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 David came to Nob to Ahimelech the cohen. And Ahimelech was shaking in fear when he met David, and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no one with you?"

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 to the cohen, "The king has given me orders, and he instructed me, 'No one must know of the matter about which I send you, or about your orders; and I have arranged to meet the young men at a certain place.'

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

Now, if there are five loaves of bread under your control, give them into my hand, or whatever there is."

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 cohen answered David, and said, "There is no common bread in my control, but there is holy bread. If the young men have kept themselves from women, they may eat of it."

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 cohen, and said to him, "Truly women have been kept from us as always when I set out. All the young men are holy, even when it is an ordinary mission. So how much more today will their vessels be holy?"

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 cohen gave him what had been consecrated, for there was no bread there but the show bread, that had been removed 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 the Edomite, the best of the herdsmen who 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.”

David said to Ahimelech, "Isn't there here under your control 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.”

The cohen said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, look, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind an ephod. If you will take that, take it; for there is no other except that here." David said, "There is none like that. Give it to me."

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

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?'”

The servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David the king of the land? Did they not sing one to another about him in dances, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands?'"

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

David laid up these words in his heart, and was very 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.

He changed his behavior before them, and pretended to be mad in their hands, and drummed on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard.

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

Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see the man is mad. Why then have you 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?”

Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?"