samuel 21:2-7
New King James Version
1 Samuel 21:2-7
New King James Version
2 So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. 3 Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.”
4 And the priest answered David and said, “There is no [a]common bread on hand; but there is (A)holy[b] bread, (B)if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”
5 Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And [c]the (C)vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated (D)in the vessel this day.”
6 So the priest (E)gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread (F)which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.
7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was (G)Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 21:4 ordinary
- 1 Samuel 21:4 consecrated
- 1 Samuel 21:5 The young men are ceremonially undefiled
1 Samuel 21:2-7
English Standard Version
1 Samuel 21:2-7
English Standard Version
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 (A)holy bread—(B)if 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 (C)the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, (D)which 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 (E)Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen.
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.