1 Samuel 21; 1 Samuel 22; 1 Samuel 23; 1 Samuel 24

1 Samuel 21

1 And David came to Nobe, to Achimelech, the priest and Achimelech was astonished at David’s coming. And he said to him: Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

2 And David said to Achimelech, the priest: The king hath commanded me a business, and said: Let no man know the thing for which thou art sent by me, and what manner of commands I have given thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

3 Now therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though it were but five loaves, give me, or whatsoever thou canst find.

4 And the priest answered David, saying: I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women?

5 And David answered the priest, and said to him: Truly, as to what concerneth women, we have refrained ourselves from yesterday and the day before, when we came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy. Now this way is defiled, but it shall also be sanctified this day in the vessels.

6 The priest therefore gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there, but only the loaves of proposition, which had been taken away from before the face of the Lord, that hot loaves might be set up.

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within the tabernacle of the Lord: and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of Saul’s herdsmen.

8 And David said to Achimelech: Hast thou here at hand a spear, or a sword? for I brought not my own sword, nor my own weapons with me, for the king’s business required haste.

9 And the priest said: Lo, here is the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Terebinth, wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take this, take it, for here there is no other but this. And David said: There is none like that, give it me.

10 And David arose and fled that day from the face of Saul: and came to Achis, the king of Geth:

11 And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said to him: Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

12 But David laid up these words in his heart, and was exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis, the king of Geth.

13 And he changed his countenance before them, and slipt down between their hands: and he stumbled against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard.

14 And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad: why have you brought him to me?

15 Have we need of mad men, that you have brought in this fellow, to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

1 Samuel 22

1 David therefore went from thence, and fled to the cave of Odollam. And when his brethren, and all his father’s house, had heard of it, they went down to him thither.

2 And all that were in distress, and oppressed with debt, and under affliction of mind, gathered themselves unto him: and he became their prince, and there were with him about four hundred men.

3 And David departed from thence into Maspha of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab: Let my father and my mother tarry with you, I beseech thee, till I know what God will do for me.

4 And he left them under thc eyes of the king of Moab, and they abode with him all the days that David was in the hold.

5 And Gad the prophet said to David: Abide not in the hold, depart, and go into the land of Juda. And David departed, and came into the forest of Haret.

6 And Saul heard that David was seen, and the men that were with him. Now whilst Saul abode in Gabaa, and was in the wood, which is by Rama, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him,

7 He said to his servants that stood about him: Hear me now, ye sons of Jemini: will the son of Isai give every one of you fields, and vineyards, and make you all tribunes, and centurions:

8 That all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one to inform me, especially when even my son hath entered into league with the son of Isai? There is not one of you that pitieth my case, nor that giveth me any information: because my son hath raised up my servant against me, plotting against me to this day.

9 And Doeg, the Edomite, who stood by, and was the chief among the servants of Saul, answering, said: I saw the son of Isai, in Nobe, with Achimelech, the son of Achitob, the priest.

10 And he consulted the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath, the Philistine.

11 Then the king sent to call for Achimelech, the priest, the son of Achitob, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nobe, and they came all of them to the king.

12 And Saul said to Achimelech: Hear, thou son of Achitob. He answered: Here I am, my lord.

13 And Saul said to him: Why have you conspired against me, thou, and the son of Isai, and thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast consulted the Lord for him, that he should rise up against me, continuing a traitor to this day.

14 And Achimelech answering the king, said: And who amongst all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son in law, and goeth forth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thy house?

15 Did I begin to day to consult the Lord for him? far be this from me: let not the king suspect such a thing against his servant, or any one in all my father’s house: for thy servant knew nothing of this matter, either little or great.

16 And the king said: Dying thou shalt die, Achimelech, thou and all thy father’s house.

17 And the king said to the messengers that stood about him: Turn, and kill the priests of the Lord, for their hand is with David, because they knew that he was fled, and they told it not to me. And the king’s servants would not put forth their hands against the priests of the Lord.

18 And the king said to Doeg: Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg, the Edomite, turned, and fell upon the priests, and slew in that day eighty-five men that wore the linen ephod.

19 And Nobe, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and ox, and ass, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

20 But one of the sons of Achimelech, the son of Achitob, whose name was Abiathar, escaped, and fled to David,

21 And told him that Saul had slain the priests of the Lord.

22 And David said to Abiathar: I knew that day when Doeg, the Edomite, was there, that without doubt he would tell Saul: I have been the occasion of the death of all the souls of thy father’s house.

23 Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life also, and with me thou shalt be saved.

1 Samuel 23

1 And they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines fight against Ceila, and they rob the barns.

2 Therefore David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said to David: Go, and thou shalt smite the Philistines, and shalt save Ceila.

3 And the men that were with David, said to him: Behold we are in fear here in Judea, how much more if we go to Ceila against the bands of the Philistines?

4 Therefore David consulted the Lord again. And he answered and said to him: Arise, and go to Ceila: for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand

5 David, therefore, and his men, went to Ceila, and fought against the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and made a great slaughter of them: and David saved the inhabitants of Ceila.

6 Now at that time, when Abiathar, the son of Achimelech, fled to David, to Ceila, he came down, having an ephod with him.

7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Ceila: and Saul said: The Lord hath delivered him into my hands, and he is shut up, being come into a city that hath gates and bars.

8 And Saul commanded all the people to go down to fight against Ceila, and to besiege David and his men.

9 Now when David understood that Saul secretly prepared evil against him, he said to Abiathar, the priest: Bring hither the ephod.

10 And David said: O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard a report, that Saul designeth to come to Ceila, to destroy the city for my sake:

11 Will the men of Ceila deliver me into his hands? and will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said: He will come down.

12 And David said: Will the men of Ceila deliver me and my men into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said: They will deliver thee up.

13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose, and departing from Ceila, wandered up and down, uncertain where they should stay: and it was told Saul that David was fled from Ceila, and had escaped: wherefore he forbore to go out.

14 But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and he remained in a mountain of the desert of Ziph, in a woody hill. And Saul sought him always: but the Lord delivered him not into his hands

15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood.

16 And Jonathan, the son of Saul, arose, and went to David, into the wood, and strengthened his hands in God: and he said to him:

17 Fear not: for the hand of my father, Saul, shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; yea and my father knoweth this.

18 And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood: but Jonathan returned to his house.

19 And the Ziphites went up to Saul, in Gabaa, saying: Lo, doth not David lie hid with us in the strong holds of the wood, in mount Hachila, which is on the right hand of the desert

20 Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to come down: and it shall be our business to deliver him into the king’s hands.

21 And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my case

22 Go, therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence, and curiously inquire, and consider the place where his foot is, and who hath seen him there: for he thinketh of me, that I lie craftily in wait for him.

23 Consider, and see all his lurking holes, wherein he is hid, and return to me with the certainty of the thing, that I may go with you. And if he should even go down into the earth to hide himself, I will search him out in all the thousands of Juda.

24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: and David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain at the right hand of Jesimon.

25 Then Saul and his men went to seek him: and it was told David, and forthwith he went down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon: and when Saul had heard of it, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain: and David and his men were on the other side of the mountain: and David despaired of being able to escape from the face of Saul: and Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round about, to take them.

27 And a messenger came to Saul, saying: Make haste to come, for the Philistines have poured in themselves upon the land.

28 Wherefore Saul returned, leaving the pursuit of David, and went to meet the Philistines. For this cause they called that place the rock of division.

29 (24-1) Then David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds of Engaddi.

1 Samuel 24

1 (24-2) And when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, they told him, saying: Behold, David is in the desert of Engaddi.

2 (24-3) Saul, therefore, took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went out to seek after David and his men, even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats.

3 (24-4) And he came to the sheepcotes which were in his way. And there was a cave, into which Saul went, to ease nature: now David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the cave.

4 (24-5) And the servants of David said to him: Behold the day, of which the Lord said to thee: I will deliver thy enemy unto thee, that thou mayst do to him as it shall seem good in thy eyes. Then David arose, and secretly cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.

5 (24-6) After which David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.

6 (24-7) And he said to his men: The Lord be merciful unto me, that I may do no such thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because he is the Lord’s anointed.

7 (24-8) And David stopped his men with his words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul: but Saul, rising up out of the cave, went on his way.

8 (24-9) And David also rose up after him: and going out of the cave, cried after Saul, saying: My lord the king. And Saul looked behind him: and David bowing himself down to the ground, worshipped,

9 (24-10) And said to Saul: Why dost thou hear the words of men that say: David seeketh thy hurt?

10 (24-11) Behold this day thy eyes have seen, that the Lord hath delivered thee into my hand, in the cave, and I had a thought to kill thee, but my eye hath spared thee. For I said: I will not put out my hand against my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.

11 (24-12) Moreover, see and know, O my father, the hem of thy robe in my hand, that when I cut off the hem of thy robe, I would not put out my hand against thee. Reflect, and see, that there is no evil in my hand, nor iniquity, neither have I sinned against thee: but thou liest in wait for my life, to take it away.

12 (24-13) The Lord judge between me and thee and the Lord revenge me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee.

13 (24-14) As also it is said in the old proverb: From the wicked shall wickedness come forth: therefore my hand shall not be upon thee. After whom dost thou come out, O king of Israel?

14 (24-15) After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.

15 (24-16) Be the Lord judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and judge my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand.

16 (24-17) And when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, Saul said: Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept:

17 (24-18) And he said to David: Thou art more just than I: for thou hast done good to me, and I have rewarded thee with evil.

18 (24-19) And thou hast shewed this day what good things thou hast done to me: how the Lord delivered me into thy hand, and thou hast not killed me.

19 (24-20) For who when he hath found his enemy, will let him go well away? But the Lord reward thee for this good turn, for what thou hast done to me this day.

20 (24-21) And now as I know that thou shalt surely be king, and have the kingdom of Israel in thy hand:

21 (24-22) Swear to me by the Lord, that thou wilt not destroy my seed after me, nor take away my name from the house of my father.

22 (24-23) And David swore to Saul. So Saul went home: and David and his men went up into safer places.