1 Samuel 21:1-10

Other Translations of 1 Samuel 21:1-10

King James Version

David Flees from Saul

21¹ Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech Ahimelech: also called, called Ahiah the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? ² And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. ³ Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. present: Heb. found ⁴ And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. ⁵ And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified yea...: or, especially when this day there is other sanctified in the vessel this day in the vessel. ⁶ So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. ⁷ Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul. ⁸ And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. ⁹ And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley 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.

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

English Standard Version

David Flees from Saul

21¹ Ch 21:2 in Hebrew Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no one with you?" ² And David said to Ahimelech the priest, "The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, 'Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.' I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. ³ Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here." ⁴ And the priest answered David, "I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread-- if the young men have kept themselves from women." ⁵ And David answered the priest, "Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?" ⁶ So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. ⁷ Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. ⁸ Then David said to Ahimelech, "Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste." ⁹ And the priest said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here." And David said, "There is none like that; give it to me."

¹⁰ And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.

The Message

David Flees from Saul

21¹ avid went on his way and Jonathan returned to town. David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the Priest. Ahimelech was alarmed as he went out to greet David: "What are you doing here all by yourself - and not a soul with you?" ² David answered Ahimelech the Priest, "The king sent me on a mission and gave strict orders: 'This is top secret - not a word of this to a soul.' I've arranged to meet up with my men in a certain place. ³ Now, what's there here to eat? Do you have five loaves of bread? Give me whatever you can scrounge up!" ⁴ "I don't have any regular bread on hand," said the priest. "I only have holy bread. If your men have not slept with women recently, it's yours." ⁵ David said, "None of us has touched a woman. I always do it this way when I'm on a mission: My men abstain from sex. Even when it is an ordinary mission we do that - how much more on this holy mission." ⁶ So the priest gave them the holy bread. It was the only bread he had, Bread of the Presence that had been removed from God's presence and replaced by fresh bread at the same time. ⁷ One of Saul's officials was present that day keeping a religious vow. His name was Doeg the Edomite. He was chief of Saul's shepherds. ⁸ David asked Ahimelech, "Do you have a spear or sword of any kind around here? I didn't have a chance to grab my weapons. The king's mission was urgent and I left in a hurry." ⁹ The priest said, "The sword of Goliath, the Philistine you killed at Oak Valley - that's here! It's behind the Ephod wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, take it. There's nothing else here."

¹⁰ "Oh," said David, "there's no sword like that! Give it to me!"

New King James Version

David Flees from Saul

21¹ Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no one is with you?" ² So David said to Ahimelech the priest, "The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, 'Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.' And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. ³ Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found." ⁴ And the priest answered David and said, "There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women." ⁵ Then David answered the priest, and said to him, "Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was sanctified in the vessel this day." ⁶ So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. ⁷ Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. ⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, "Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste." ⁹ So the priest said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here." And David said, "There is none like it; give it to me."

¹⁰ Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

New Living Translation

David Flees from Saul

21¹ David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. "Why are you alone?" he asked. "Why is no one with you?" ² "The king has sent me on a private matter," David said. "He told me not to tell anyone why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me later. ³ Now, what is there to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have." ⁴ "We don't have any regular bread," the priest replied. "But there is the holy bread, which you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently." ⁵ "Don't worry," David replied. "I never allow my men to be with women when we are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!" ⁶ Since there was no other food available, the priest gave him the holy bread-the Bread of the Presence that was placed before the Lord in the Tabernacle. It had just been replaced that day with fresh bread. ⁷ Now Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief herdsman, was there that day, having been detained before the Lord . ⁸ David asked Ahimelech, "Do you have a spear or sword? The king's business was so urgent that I didn't even have time to grab a weapon!" ⁹ "I only have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah," the priest replied. "It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. Take that if you want it, for there is nothing else here." "There is nothing like it!" David replied. "Give it to me!"

¹⁰ So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath.