1 Samuel 21

1Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

1David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech was trembling when he met him and asked, 'Why are you all alone? Why isn’t anyone with you?'

2And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed the young men to such and such a place.

2David answered Ahimelech the priest, 'The king has given me a secret mission. He told me not to let anyone know what I am doing or what my orders are. I have told my young men to meet me at a certain place.'

3Now therefore what is under thy hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatsoever there is present.

3'Now, what do you have to eat? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever else you have here.'

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.

4The priest replied to David, 'I don’t have any regular bread, but I do have some holy bread. Your young men can have it as long as they haven't slept with women recently.'

5And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days; when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey; how much more then to-day shall their vessels be holy?

5David answered the priest, 'Truly, we have stayed away from women for the last three days. Whenever I go out on a mission, the men’s bodies are kept holy, even on everyday journeys. How much more holy will they be today?'

6So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before Jehovah, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

6So the priest gave David the holy bread. There was no other bread there except the Bread of the Presence, which had been taken from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread that same day.

7Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul.

7Now one of Saul’s officials happened to be there that day, staying there before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

8And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.

8David then asked Ahimelech, 'Do you have a spear or a sword here? I didn’t bring my own sword or any weapons because the king’s business was so urgent.'

9And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the vale of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it; for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

9The 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 priest's vest. If you want it, take it, because there isn't any other weapon here.' David said, 'There is none like it; give it to me.'

10And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

10That day David kept running to get away from Saul, and he went to Achish, the king of Gath.

11And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

11But the servants of Achish said to the king, 'Isn't this David, the king of their land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances, saying: Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his tens of thousands?'

12And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

12David took these words to heart and became very afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.

13And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

13So David changed his behavior in front of them and acted like a crazy person while he was with them. He scratched marks on the doors of the gate and let spit run down his beard.

14Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have ye brought him to me?

14Achish said to his servants, 'Look at this man! He is clearly insane. Why did you bring him to me?'

15Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

15'Am I running low on crazy people that you brought this fellow here to act like a madman in front of me? Does this man have to come into my palace?'