13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
Taste and See That the Lord Is Good
1 Of David, when he nchanged his behavior before oAbimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
1 I will bless the Lord pat all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul qmakes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and rbe glad.
3 Oh, smagnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
4 I tsought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are uradiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 vThis poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and wsaved him out of all his troubles.
7 xThe angel of the Lord yencamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, ztaste and see that athe Lord is good!
bBlessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 cThe young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who dseek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 eCome, O children, listen to me;
fI will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 gWhat man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may hsee good?
13 iKeep your tongue from evil
and your lips from jspeaking deceit.
14 kTurn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and lpursue it.
15 mThe eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
nand his ears toward their cry.
16 oThe face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to pcut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 nWhen the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to qthe brokenhearted
and saves rthe crushed in spirit.
19 sMany are the afflictions of the righteous,
tbut the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
unot one of them is broken.
21 vAffliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord wredeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be xcondemned.
David at the Cave of Adullam
1 David departed from there and escaped to hthe cave of iAdullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.
You Are My Refuge
A Maskil1 of David, when he was in kthe cave. A Prayer.
1 With my voice I lcry out to the Lord;
with my voice I mplead for mercy to the Lord.
2 I npour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
3 When my spirit ofaints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have phidden a trap for me.
4 qLook to the rright and see:
sthere is none who takes notice of me;
tno refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.
5 I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my urefuge,
my vportion in wthe land of the living.”
6 xAttend to my cry,
for yI am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
zfor they are too strong for me!
7 aBring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will bdeal bountifully with me.
2 jAnd everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul,1 gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him kabout four hundred men.
3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay2 with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4 And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5 Then the prophet lGad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.
Saul Kills the Priests at Nob
6 Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under mthe tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. 7 And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse ngive every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 8 that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me owhen my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you pis sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, qto lie in wait, as at this day.” 9 Then answered rDoeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse scoming to Nob, to tAhimelech the son of Ahitub, 10 uand he inquired of the Lord for him and vgave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11 Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. 12 And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 13 And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and uhave inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, wto lie in wait, as at this day?” 14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over3 your bodyguard, and honored in your house? 15 Is today the first time uthat I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, xmuch or little.” 16 And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” 17 And the king said to ythe guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, zand he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; aboth man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.
20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named bAbiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22 And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, cwhen Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. 23 dStay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”
The Steadfast Love of God Endures
To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of David, when cDoeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your dtongue plots destruction,
like ea sharp razor, you fworker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
and glying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and htear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from ithe land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall jsee and fear,
and shall klaugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but ltrusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”2
8 But I am like ma green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, nfor it is good,
in the presence of the ogodly.
