1 Samuel 22

1 And David goeth thence, and is escaped unto the cave of Adullam, and his brethren hear, and all the house of his father, and go down unto him thither;

David escaped and went to the cave of Adullam. When they heard where he was his brothers and all the rest of his family went and joined him there.

2 and gather themselves unto him do every man in distress, and every man who hath an exactor, and every man bitter in soul, and he is over them for head, and there are with him about four hundred men.

Everyone who was in trouble or in debt or resentful also came to him and he became their leader. He had around four hundred men with him.

3 And David goeth thence to Mizpeh of Moab, and saith unto the king of Moab, 'Let, I pray thee, my father and my mother go out with you, till that I know what God doth for me;'

Then David went to Mizpeh in the country of Moab. He asked the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I find out what God is planning for me.”

4 and he leadeth them before the king of Moab, and they dwell with him all the days of David's being in the fortress.

So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with the king all the time David lived in the stronghold.

5 And Gad the prophet saith unto David, 'Thou dost not abide in a fortress, go, and thou hast entered for thee the land of Judah;' and David goeth and entereth the forest of Hareth.

But then the prophet Gad told David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go back to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

6 And Saul heareth that David hath become known, and the men who [are] with him, and Saul is abiding in Gibeah, under the grove in Ramah, and his spear [is] in his hand, and all his servants standing by him.

Saul found out that David had returned and where he was. Saul was sitting under the tamarisk tree on the hill in Gibeah. He had his spear in his hand, with all his officials surrounding him.

7 And Saul saith to his servants who are standing by him, 'Hear, I pray you, ye Benjamites; also to all of you doth the son of Jesse give fields and vineyards! all of you he doth appoint heads of thousands and heads of hundreds!

Saul said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Benjamin! Is the son of Jesse going to give all of you fields and vineyards and make you commanders and officers in the army?

8 for ye have conspired all of you against me, and there is none uncovering mine ear about my son's covenanting with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you grieving for me, and uncovering mine ear, that my son hath raised up my servant against me, to lie in wait as [at] this day.'

Is that why you've all plotted against me? Not a single one of you told me that my own son had made an agreement with Jesse's son. Not a single one of you has shown you cared about me, or explained to me that my son has encouraged him to try and kill me, which is what he's doing right now!”

9 And answer doth Doeg the Edomite, who is set over the servants of Saul, and saith, 'I have seen the son of Jesse coming in to Nob, unto Ahimelech son of Ahitub,

Doeg the Edomite, who was standing there with Saul's officers, spoke up, saying, “I saw the son of Jesse visit Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, at Nob.

10 and he asketh for him at Jehovah, and provision hath given to him, and the sword of Goliath the Philistine hath given to him.

Ahimelech asked advice from the Lord for him and gave him food. He gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine as well.”

11 And the king sendeth to call Ahimelech son of Ahitub, the priest, and all the house of his father, the priests, who [are] in Nob, and they come all of them unto the king;

The king sent a message to summon Ahimelech the priest, son of Ahitub, and all his family, who were priests at Nob. They all came to the king.

12 and Saul saith, 'Hear, I pray thee, son of Ahitub;' and he saith, 'Here [am] I, my lord.'

“Now you listen, son of Ahitub,” the king shouted. “What is it, my lord?” Ahimelech asked.

13 And Saul saith unto him, 'Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, by thy giving to him bread and a sword, and to ask for him at God, to rise against me, to lie in wait, as [at] this day?'

“Why have you and the son of Jesse plotted against me? You gave him bread and a sword, and asked advice from God for him so that he could rebel against me and try and kill me, which is what he's doing right now!”

14 And Ahimelech answereth the king and saith, 'And who among all thy servants [is] as David — faithful, and son-in-law of the king, and hath turned aside unto thy council, and is honoured in thy house?

“Who of all your officers is as trustworthy as David, the king's son-in-law? He is in charge of your bodyguard, and highly respected in your family!” Ahimelech responded.

15 To-day have I begun to ask for him at God? far be it from me! let not the king lay anything against his servant, against any of the house of my father, for thy servant hath known nothing of all this, less or more.'

“And was that day the first time he asked advice from God on his behalf? Of course not! The king should not accuse me your servant or any of my family, for I didn't know anything about any of this.”

16 And the king saith, 'Thou dost surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all the house of thy father.'

“You're going to die for this!” the king declared. “You and all your family!”

17 And the king saith to runners, those standing by him, 'Turn round, and put to death the priests of Jehovah, because their hand also [is] with David, and because they have known that he is fleeing, and have not uncovered mine ear;' and the servants of the king have not been willing to put forth their hand to come against the priests of Jehovah.

Then the king turned to his bodyguards standing there and ordered them, “Kill these priests of the Lord, because they're on David's side! They knew he was a fugitive and yet they didn't tell me!” But the king's guards refused to attack the priests of the Lord.

18 And the king saith to Doeg, 'Turn round thou, and come against the priests;' and Doeg the Edomite turneth round, and cometh himself against the priests, and putteth to death in that day eighty and five men bearing a linen ephod,

So the king ordered Doeg, “You kill the priests!” Doeg the Edomite attacked and killed the priests, killing eighty-five men wearing the priestly ephod.

19 and Nob, the city of the priests, he hath smitten by the mouth of the sword, from man even unto woman, from infant even unto suckling, and ox, and ass, and sheep, by the mouth of the sword.

Then he went to Nob, the town of the priests, and slaughtered its men and women, children and infants, cattle, donkeys, and sheep.

20 And there escapeth one son of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, and his name [is] Abiathar, and he fleeth after David,

But one of the sons of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, managed to escape. His name was Abiathar, and he ran away and joined David.

21 and Abiathar declareth to David that Saul hath slain the priests of Jehovah.

He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

22 And David saith to Abiathar, 'I have known on that day when Doeg the Edomite [is] there, that he doth certainly declare [it] to Saul; I have brought [it] round to every person of the house of thy father;

David told Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he was going to tell Saul about it. It's my fault that all your family have died.

23 dwell with me; fear not; for he who seeketh my life seeketh thy life; for a charge [art] thou with me.'

But you can stay with me and you don't need to be afraid, because the man who wants to kill you wants to kill me too. I'll take good care of you.”