1Sa 21:2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, "The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, 'Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.'

1Sa 21:3 Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found."

1Sa 21:4 The priest answered David and said, "There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women."

1Sa 21:5 David answered the priest and said to him, "Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?"

1Sa 21:6 So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.

1Sa 21:7 Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds.

1Sa 21:8 David said to Ahimelech, "Now is there not a spear or a sword on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's matter was urgent."

1Sa 21:9 Then the priest said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here." And David said, "There is none like it; give it to me."

1Sa 21:10 Then David arose and fled that day from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath.

1Sa 21:11 But the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?"

1Sa 21:12 David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath.

1Sa 21:13 So he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard.

1Sa 21:14 Then Achish said to his servants, "Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me?

1Sa 21:15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?"

--------

1Sa 22:1 So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's household heard of it, they went down there to him.

1Sa 22:2 Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.

1Sa 22:3 And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me."

1Sa 22:4 Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

1Sa 22:5 The prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah." So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

1Sa 22:6 Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.

1Sa 22:7 Saul said to his servants who stood around him, "Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

1Sa 22:8 For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day."

1Sa 22:9 Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing by the servants of Saul, said, "I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

1Sa 22:10 He inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine."

1Sa 22:11 Then the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king.

1Sa 22:12 Saul said, "Listen now, son of Ahitub." And he answered, "Here I am, my lord."

1Sa 22:13 Saul then said to him, "Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he would rise up against me by lying in ambush as it is this day?"

1Sa 22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, "And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, even the king's son-in-law, who is captain over your guard, and is honored in your house?

1Sa 22:15 Did I just begin to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair."

1Sa 22:16 But the king said, "You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's household!"

1Sa 22:17 And the king said to the guards who were attending him, "Turn around and put the priests of the Lord to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it to me." But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hands to attack the priests of the Lord.

1Sa 22:18 Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn around and attack the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

1Sa 22:19 And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword.

1Sa 22:20 But one son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.

1Sa 22:21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

1Sa 22:22 Then David said to Abiathar, "I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father's household.

1Sa 22:23 Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life, for you are safe with me."

--------

1Sa 23:1 Then they told David, saying, "Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors."

1Sa 23:2 So David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And the Lord said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah."

1Sa 23:3 But David's men said to him, "Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?"

1Sa 23:4 Then David inquired of the Lord once more. And the Lord answered him and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand."

1Sa 23:5 So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.

1Sa 23:6 Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

1Sa 23:7 When it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars."

1Sa 23:8 So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

1Sa 23:9 Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here."

1Sa 23:10 Then David said, "O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account.

1Sa 23:11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant." And the Lord said, "He will come down."

1Sa 23:12 Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will surrender you."

1Sa 23:13 Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit.

1Sa 23:14 David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

1Sa 23:15 Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.

1Sa 23:16 And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.

1Sa 23:17 Thus he said to him, "Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also."

1Sa 23:18 So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.

1Sa 23:19 Then Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

1Sa 23:20 Now then, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to do so; and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand."

1Sa 23:21 Saul said, "May you be blessed of the Lord, for you have had compassion on me.

1Sa 23:22 Go now, make more sure, and investigate and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning.

1Sa 23:23 So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he hides himself and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah."

1Sa 23:24 Then they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon.

1Sa 23:25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.

1Sa 23:26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to seize them.

1Sa 23:27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land."

1Sa 23:28 So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape.

1Sa 23:29 David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.

--------

1Sa 24:1 Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi."

1Sa 24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

1Sa 24:3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.

1Sa 24:4 The men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, 'Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.'" Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul's robe secretly.

1Sa 24:5 It came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe.

1Sa 24:6 So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord's anointed."

1Sa 24:7 David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.

1Sa 24:8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.

1Sa 24:9 David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, 'Behold, David seeks to harm you'?

1Sa 24:10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed.'

1Sa 24:11 Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it.

1Sa 24:12 May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.

1Sa 24:13 As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness'; but my hand shall not be against you.

1Sa 24:14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea?

1Sa 24:15 The Lord therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand."

1Sa 24:16 When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

1Sa 24:17 He said to David, "You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you.

1Sa 24:18 You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the Lord delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me.

1Sa 24:19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day.

1Sa 24:20 Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.

1Sa 24:21 So now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father's household."

1Sa 24:22 David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.