New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures — With References (Rbi8, en_US, 1984)
1 Samuel
The First of Samuel, 21
1 Later David came into Nob to A·himʹe·lech the priest; and A·himʹe·lech began to tremble at meeting David and then said to him: “Why is it you are by yourself, and no one is with you?”
2 At this David said to A·himʹe·lech the priest: “The king himself commanded me as to a matter, and he went on to say to me, ‘Let no one know anything at all of the matter concerning which I am sending you and concerning which I have commanded you.’ And I have made an appointment with the young men*1 for such and such a place.
|
3 And now, if there are five loaves of bread at your disposal, just give them into my hand, or*1 whatever may be found.”
|
4 But the priest answered David and said: “There is no ordinary bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; provided that the young men have at least kept themselves from womankind.”
5 So David answered the priest and said to him: “But womankind has been kept away from us the same as formerly when I went out,*1 and the organisms*2 of the young men continue holy, although the mission itself is ordinary. And how much more so today, when one becomes holy in [his] organism?”
|
6 At that the priest gave him what was holy, because there happened to be no bread there but the showbread*1 that had been removed from before Jehovah so as to place fresh*2 bread there on the day of its being taken away.
|
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there on that day, detained before Jehovah, and his name was Doʹeg the Eʹdom·ite, the principal one of the shepherds*1 that belonged to Saul.
|
8 And David went on to say to A·himʹe·lech: “And is there nothing here at your disposal, a spear or a sword? For neither my own sword nor my weapons did I take in my hand, because the king’s matter proved to be urgent.”
9 To this the priest said: “The sword of Go·liʹath the Phi·lisʹtine, whom you struck down in the low plain of Eʹlah—here it is, wrapped up in a mantle, behind the ephʹod. If it is what you would take for yourself, take it, because there is no other here except it.” And David went on to say: “There is none like it. Give it to me.”
10 Then David rose up and continued running away on account of Saul on that day, and at length came to Aʹchish the king of Gath.
11 And the servants of Aʹchish began to say to him: “Is not this David the king of the land? Was it not to this one that they kept responding with*1 dances, saying, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, And David his tens of thousands’?”*2
|
12 And David began to take these words to his heart, and he became very much afraid on account of Aʹchish the king of Gath.
13 So he disguised his sanity under their eyes and began acting insane in their hand and kept making cross marks*1 on the doors of the gate*2 and let his saliva run down upon his beard.
|
14 Finally Aʹchish said to his servants: “Here YOU see a man behaving crazy. Why should YOU bring him to me?
15 Am I in need of people driven crazy, so that YOU have brought this one to behave crazy by me? Should this one come into my home?”