1 Samuel 21

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

Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. 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 commanded me to do something, and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you. I have sent the young men to a certain place.’

And David said to the priest, "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 therefore what is under your hand? Please give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever is available.”

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, “I have no common bread, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”

And the priest 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, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us as usual these three days. When I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was only a common journey. How much more then today shall their vessels be holy?”

And David answered the priest, 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 holy bread; for there was no bread there but the show bread that was taken from before the LORD, to be replaced with hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

So the priest 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 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.

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, “Isn’t there here under your hand spear or sword? For I haven’t brought my sword or my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”

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, “Behold, 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 would like to take that, take it, for there is no other except that here.” David said, “There is none like that. Give it to me.”

The priest 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 for fear of 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 The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David the king of the land? Didn’t they sing to one another about him in dances, saying, ‘Saul has slain 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 laid up these words in his 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 behaviour before them and pretended to be insane in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on 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 insane. Why then 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, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Should this fellow 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?"