1 Samuel 21

¹And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and he said to him, 'Why are you alone, and no man is with you?'

²And David said to Ahimelech the priest, 'The king has commanded me a matter and said to me, "Let no man know anything about the matter for which I am sending you and about which I have commanded you." And I have directed the young men to such-and-such a place.'

³'Now what do you have on hand? Give five loaves of bread into my hand, or whatever is found.'

⁴And the priest answered David and said, 'There is no common bread under my hand; but there is holy bread — if only the young men have kept themselves from women.'

⁵And David answered the priest and said to him, 'Indeed, women have been kept from us as in times past when I set out, and the young men's gear is holy, even though the mission is an ordinary one; how much more today will it be consecrated through the vessel.'

⁶So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no other bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD, to be replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away.

⁷Now there was there a man from Saul's servants on that day, detained before the LORD, and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of the shepherds who belonged to Saul.

⁸And David said to Ahimelech, 'And is there not here under your hand a spear or a sword? For neither my sword nor my weapons did I take in my hand, because the king's matter was urgent.'

⁹The priest said, 'The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah — look, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, take it, for there is no other here except it.' And David said, 'There is none like it; give it to me.'

¹⁰And David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and he came to Achish, king of Gath.

¹¹And the servants of Achish said to him, 'Is not this David, the king of the land? Is it not for this one that they sang in the dances, saying, "Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten-thousands"?'

¹²And David laid these words to heart, and he was very greatly afraid before Achish, king of Gath.

¹³And he altered his behavior in their sight and feigned madness in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.

¹⁴And Achish said to his servants, 'Look, you see the man is behaving like a madman. Why have you brought him to me?'

¹⁵'Am I lacking in madmen, that you have brought this one to behave madly before me? Shall this one enter my house?'