1 Samuel 22

1 And David departed thence, and escaped to the cave 'Adullam: and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down to him thither.

David [and his men] left Gath and went [east] to hide in a cave on a hill at Adullam [city]. Soon his [older] brothers and all his other relatives came and stayed with him there.

2 And there gathered themselves unto him every one that was in distress, and every one that had a creditor, and every one that had an embittered spirit; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

Then other men came there. Some were men who had caused trouble, some were men who owed money, and some were men who were not content [IDM] [with the government]. They continued to come until there were 400 men there, and David was their leader.

3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, go forth with you, until I can know what God will do for me.

Later they left there and went [east] to Mizpah [city] in the Moab region. There David requested the king of Moab, “Please allow my father and mother to live here with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”

4 And he conducted them to the presence of the king of Moab: and they remained with him all the time that David was in the strong-hold.

[The king gave him permission, ] so David’s parents stayed with the king of Moab all the time that David and the men who were with him were hiding [in that area].

5 And the prophet Gad said unto David, Thou must not remain in the strong-hold: depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Chereth.

One day the prophet Gad told David, “Leave (your fortress/this area) and return to Judah.” So David and his men went to Hereth forest [in Judah].

6 And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, [now Saul was sitting in Gib'ah under the tamarisk on the hill, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him; ]

One day, someone told Saul that David and his men had arrived in Judah. On that day, Saul was sitting underneath the tamarisk tree on a hill at Gibeah [town]. He was holding his spear, and was surrounded by his army officers.

7 Then said Saul unto his servants that stood about him, Hear, I pray you, men of Benjamin! will the son of Jesse give, indeed, to every one of you fields and vineyards? will he appoint you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds?

He shouted to them, “You men of the tribe of Benjamin, listen to me! Do you think that the son of Jesse will give all of you fields and vineyards [if he becomes your king]? Will he appoint all of you to become generals and captains [in his army] [RHQ]?

8 That ye have conspired, all of you, against me, and there is none that informeth me, while my son hath made a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is concerned for me, or informeth me that my son hath stirred up my servant to lie in wait against me, as it is this day?

Is that why you have all conspired against me [RHQ]? None of you told me when my son [Jonathan] made a solemn agreement with that son of Jesse. None of you feels sorry for me. That son of Jesse was my servant, but now my son is encouraging him to hide in order to (ambush me/attack me suddenly), as he is doing today!”

9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Achimelech the son of Achitub.

Doeg, a man from the Edom people-group, was standing there with Saul’s officers. He said to Saul, “When I was at Nob, I saw that son of Jesse talking to Ahimelech, the priest.

10 And he asked counsel for him of the Lord, and he gave him provision, and gave him also the sword of Goliath the philistine.

Ahimelech asked Yahweh what David should do. Then Ahimelech gave to David some food and the sword of Goliath, [the giant] from the Philistia people-group.”

11 Then sent the king to call Achimelech, the son of Achitub, the priest, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came, all of them, to the king.

Then Saul summoned Ahimelech and all Ahimelech’s relatives who were priests at Nob. So they all came to the king.

12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Achitub. And he said, here am I, my Lord.

Saul said to Ahimelech, “You son of Ahitub, listen to me!” Ahimelech answered, “Yes, sir!”

13 And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou didst give him bread, and a sword, and hast asked counsel for him of God, that he should rise to lie in wait against me, as it is this day!

Saul said, “Why are you and Jesse’s son conspiring to get rid of me? You gave him some bread and a sword. You requested God to tell David what he should do. David has rebelled against me, and right now he is [hiding somewhere], waiting [to attack me].”

14 Then answered Achimelech the king, and said, And who is among all thy servants so trusted as David, and the king's son-in-law, and freely admitted to thy private council, and is honored in thy house?

Ahimelech replied, “[I do not understand why you are saying that, because] David, your son-in-law, the captain of your bodyguards, is very loyal to you. No one is more loyal to you than David! Everyone in your household respects him very much.

15 Did I this day then begin to ask counsel for him of God? far be it from me; let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, [nor] to all the house of my father; for thy servant knew not of all this, either a little or great thing.

Furthermore, this was certainly not [RHQ] the first time that I requested God to say what he wanted David to do. And it is not right for you to accuse me or any of my relatives [of trying to get rid of you], because I do not know anything about [anyone wanting to do that].”

16 And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Achimelech, thou, and all thy father's house.

The king then shouted, “Ahimelech, you and your all your relatives are going to be executed right now!”

17 And the king said unto the runners that stood about him, Turn round and slay the priests of the Lord; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he was fleeing, and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would not stretch forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord.

Then he commanded his bodyguards, “Kill these priests of Yahweh, because they are allies of David, and they are conspiring with David against me! They knew that David was trying to run away from me, but they did not tell me!” But Saul’s bodyguards refused to kill Yahweh’s priests.

18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou round, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned round, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day eighty and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.

Then the king said to Doeg, “You kill them!” So Doeg, the man from the Edom people-group, went out and struck them with his sword. On that day he killed eighty-five men who were wearing the sacred vests [because they were God’s priests].

19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and lambs, with the edge of the sword.

He also went and killed many people in Nob, the city where the priests lived. He killed men, women, children, babies, cattle, donkeys, and sheep there.

20 And there escaped one of the sons of Achimelech the son of Achitub, whose name was Ebyathar, and he fled after David.

But Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son, escaped. He ran away and joined David [and the men who were with him].

21 And Ebyathar told David that Saul had slain the priests of the Lord.

He told David that Saul had commanded [Doeg] to kill Yahweh’s priests.

22 And David said unto Ebyathar, I knew on that day, because Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have myself occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house.

Then David said to him, “That man from the Edom people-group, Doeg, was there at Nob on the day [that I was there]. I knew that he would surely tell Saul [what happened]. So it is my fault that your father and all of his family have been killed.

23 Remain thou with me, fear nothing; for he that will seek my life will seek thy life; but thou shalt be well guarded with me.

You stay with me, and do not be afraid. The man who wants to kill you wants to kill me also, but you will be safe if you stay with me.”