1 David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek was trembling in fear when he met him, and he asked, “Why are you here alone? Why isn't there anybody with you?”

2 “The king has given me an assignment,” David replied. “He told me ‘Nobody must know anything about the assignment I have sent you to do.’ As for my men, I've told them where to meet me. 3 So what do you have on hand to eat? Let me have five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

4 “There's no ordinary bread,” the priest told David, “but there's some holy bread, as long as your men have not slept with any women lately.”

5 “We have not slept with any women,” David answered. “In fact that's the rule when I lead the troops on mission. They keep themselves pure even during ordinary missions, and all the more so right now.”

6 So the priest gave him the holy bread as they didn't have any other bread there except this “Bread of the Presence,” which had been removed from the presence of the Lord*In other words placed in the Tent of Meeting. that day and replaced with fresh bread.

7 One of Saul's servants happened to be there that day, trying to make himself right†“Make himself right”: literally “detained.” It appears Doeg was offering a sacrifice for some sin he had committed and that the priest Ahimelech was aware of. This seems to be one reason Doeg informed on David (22:9) and executed Saul's command to kill Ahimelech and the other priests. with the Lord. He was Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief shepherd.

8 “Have you got a spear or sword here?” David asked Ahimelech. “I didn't bring my sword or any of my weapons with me, because what the king needed me to do was urgent.”

9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine is here—the one you killed in the Valley of Elah. It's wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. You can take it if you want. It's the only one here.”

“It's better than any other sword! Please give it to me,” David replied.

10 David ran away from Saul that day and went to Achish, king of Gath.‡Gath was a Philistine town.

11 But Achish's officials asked the king, “Isn't this David, the king of that country? Didn't they sing about him in their dances, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

12 David listened carefully to what they said and this made him very afraid of Achish, the king of Gath. 13 So he changed the way he acted toward them and pretended to be crazy. He scratched marks on the town gates and let his spit run down his beard. 14 Achish told his officials, “Look, you can see the man is completely mad! Why did you bring him to me? 15 Is it because I need more mad people that you've brought this man to go crazy right in front of me? Do you think I'm going to let him come into my house?”