1 Samuel 21

1 Then David came to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, “Why are you alone and have no one with you?”

Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why [art] thou alone, and no man with thee?

2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has sent me on a mission and has said to me, 'Let no one know anything about the business I am sending you, and what I have commanded you.' I have directed the young men to a certain place.

And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed [my] servants to such and such a place.

3 Now then what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.”

Now therefore what is under thine hand? give [me] five [loaves of] bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

4 The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.”

And the priest answered David, and said, [There is] no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

5 David answered the priest, “Surely women have been kept from us for the past three days, as usual when I set out. The things belonging to the men have been set apart even on ordinary missions. How much more today will what they have be set apart!”

And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women [have been] kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and [the bread is] in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

6 So the priest gave him the bread that was set apart. For there was no bread there except the bread of the presence, which was removed from before Yahweh, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day it was taken away.

So the priest gave him hallowed [bread: ] for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

7 Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul [was] there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name [was] Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that [belonged] to Saul.

8 David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there not here on hand any spear or sword? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business was urgent.”

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.

9 The priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take that, take it, for there is no other weapon here.” David said, “There is no other sword like that one; give it to me.”

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it [is here] wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take [it: ] for [there is] no other save that here. And David said, [There is] none like that; give it me.

10 David arose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish, the king of Gath.

And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

11 Achish's servants said to him, “Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another about him in dances, 'Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands?'”

And the servants of Achish said unto him, [Is] not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

12 David took these words to heart and was very afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.

And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

13 He changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands; he made marks on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.

And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is mad. Why have you brought him to me?

Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore [then] have ye brought him to me?

15 Do I lack madmen, so that you have brought this fellow to behave like one in my presence? Will this fellow really come into my house?”

Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this [fellow] to play the mad man in my presence? shall this [fellow] come into my house?