1 Samuel 21

1 And David cometh in to Nob, unto Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech trembleth at meeting David, and saith to him, 'Wherefore [art] thou thyself alone, and no man with thee?'

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 And David saith to Ahimelech the priest, 'The king hath commanded me a matter, and he saith unto me, Let no man know anything of the matter about which I am sending thee, and which I have commanded thee; and the young men I have caused to know at such and such a place;

“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 and now, what is there under thy hand? five loaves give into my hand, or that which is found.'

So what do you have on hand to eat? Let me have five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

4 And the priest answereth David, and saith, 'There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the youths have been kept only from women.'

“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 And David answereth the priest, and saith to him, 'Surely, if women have been restrained from us as heretofore in my going out, then the vessels of the young men are holy, and it [is] a common way: and also, surely to-day it is sanctified in the vessel.'

“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 And the priest giveth to him the holy thing, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which is turned aside from the presence of Jehovah to put hot bread in the day of its being taken away.

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 that day and replaced with fresh bread.

7 And there [is] a man of the servants of Saul on that day detained before Jehovah, and his name [is] Doeg the Edomite, chief of the shepherds whom Saul hath.

One of Saul's servants happened to be there that day, trying to make himself right with the Lord. He was Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief shepherd.

8 And David saith to Ahimelech, 'And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for neither my sword nor my vessels have I taken in my hand, for the matter of the king was urgent.'

“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 And the priest saith, 'The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou didst smite in the valley of Elah, lo, it is wrapped in a garment behind the ephod, if it thou dost take to thyself, take; for there is none other save it in this [place].' And David saith, 'There is none like it — give it to me.'

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 And David riseth and fleeth on that day from the face of Saul, and cometh in unto Achish king of Gath;

David ran away from Saul that day and went to Achish, king of Gath.

11 and the servants of Achish say unto him, 'Is not this David king of the land? is it not of this one they sing in dances, saying, 'Saul smote among his thousands, and David among his myriads?'

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 And David layeth these words in his heart, and is exceedingly afraid of the face of Achish king of Gath,

David listened carefully to what they said and this made him very afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.

13 and changeth his behaviour before their eyes, and feigneth himself mad in their hand, and scribbleth on the doors of the gate, and letteth down his spittle unto his beard.

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 And Achish saith unto his servants, 'Lo, ye see a man acting as a madman; why do ye bring him in unto me?

Achish told his officials, “Look, you can see the man is completely mad! Why did you bring him to me?

15 A lack of madmen [have] I, that ye have brought in this one to act as a madman by me! doth this one come in unto my house?'

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?”