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David 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: āWhat are you doing here all by yourselfāand not a soul with you?ā David answered Ahimelech the Priest, āThe king sent me on a mission and gave strict orders: āThis is top secretānot a word of this to a soul.ā Iāve arranged to meet up with my men in a certain place. Now, whatās there here to eat? Do you have five loaves of bread? Give me whatever you can scrounge up!ā āI donāt have any regular bread on hand,ā said the priest. āI only have holy bread. If your men have not slept with women recently, itās yours.ā David said, āNone of us has touched a woman. I always do it this way when Iām on a mission: My men abstain from sex. Even when it is an ordinary mission we do thatāhow much more on this holy mission.ā So the priest gave them the holy bread. It was the only bread he had, Bread of the Presence that had been removed from Godās presence and replaced by fresh bread at the same time. One of Saulās officials was present that day keeping a religious vow. His name was Doeg the Edomite. He was chief of Saulās shepherds. David asked Ahimelech, āDo you have a spear or sword of any kind around here? I didnāt have a chance to grab my weapons. The kingās mission was urgent and I left in a hurry.ā The priest said, āThe sword of Goliath, the Philistine you killed at Oak Valleyāthatās here! Itās behind the Ephod wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, take it. Thereās nothing else here.ā āOh,ā said David, āthereās no sword like that! Give it to me!ā And at that, David shot out of there, running for his life from Saul. He went to Achish, king of Gath. When the servants of Achish saw him, they said, āCan this be David, the famous David? Is this the one they sing of at their dances? Saul kills by the thousand, David by the ten thousand!ā When David realized that he had been recognized, he panicked, fearing the worst from Achish, king of Gath. So right there, while they were looking at him, he pretended to go crazy, pounding his head on the city gate and foaming at the mouth, spit dripping from his beard. Achish took one look at him and said to his servants, āCanāt you see heās crazy? Why did you let him in here? Donāt you think I have enough crazy people to put up with as it is without adding another? Get him out of here!ā
1 Samuel 21:1ā-ā¬15 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/1sa.21.1-15.MSG

