< 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
David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek was trembling in fear when he met him, and he asked, “Why are you here alone? Why isn't there anybody 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 an assignment,” David replied. “He told me ‘Nobody must know anything about the assignment I have sent you to do.’ As for my men, I've told them where to meet me.
3 καὶ νῦν εἰ εἰσὶν ὑπὸ τὴν χεῖρά σου πέντε ἄρτοι δὸς εἰς χεῖρά μου τὸ εὑρεθέν
So what do you have on hand to eat? Let me have five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”
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's no ordinary bread,” the priest told David, “but there's some holy bread, as long as your men have not slept with any women lately.”
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
“We have not slept with any women,” David answered. “In fact that's the rule when I lead the troops on mission. They keep themselves pure even during ordinary missions, and all the more so right now.”
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 holy bread as they didn't have any other bread there except this “Bread of the Presence,” which had been removed from the presence of the Lord that day and replaced with fresh bread.
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
One of Saul's servants happened to be there that day, trying to make himself right with the Lord. He was Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief shepherd.
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
“Have you got a spear or sword here?” David asked Ahimelech. “I didn't bring my sword or any of my weapons with me, because what the king needed me to do 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 is here—the one you killed in the Valley of Elah. It's wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. You can take it if you want. It's the only one here.” “It's better than any other sword! Please give it to me,” David replied.
10 καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνέστη Δαυιδ καὶ ἔφυγεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐκ προσώπου Σαουλ καὶ ἦλθεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Αγχους βασιλέα Γεθ
David ran away from Saul that day 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 Achish's officials asked the king, “Isn't this David, the king of that country? Didn't they sing about him in their dances, ‘Saul has killed 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
David listened carefully to what they said and this made him very 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 the way he acted toward them and pretended to be crazy. He scratched marks on the town gates and let his spit run down his beard.
14 καὶ εἶπεν Αγχους πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ ἰδοὺ ἴδετε ἄνδρα ἐπίλημπτον ἵνα τί εἰσηγάγετε αὐτὸν πρός με
Achish told his officials, “Look, you can see the man is completely mad! Why did you bring him to me?
15 ἦ ἐλαττοῦμαι ἐπιλήμπτων ἐγώ ὅτι εἰσαγειόχατε αὐτὸν ἐπιλημπτεύεσθαι πρός με οὗτος οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς οἰκίαν
Is it because I need more mad people that you've brought this man to go crazy right in front of me? Do you think I'm going to let him come into my house?”

< Βασιλειῶν Αʹ 21 >