1David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech was trembling in fear when he met him, and he asked, “Why are you here alone? Why isn't there anybody with you?”

2“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.

3So what do you have on hand to eat? Let me have five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

4“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“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.”

6So 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 ⁶⁷that day and replaced with fresh bread.

7One of Saul's servants happened to be there that day, trying to make himself right ⁶⁸with the Lord. He was Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief shepherd.

8“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.”

9The 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.

10David ran away from Saul that day and went to Achish, king of Gath. ⁶⁹

11But 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’?”

12David listened carefully to what they said and this made him very afraid of Achish, the king of Gath.

13So 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.

14Achish told his officials, “Look, you can see the man is completely mad! Why did you bring him to me?

15Is 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?”