1 Samuel 21-25

New King James Version

David and the Holy Bread

21 Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And ^(A)Ahimelech was ^(B)afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”

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 ^(C)holy^[b] bread, ^(D)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 ^(E)vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated ^(F)in the vessel this day.”

⁶ So the priest ^(G)gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread ^(H)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 ^(I)Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.

⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”

⁹ So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in ^(J)the Valley of Elah, ^(K)there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.”

And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

David Flees to Gath

¹⁰ Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And ^(L)the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:

¹² Now David ^(N)took these words ^[d]to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ So ^(O)he changed his behavior before them, pretended ^[e]madness in their hands, ^[f]scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

David’s Four Hundred Men^(P)

22 David therefore departed from there and ^(Q)escaped ^(R)to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. ^2 (S)And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was ^[g]discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about ^(T)four hundred men with him.

³ Then David went from there to Mizpah of ^(U)Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” ⁴ So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

⁵ Now the prophet ^(V)Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

Saul Murders the Priests

⁶ When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered—now Saul was staying in ^(W)Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him— ⁷ then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse ^(X)give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? ⁸ All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that ^(Y)my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day.”

⁹ Then answered ^(Z)Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to ^(AA)Ahimelech the son of ^(AB)Ahitub. ^10 (AC)And he inquired of the Lord for him, ^(AD)gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ So the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob. And they all came to the king. ¹² And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub!”

He answered, “Here I am, my lord.”

¹³ Then Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day?”

¹⁴ So Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as ^(AE)faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house? ¹⁵ Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king impute anything to his servant, or to any in the house of my father. For your servant knew nothing of all this, little or much.”

¹⁶ And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all ^(AF)your father’s house!” ¹⁷ Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king ^(AG)would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and ^[h]struck the priests, and ^(AH)killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. ^19 (AI)Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the edge of the sword.

^20 (AJ)Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, ^(AK)escaped and fled after David. ²¹ And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. ²² So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s ^[i]house. ²³ Stay with me; do not fear. ^(AL)For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.”

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against ^(AM)Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”

² Therefore David ^(AN)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ^[j]attack these Philistines?”

And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

³ But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” ⁴ Then David inquired of the Lord once again.

And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” ⁵ And David and his men went to Keilah and ^(AO)fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^(AP)fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷ And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” ⁸ Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹ When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, ^(AQ)he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah ^(AR)to destroy the city for my sake. ¹¹ Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.”

And the Lord said, “He will come down.”

¹² Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah ^[k]deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”

And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”

¹³ So David and his men, ^(AS)about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.

David in Wilderness Strongholds

¹⁴ And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in ^(AT)the mountains in the Wilderness of ^(AU)Ziph. Saul ^(AV)sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. ¹⁵ So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph ^[l]in a forest. ¹⁶ Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and ^[m]strengthened his hand in God. ¹⁷ And he said to him, ^(AW)“Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. ^(AX)Even my father Saul knows that.” ¹⁸ So the two of them ^(AY)made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.

¹⁹ Then the Ziphites ^(AZ)came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? ²⁰ Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and ^(BA)our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”

²¹ And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. ²² Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. ²³ See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the ^[n]clans of Judah.”

²⁴ So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness ^(BB)of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down ^[o]to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. ²⁶ Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. ^(BC)So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men ^(BD)were encircling David and his men to take them.

^27 (BE)But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” ²⁸ Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place ^[p]the Rock of Escape. ²⁹ Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at ^(BF)En Gedi.

David Spares Saul

24 Now it happened, ^(BG)when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” ² Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and ^(BH)went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³ So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and ^(BI)Saul went in to ^(BJ)attend to his needs. (^(BK)David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) ^4 (BL)Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. ⁵ Now it happened afterward that ^(BM)David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. ⁶ And he said to his men, ^(BN)“The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” ⁷ So David ^(BO)restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.

⁸ David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. ⁹ And David said to Saul: ^(BP)“Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? ¹⁰ Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹ Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is ^(BQ)neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you ^(BR)hunt my life to take it. ^12 (BS)Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. ¹³ As the proverb of the ancients says, ^(BT)‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴ After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? ^(BU)A dead dog? ^(BV)A flea? ^15 (BW)Therefore let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and ^(BX)see and ^(BY)plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”

¹⁶ So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, ^(BZ)“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ^17 (CA)Then he said to David: “You are ^(CB)more righteous than I; for ^(CC)you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. ¹⁸ And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when ^(CD)the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. ¹⁹ For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰ And now ^(CE)I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. ^21 (CF)Therefore swear now to me by the Lord ^(CG)that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”

²² So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to ^(CH)the stronghold.

Death of Samuel

25 Then ^(CI)Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and ^(CJ)lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down ^(CK)to the Wilderness of ^[q]Paran.

David and the Wife of Nabal

² Now there was a man ^(CL)in Maon whose business was in ^(CM)Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of ^(CN)Caleb.

⁴ When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was ^(CO)shearing his sheep, ⁵ David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. ⁶ And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: ^(CP)‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! ⁷ Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, ^(CQ)nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore ^[r]let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on ^(CR)a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

⁹ So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.

¹⁰ Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, ^(CS)“Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. ^11 (CT)Shall I then take my bread and my water and my ^[s]meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”

¹² So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. ¹³ Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred ^(CU)stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴ Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he ^[t]reviled them. ¹⁵ But the men were very good to us, and ^(CV)we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. ¹⁶ They were ^(CW)a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. ¹⁷ Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for ^(CX)harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a ^(CY)scoundrel^[u] that one cannot speak to him.”

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haste and ^(CZ)took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ And she said to her servants, ^(DA)“Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has ^(DB)repaid me evil for good. ^22 (DC)May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I ^(DD)leave ^(DE)one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”

²³ Now when Abigail saw David, she ^(DF)dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. ²⁴ So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant ^[v]speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. ²⁵ Please, let not my lord ^[w]regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: ^[x]Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. ²⁶ Now therefore, my lord, ^(DG)as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has ^(DH)held you back from coming to bloodshed and from ^(DI)avenging^[y] yourself with your own hand, now then, ^(DJ)let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. ²⁷ And now ^(DK)this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For ^(DL)the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord ^(DM)fights the battles of the Lord, ^(DN)and evil is not found in you throughout your days. ²⁹ Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be ^(DO)bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall ^(DP)sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. ³⁰ And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ^(DQ)ruler over Israel, ³¹ that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

³² Then David said to Abigail: ^(DR)“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! ³³ And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have ^(DS)kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. ³⁴ For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has ^(DT)kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely ^(DU)by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” ³⁵ So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, ^(DV)“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and ^(DW)respected your person.”

³⁶ Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, ^(DX)holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. ³⁷ So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸ Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord ^(DY)struck Nabal, and he died.

³⁹ So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ^(DZ)“Blessed be the Lord, who has ^(EA)pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has ^(EB)kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has ^(EC)returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.”

And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”

⁴¹ Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to ^(ED)wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” ⁴² So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, ^[z]attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. ⁴³ David also took Ahinoam ^(EE)of Jezreel, ^(EF)and so both of them were his wives.

⁴⁴ But Saul had given ^(EG)Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to ^[aa]Palti the son of Laish, who was from ^(EH)Gallim.