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1 Samuel 21:1-15 — David at Nob and Gath

1Sam.21.1-15

¹So he rose and went, and Jonathan came into the city . ²David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met David and said to him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” ³David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, 'Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have charged you.' As for the young men, I have directed them to such-and-such a place.” ⁴Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found. ⁵The priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, only holy bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.” ⁶David answered the priest, “Indeed, women have been kept from us as always when I go out. The bodies of the young men are holy, even on an ordinary journey; how much more today will they be holy?” ⁷So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there except the Bread of the Presence , which had been removed from before the LORD to replace it with hot bread on the day it was taken away. ⁸Now a man of Saul's servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; his name was Doeg the Edomite, chief of Saul's shepherds. ⁹Then David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not on hand here a spear or sword? For I did not take my sword or my weapons with me, because the king's matter was urgent.” ¹⁰The priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the Ephod. If you wish to take it, take it, for there is no other here but this one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.” ¹¹David rose and fled that day from Saul, and came to Achish king of Gath. ¹²The servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, king of the land? Did they not sing of him in the dances, saying, 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?” ¹³David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. ¹⁴So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he made marks on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard. ¹⁵Achish said to his servants, “Look, you can see the man is mad. Why have you brought him to me?”

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4/11/2026

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