1 And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech trembled when he met David, and said to him, Why are you alone, and no one is with you?

2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has charged me with some business, and said to me, Let no one know anything of the matter about which I am sending you, or what I have commanded you. And I have directed my young men to such and such a place.

3 Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.

4 And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.

5 And David answered the priest, and said to him, Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and in a way the bread is common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel today.

6 So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence which had been taken from before Jehovah, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of Saul’s shepherds.

8 And David said to Ahimelech, Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business came about urgently.

9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here. And David said, There is none like it; give it to me.

10 And David rose up and fled that day from the face of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

11 And the servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him in dances, saying: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

12 And David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid before Achish the king of Gath.

13 And he changed his behavior in their eyes, acted like a mad man in their hands, scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall into his beard.

14 Then Achish said to his servants, Behold, see how the man is mad. Why did you bring him to me?

15 Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to show madness in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?

1 ENTÃO veio Davi a Nobe, ao sacerdote Aquimeleque; e Aquimeleque, tremendo, saiu ao encontro de Davi, e disse-lhe: Por que vens só, e ninguém contigo? 2 E disse Davi ao sacerdote Aquimeleque: O rei me encomendou um negócio, e me disse: Ninguém saiba deste negócio, pelo qual eu te enviei, e o qual te ordenei: quanto aos mancebos, apontei-lhes tal e tal lugar. 3 Agora, pois, que tens à mão? dá-me cinco pães na minha mão, ou o que se achar. 4 E, respondendo o sacerdote a Davi, disse: Não tenho pão comum à mão; há porém pão sagrado, se ao menos os mancebos se abstiveram das mulheres. 5 E respondeu Davi ao sacerdote, e lhe disse: Sim, em boa fé, as mulheres se nos vedaram desde ontem: e, anteontem, quando eu saí, os vasos dos mancebos também eram santos: e em alguma maneira é pão comum, quanto mais que hoje se santificará outro nos vasos. 6 Então o sacerdote lhe deu o pão sagrado, porquanto não havia ali outro pão senão os pães da proposição, que se tiraram de diante do Senhor para se pôr ali pão quente no dia em que aquele se tirasse. 7 Estava, porém, ali naquele dia um dos criados de Saul, detido perante o Senhor, e era seu nome Doegue, idumeu, o mais poderoso dos pastores de Saul. 8 E disse Davi a Aquimeleque: Não tens aqui à mão lança ou espada alguma? porque não trouxe à mão nem a minha espada nem as minhas armas, porque o negócio do rei era apressado. 9 E disse o sacerdote: A espada de Golias, o filisteu, a quem tu feriste no vale do carvalho, eis que ela aqui está envolta num pano detrás do éfode: se tu a queres tomar, toma-a, porque nenhuma outra há aqui, senão aquela. E disse Davi: Não há outra semelhante; dá-ma.

10 E Davi levantou-se, e fugiu aquele dia de diante de Saul, e veio a Áquis, rei de Gate. 11 Porém os criados de Áquis lhe disseram: Não é este Davi, o rei da terra? não se cantava deste nas danças, dizendo: Saul feriu os seus milhares, porém Davi os seus dez milhares? 12 E Davi considerou estas palavras no seu ânimo, e temeu muito diante de Áquis, rei de Gate. 13 Pelo que se contrafez diante dos olhos deles, e fez-se como doido entre as suas mãos, e esgravatava nas portas do portal, e deixava correr a saliva pela barba. 14 Então disse Áquis aos seus criados: Eis que bem vedes que este homem está louco; porque mo trouxestes a mim? 15 Faltam-me a mim doidos, para que trouxésseis a este que fizesse doidices diante de mim? há de este entrar na minha casa?