1 Samuel 22
1 David therefore
departed thence, and
escaped to the
cave Adullam: and when his
brethren and all his
father's house heard it, they went
down thither to him.
2 And every
one that was in
distress, and every
one that was in
debt, and every
one that was
discontented,
gathered themselves unto him; and he became a
captain over them: and there were with him about
four hundred men. 3 And
David went thence to
Mizpeh of
Moab: and he
said unto the
king of
Moab, Let my
father and my
mother, I pray thee, come
forth, and be with you, till I
know what
God will
do for me.
4 And he
brought them
before the
king of
Moab: and they
dwelt with him all the
while that
David was in the
hold. 5 And the
prophet Gad said unto
David, Abide not in the
hold; depart, and
get thee into the
land of
Judah. Then
David departed, and
came into the
forest of
Hareth. 6 When
Saul heard that
David was
discovered, and the
men that were with him, (now
Saul abode in
Gibeah under a
tree in
Ramah, having his
spear in his
hand, and all his
servants were
standing about him;)
7 Then
Saul said unto his
servants that
stood about him, Hear
now, ye
Benjamites; will the
son of
Jesse give every one of you
fields and
vineyards, and
make you all
captains of
thousands, and
captains of
hundreds; 8 That all of you have
conspired against me, and there is none that
sheweth me that my
son hath made a
league with the
son of
Jesse, and there is none of you that is
sorry for me, or
sheweth unto me that my
son hath stirred
up my
servant against me, to lie in
wait, as at this
day? 9 Then
answered Doeg the
Edomite, which was
set over the
servants of
Saul, and
said, I
saw the
son of
Jesse coming to
Nob, to
Ahimelech the
son of
Ahitub. 10 And he
enquired of the
LORD for him, and
gave him
victuals, and
gave him the
sword of
Goliath the
Philistine. 11 Then the
king sent to
call Ahimelech the
priest, the
son of
Ahitub, and all his
father's house, the
priests that were in
Nob: and they
came all of them to the
king. 12 And
Saul said,
Hear now, thou
son of
Ahitub. And he
answered, Here I am, my
lord. 13 And
Saul said unto him, Why have ye
conspired against me, thou and the
son of
Jesse, in that thou hast
given him
bread, and a
sword, and hast
enquired of
God for him, that he should
rise against me, to lie in
wait, as at this
day? 14 Then
Ahimelech answered the
king, and
said, And who is so
faithful among all thy
servants as
David, which is the
king's son in
law, and
goeth at thy
bidding, and is
honourable in thine
house? 15 Did I
then begin to
enquire of
God for him? be it far from
me: let not the
king impute any
thing unto his
servant, nor to all the
house of my
father: for thy
servant knew no
thing of all this,
less or
more. 16 And the
king said, Thou shalt
surely die,
Ahimelech, thou, and all thy
father's house. 17 And the
king said unto the
footmen that
stood about him,
Turn, and
slay the
priests of the
LORD; because their
hand also is with
David, and because they
knew when he
fled, and did not
shew it to me. But the
servants of the
king would not put
forth their
hand to
fall upon the
priests of the
LORD. 18 And the
king said to
Doeg, Turn thou, and
fall upon the
priests. And
Doeg the
Edomite turned, and he
fell upon the
priests, and
slew on that
day fourscore and
five persons that did
wear a
linen ephod. 19 And
Nob, the
city of the
priests, smote he with the
edge of the
sword, both
men and
women, children and
sucklings, and
oxen, and
asses, and
sheep, with the
edge of the
sword. 20 And
one of the
sons of
Ahimelech the
son of
Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and
fled after David. 21 And
Abiathar shewed David that
Saul had
slain the
LORD'S priests. 22 And
David said unto
Abiathar, I
knew it that
day, when
Doeg the
Edomite was there, that he would
surely tell Saul: I have
occasioned the death of all the
persons of thy
father's house. 23 Abide thou with me,
fear not: for he that
seeketh my
life seeketh thy
life: but with me thou shalt be in
safeguard.