1 Samuel 22

1 And David goeth thence, and is escaped unto the cave of Adullam, and his brethren hear, and all the house of his father, and go down unto 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 gather themselves unto him do every man in distress, and every man who hath an exactor, and every man bitter in soul, and he is over them for head, and there are 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 goeth thence to Mizpeh of Moab, and saith unto the king of Moab, 'Let, I pray thee, my father and my mother go out with you, till that I know what God doth 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 leadeth them before the king of Moab, and they dwell with him all the days of David's being in the fortress.

[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 Gad the prophet saith unto David, 'Thou dost not abide in a fortress, go, and thou hast entered for thee the land of Judah;' and David goeth and entereth the forest of Hareth.

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 heareth that David hath become known, and the men who [are] with him, and Saul is abiding in Gibeah, under the grove in Ramah, and his spear [is] in his hand, and all his servants standing by 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 And Saul saith to his servants who are standing by him, 'Hear, I pray you, ye Benjamites; also to all of you doth the son of Jesse give fields and vineyards! all of you he doth appoint heads of thousands and heads 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 for ye have conspired all of you against me, and there is none uncovering mine ear about my son's covenanting with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you grieving for me, and uncovering mine ear, that my son hath raised up my servant against me, to lie in wait as [at] 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 And answer doth Doeg the Edomite, who is set over the servants of Saul, and saith, 'I have seen the son of Jesse coming in to Nob, unto Ahimelech son of Ahitub,

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 asketh for him at Jehovah, and provision hath given to him, and the sword of Goliath the Philistine hath given to him.

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 And the king sendeth to call Ahimelech son of Ahitub, the priest, and all the house of his father, the priests, who [are] in Nob, and they come all of them unto 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 saith, 'Hear, I pray thee, son of Ahitub;' and he saith, 'Here [am] I, my lord.'

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

13 And Saul saith unto him, 'Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, by thy giving to him bread and a sword, and to ask for him at God, to rise against me, to lie in wait, as [at] 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 And Ahimelech answereth the king and saith, 'And who among all thy servants [is] as David — faithful, and son-in-law of the king, and hath turned aside unto thy council, and is honoured 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 To-day have I begun to ask for him at God? far be it from me! let not the king lay anything against his servant, against any of the house of my father, for thy servant hath known nothing of all this, less or more.'

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 saith, 'Thou dost surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all the house of thy father.'

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

17 And the king saith to runners, those standing by him, 'Turn round, and put to death the priests of Jehovah, because their hand also [is] with David, and because they have known that he is fleeing, and have not uncovered mine ear;' and the servants of the king have not been willing to put forth their hand to come against the priests of Jehovah.

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 saith to Doeg, 'Turn round thou, and come against the priests;' and Doeg the Edomite turneth round, and cometh himself against the priests, and putteth to death in that day eighty and five men bearing 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 hath smitten by the mouth of the sword, from man even unto woman, from infant even unto suckling, and ox, and ass, and sheep, by the mouth 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 escapeth one son of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, and his name [is] Abiathar, and he fleeth after David,

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

21 and Abiathar declareth to David that Saul hath slain the priests of Jehovah.

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

22 And David saith to Abiathar, 'I have known on that day when Doeg the Edomite [is] there, that he doth certainly declare [it] to Saul; I have brought [it] round to every person of the house of thy father;

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 dwell with me; fear not; for he who seeketh my life seeketh thy life; for a charge [art] thou 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.”