Parallel Bible results for "1 samuel 21"

1 Samuel 21

Common English Bible CEB

1 David came to Nob where Ahimelech was priest. Ahimelech was shaking in fear when he met David. "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?" he asked.

2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, "The king has given me orders, but he instructed me, ‘Don't let anyone know anything about the mission I'm sending you on or about your orders.' As for my troops, I told them to meet me at an undisclosed location.

3 Now what do you have here with you? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find."

4 "I don't have any regular bread on hand," the priest answered David, "just holy bread—but only if your troops have abstained from sexual activity."

5 "Definitely," David answered the priest. "Whenever I go out to war, women are off-limits; that's our standard operating procedure. Even on regular missions, the men's gear is kept holy. That's even more true today, with the mission holy along with the gear."

6 So the priest gave David holy bread, because there was no other bread except the bread of the presence, which is removed from the LORD's presence and replaced by warm bread as soon as it is taken away.

7 Now one of Saul's servants was there that day, detained in the LORD's presence. His name was Doeg. He was an Edomite and Saul's head shepherd.

8 David asked Ahimelech, "Do you have a spear or sword on hand? I didn't bring my sword or gear with me because the king's mission was urgent."

9 The priest said, "The sword of Goliath, the Philistine you killed in the Elah Valley, is here wrapped in a cloth behind a priestly vest. If you want it, take it, because there are no other swords here." David said, "No sword is as good as that one! Give it to me!"

10 So David got up and continued running from Saul. He went to Achish, Gath's king.

11 Achish's servants said to him, "Isn't that David, king of the land? He's the one people sing about in their dances, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his tens of thousands!'"

12 David took these words very seriously and became very frightened of Achish, Gath's king.

13 So he changed the way he acted with them, pretending to be insane while he was with them. He scratched marks on the doors of the city gates and let spit run down his chin.

14 "Can't you see he's crazy?" Achish asked his servants. "Why bring him to me?

15 Am I short on insane people that you've brought this person to go crazy right in front of me? Do you really think I'm going to let this man enter my house?"

New Revised Standard NRS

1 David came to Nob to the priest Ahimelech. Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no one with you?"

2 David said to the priest Ahimelech, "The king has charged me with a matter, and said to me, "No one must 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 have you at hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here."

4 The priest answered David, "I have no ordinary bread at hand, only holy bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women."

5 David answered the priest, "Indeed 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 a common 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 except 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 shepherds.

8 David said to Ahimelech, "Is there no spear or sword here with you? I did not bring my sword or my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste."

9 The priest said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you will take that, take it, for there is none here except that one." David said, "There is none like it; give it to me."

10 David rose and fled that day from Saul; he went to King Achish of Gath.

11 The servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, "Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?"

12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of King Achish of Gath.

13 So he changed his behavior before them; he pretended to be mad when in their presence. He scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard.

14 Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see the man is mad; why then have you brought him to me?

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