1 Samuel 21 - 22, Hebrews 11, Proverbs 19

David Takes Consecrated Bread

21Then David came to ^aNob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech ^bcame trembling to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?” ²And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me with a matter and has said to me, ‘^aLet no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commanded you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ ³“So now, what ¹do you have on hand? Give five loaves of bread into my hand, or whatever can be found.” ⁴And the priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread ¹on hand, but there is ^aconsecrated bread; if only the young men have ^bkept themselves from women.” ⁵And David answered the priest and said to him, “^aSurely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the ^bvessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will ¹their vessels be holy?” ⁶So ^athe priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the ^bbread of the Presence which was removed from before Yahweh, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.

⁷Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh; and his name was ^aDoeg the Edomite, the ^bchief of Saul’s shepherds.

⁸And David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there not a spear or a sword ¹on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons in my hand because the king’s matter was urgent.” ⁹Then the priest said, “^aThe sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down ^bin the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

David Flees to Gath

¹⁰Then David arose and fled that day from Saul and went to ^aAchish king of Gath. ¹¹But the ^aservants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? ^bDid they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, ‘Saul has struck his thousands,And David his ten thousands’?”

¹²And David ^atook these words ¹to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. ¹³So he ^adisguised his sanity in their sight and acted insanely in their hands and scribbled on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down into his beard. ¹⁴Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me? ¹⁵“Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman before me? Shall this one come into my house?”

David at the Cave of Adullam

22So David departed from there and ^aescaped to ^bthe cave of Adullam; and his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it and went down there to him. ²Then everyone who was in distress, and everyone who ¹was in debt, and everyone who was bitter of soul, gathered to him; and he became a commander over them. Now there were ^aabout four hundred men with him.

³And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” ⁴Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the fortress. ⁵^aAnd the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the fortress; go, and enter into the land of Judah.” So David went and entered into the forest of Hereth.

Saul Puts the Priests at Nob to Death

⁶Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now ^aSaul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. ⁷And Saul said to his servants who were standing around him, “Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? ^aWill he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? ⁸“For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who reveals in my ear ^awhen my son cuts a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you ^bwho is sorry for me or reveals in my ear that my son has caused my servant to rise up against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day.” ⁹Then ^aDoeg the Edomite, who was ¹standing by the servants of Saul, said, “^bI saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to ^cAhimelech the son of Ahitub. ¹⁰“^aAnd he asked of Yahweh for him, ^bgave him provisions, and ^cgave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹Then the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king. ¹²And Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” And he ¹answered, “Here I am, my lord.” ¹³Saul then said to him, “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have asked of God on his behalf, so that he would rise up against me ^aby lying in ambush as it is this day?”

¹⁴^aThen Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, even the king’s son-in-law, who ¹is captain over your guard, and is honored in your house? ¹⁵“Did I just begin ^ato ask of God on his behalf today? Far be it from me! ^bDo not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing small or great of this whole affair.” ¹⁶But the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s household!” ¹⁷And ^athe king said to the ¹guards who were standing by him, “Turn around and put the priests of Yahweh to death because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it in my ears.” But the ^bservants of the king were not willing to send forth their hands to fall upon the priests of Yahweh. ¹⁸Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and ¹attack the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned around and ²attacked the priests, and ^ahe put to death that day eighty-five men ^bwho wore the linen ephod. ¹⁹So ^ahe struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, infants and nursing babies; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword.

²⁰But ^aone son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, ^bescaped and fled after David. ²¹And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of Yahweh. ²²Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when ^aDoeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. It is I who have turned against every person in your father’s household. ²³“Stay with me; do not be afraid, for ^ahe who seeks my life seeks your life, for you are ¹safe with me.”

By Faith

11Now faith is the ¹^,^aassurance of things ²^,^bhoped for, the ³conviction of ^cthings not seen. ²For by it the ¹^,^amen of old ²^,^bgained approval.

³By faith we understand that the ¹^,^aworlds were prepared ^bby the word of God, so that what is seen ^cwas not made out of things which are visible. ⁴By faith ^aAbel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he ^bwas approved as being righteous—God approving ¹his ^cgifts—and through ²faith, though ^dhe is dead, he still speaks. ⁵By faith ^aEnoch was taken up so that he would not ^bsee death; and he was not found because God took him up; for prior to being taken up, he was approved as being pleasing to God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who ^adraws near to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. ⁷By faith ^aNoah, being ^bwarned about ^cthings not yet seen, ¹^,^din reverence ^eprepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of ^fthe righteousness which is according to faith.

⁸By faith ^aAbraham, when he was called, obeyed ¹by going out to a place which he was to ^breceive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹By faith he sojourned in ^athe land of promise, as in a foreign land, ^bdwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, ^cfellow heirs of the same promise, ¹⁰for he was looking for ^athe city which has ^bfoundations, ^cwhose architect and builder is God. ¹¹By faith even ^aSarah herself ¹received ²ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she regarded Him ^bfaithful who had promised. ¹²Therefore there were born even of one man, and ^ahim as good as dead ¹at that, as many ^bas the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

¹³^aAll these died in faith, ^bwithout receiving the promises, but ^chaving seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and ^dhaving confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. ¹⁵And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, ^athey would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a ^aheavenly one. Therefore ^bGod is not ¹ashamed to be ^ccalled their God, for ^dHe prepared a city for them.

¹⁷By faith ^aAbraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had ^breceived the promises was offering up his only son, ¹⁸to whom it was said, “^aIn Isaac your seed shall be called.” ¹⁹¹He considered that ^aGod is able to raise people even from the dead, from which, ²^,^bfiguratively speaking, he also received him back. ²⁰By faith ^aIsaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. ²¹By faith ^aJacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and ^bworshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. ²²By faith ^aJoseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave commands concerning his bones.

²³By faith ^aMoses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the ^bking’s edict. ²⁴By faith Moses, ^awhen he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to ^abe mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶^aregarding the reproach of ¹Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the ^breward. ²⁷By faith he ^aleft Egypt, not ^bfearing the rage of the king; for he endured, as ^cseeing Him who is unseen. ²⁸By faith he ¹^,^akept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that ^bhe who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. ²⁹By faith they ^apassed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were ¹drowned.

³⁰By faith ^athe walls of Jericho fell down ^bafter they had been encircled for seven days. ³¹By faith ^aRahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after welcoming the spies ¹in peace.

³²And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount ^aGideon, ^bBarak, ^cSamson, ^dJephthah, as well as ^eDavid and ^fSamuel and the prophets, ³³who through faith ^aconquered kingdoms, ^bperformed righteousness, ^cobtained promises, ^dshut the mouths of lions, ³⁴^aquenched the power of fire, ^bescaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, ^cbecame mighty in war, ^dput foreign armies to flight. ³⁵^aWomen received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their ¹release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶and others ¹experienced mockings and floggings, yes, also ^achains and imprisonment. ³⁷They were ^astoned, they were ^bsawn in two, ¹they were tempted, they were ^cput to death with the sword. They went about ^din sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ^emistreated ³⁸(of whom the world was not worthy), ^awandering in desolate places and mountains and caves and holes ¹in the ground.

³⁹And all these, having ¹^,^agained approval through their faith, ^bdid not receive ²what was promised, ⁴⁰because God had ¹provided ^asomething better for us, so that ^bapart from us they would not be made perfect.

The Counsel of Yahweh Will Stand

19^aBetter is a poor man who ^bwalks in his integrityThan he who is crooked in lips and is a fool.²Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge,And he who hurries ¹^,^ahis footsteps sins.³The ^afolly of man subverts his way,But his heart ^brages against Yahweh.⁴^aWealth adds many friends,But a poor man is separated from his friend.⁵A ¹^,^afalse witness will not go unpunished,And he who ^bbreathes out lies will not escape.⁶^aMany will seek the favor of a noble man,And everyone is a friend to a man who ^bgives gifts.⁷All the brothers of a poor man hate him;How much more do his ^afriends distance themselves from him!He ^bpursues them with words, but they are no more.⁸He who acquires a heart of wisdom loves his own soul;He who keeps discernment will ^afind good.⁹A ¹^,^afalse witness will not go unpunished,And he who breathes out lies will perish.¹⁰Luxury is ^anot fitting for a fool;Much less for a ^bslave to rule over princes.¹¹A man’s ^ainsight makes him slow to anger,And it is his honor ^bto overlook a transgression.¹²The ^aking’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,But his favor is like ^bdew on the grass.¹³A ^afoolish son is destruction to his father,And the ^bcontentions of a wife are a constant dripping.¹⁴House and wealth are an ^ainheritance from fathers,But a wife who has insight is from Yahweh.¹⁵^aLaziness casts into a deep sleep,And a slack-handed soul will suffer hunger.¹⁶He who ^akeeps the commandment keeps his soul,But he who despises his way will die.¹⁷He who ^ais gracious to a poor man lends to Yahweh,And He will repay him for his ^bbountiful deed.¹⁸^aDiscipline your son while there is hope,And do not ¹direct your soul to put him to death.¹⁹A man of great wrath will bear the penalty,For if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.²⁰^aListen to counsel and receive discipline,That you may be wise in ¹the end of your days.²¹Many ¹^,^athoughts are in a man’s heart,But it is the ^bcounsel of Yahweh that will stand.²²What is desirable in a man is his lovingkindness,And better is a poor man than a man of falsehood.²³The ¹^,^afear of Yahweh leads to life,So that one may sleep ^bsatisfied, not ^cvisited by evil.²⁴The ^asluggard buries his hand ^bin the dish,But will not even bring it back to his mouth.²⁵^aStrike a scoffer and the simple may become prudent,But ^breprove one who has understanding and he will understand knowledge.²⁶He ^awho assaults his father and causes his mother to fleeIs a son who brings shame and humiliation.²⁷Cease listening, my son, to discipline,And you will stray from the words of knowledge.²⁸A vile witness scoffs at justice,And the mouth of the wicked ^aswallows up iniquity.²⁹¹Judgments are established for ^ascoffers,And ^bbeatings for the back of fools.