Βασιλειῶν Αʹ 21

1 καὶ ἔρχεται Δαυιδ εἰς Νομβα πρὸς Αβιμελεχ τὸν ἱερέα καὶ ἐξέστη Αβιμελεχ τῇ ἀπαντήσει αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τί ὅτι σὺ μόνος καὶ οὐθεὶς μετὰ σοῦ

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

2 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ τῷ ἱερεῖ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐντέταλταί μοι ῥῆμα σήμερον καὶ εἶπέν μοι μηδεὶς γνώτω τὸ ῥῆμα περὶ οὗ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω σε καὶ ὑπὲρ οὗ ἐντέταλμαί σοι καὶ τοῖς παιδαρίοις διαμεμαρτύρημαι ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τῷ λεγομένῳ θεοῦ πίστις Φελλανι Αλεμωνι

“The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission or charge. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a certain place.

3 καὶ νῦν εἰ εἰσὶν ὑπὸ τὴν χεῖρά σου πέντε ἄρτοι δὸς εἰς χεῖρά μου τὸ εὑρεθέν

Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”

4 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ ἱερεὺς τῷ Δαυιδ καὶ εἶπεν οὐκ εἰσὶν ἄρτοι βέβηλοι ὑπὸ τὴν χεῖρά μου ὅτι ἀλλ’ ἢ ἄρτοι ἅγιοι εἰσίν εἰ πεφυλαγμένα τὰ παιδάριά ἐστιν ἀπὸ γυναικός καὶ φάγεται

“There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”

5 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη Δαυιδ τῷ ἱερεῖ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ γυναικὸς ἀπεσχήμεθα ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν ἐν τῷ ἐξελθεῖν με εἰς ὁδὸν γέγονε πάντα τὰ παιδάρια ἡγνισμένα καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ ὁδὸς βέβηλος διότι ἁγιασθήσεται σήμερον διὰ τὰ σκεύη μου

David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the equipment of the young men is holy, as it is even on common missions, and all the more at this time.”

6 καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ Αβιμελεχ ὁ ἱερεὺς τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ὅτι οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἄρτος ὅτι ἀλλ’ ἢ ἄρτοι τοῦ προσώπου οἱ ἀφῃρημένοι ἐκ προσώπου κυρίου παρατεθῆναι ἄρτον θερμὸν ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἔλαβεν αὐτούς

So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away.

7 καὶ ἐκεῖ ἦν ἓν τῶν παιδαρίων τοῦ Σαουλ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ συνεχόμενος νεεσσαραν ἐνώπιον κυρίου καὶ ὄνομα αὐτῷ Δωηκ ὁ Σύρος νέμων τὰς ἡμιόνους Σαουλ

Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD. And his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief shepherd for Saul.

8 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Αβιμελεχ ἰδὲ εἰ ἔστιν ἐνταῦθα ὑπὸ τὴν χεῖρά σου δόρυ ἢ ῥομφαία ὅτι τὴν ῥομφαίαν μου καὶ τὰ σκεύη οὐκ εἴληφα ἐν τῇ χειρί μου ὅτι ἦν τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦ βασιλέως κατὰ σπουδήν

Then David asked Ahimelech, “Is there not a spear or sword on hand here? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business was urgent.”

9 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἱερεύς ἰδοὺ ἡ ῥομφαία Γολιαθ τοῦ ἀλλοφύλου ὃν ἐπάταξας ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι Ηλα καὶ αὐτὴ ἐνειλημένη ἐν ἱματίῳ εἰ ταύτην λήμψῃ σεαυτῷ λαβέ ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἑτέρα πάρεξ ταύτης ἐνταῦθα καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἔστιν ὥσπερ αὐτή δός μοι αὐτήν

The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take it. For there is no other but this one.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

10 καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνέστη Δαυιδ καὶ ἔφυγεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐκ προσώπου Σαουλ καὶ ἦλθεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Αγχους βασιλέα Γεθ

That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.

11 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ παῖδες Αγχους πρὸς αὐτόν οὐχὶ οὗτος Δαυιδ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς γῆς οὐχὶ τούτῳ ἐξῆρχον αἱ χορεύουσαι λέγουσαι ἐπάταξεν Σαουλ ἐν χιλιάσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ Δαυιδ ἐν μυριάσιν αὐτοῦ

But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

12 καὶ ἔθετο Δαυιδ τὰ ῥήματα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐφοβήθη σφόδρα ἀπὸ προσώπου Αγχους βασιλέως Γεθ

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

13 καὶ ἠλλοίωσεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καὶ προσεποιήσατο ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ ἐτυμπάνιζεν ἐπὶ ταῖς θύραις τῆς πόλεως καὶ παρεφέρετο ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔπιπτεν ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας τῆς πύλης καὶ τὰ σίελα αὐτοῦ κατέρρει ἐπὶ τὸν πώγωνα αὐτοῦ

So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.

14 καὶ εἶπεν Αγχους πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ ἰδοὺ ἴδετε ἄνδρα ἐπίλημπτον ἵνα τί εἰσηγάγετε αὐτὸν πρός με

Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you can see that the man is insane! Why have you brought him to me?

15 ἦ ἐλαττοῦμαι ἐπιλήμπτων ἐγώ ὅτι εἰσαγειόχατε αὐτὸν ἐπιλημπτεύεσθαι πρός με οὗτος οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς οἰκίαν

Am I in need of madmen, that you have brought this man to rave in my presence? Must this man come into my house?”