David and the Holy Bread

1 ¹ Then David came to ^vNob, to ^wAhimelech the priest. And Ahimelech ^xcame to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is ^yholy bread—^zif the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him ^ythe holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, ^awhich is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was ^bDoeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.

8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, ^c“The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in ^dthe Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”

David Flees to Gath

10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to ^eAchish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? ^fDid they not sing to one another of him in dances,

12 And David ^gtook these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 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?”

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. 2 ^jAnd everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul,² 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 stay³ 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 over⁴ 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.”

Descendants of Reuben

1 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (^cfor he was the firstborn, but because ^dhe defiled his father’s couch, ^ehis birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; 2 ^fthough Judah became strong among his brothers and a ^gchief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), 3 the ^hsons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 4 The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, 5 Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, 6 Beerah his son, whom ⁱTiglath-pileser¹ king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a chief of the Reubenites. 7 And his kinsmen by their clans, ^jwhen the genealogy of their generations was recorded: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, 8 and Bela the son of Azaz, son of ^kShema, son of Joel, who lived in ^lAroer, as far as ^mNebo and ⁿBaal-meon. 9 He also lived to the east as far as the entrance of the desert this side of the Euphrates, because their livestock had multiplied ^oin the land of Gilead. 10 And in the days of Saul they waged war against the ^pHagrites, who fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents throughout all the region east of Gilead.

Descendants of Gad

11 The sons of Gad lived over against them in the land of Bashan as far as ^qSalecah: 12 Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13 And their kinsmen according to their fathers’ houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber, seven. 14 These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz. 15 Ahi the son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was chief in their fathers’ houses, 16 and they lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of ^rSharon to their limits. 17 All of these were recorded in genealogies in the days of ^sJotham king of Judah, and in the days of ^tJeroboam king of Israel.

18 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, ^uexpert in war, 44,760, able to go to war. 19 They waged war against the ^vHagrites, ^wJetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20 And when they prevailed² over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, ^xfor they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea ^ybecause they trusted in him. 21 They carried off their livestock: 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men alive. 22 For many fell, because the war was of God. And they lived ^zin their place until ^athe exile.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

23 The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, ^bSenir, and Mount Hermon. 24 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: Epher,³ Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty warriors, famous men, heads of their fathers’ houses. 25 But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and ^cwhored ^dafter the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of ^ePul king of Assyria, the spirit of ^fTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them ^gto Halah, ^gHabor, Hara, and ^gthe river Gozan, to this day.

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.”

The Jerusalem Council

1 ^yBut some men came down from Judea and were teaching ^zthe brothers, “Unless you are ^acircumcised ^baccording to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and ^cdebate with them, Paul and Barnabas and ^dsome of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to ^ethe apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, ^fbeing sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, ^gdescribing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and ^hbrought great joy to all ⁱthe brothers.¹ 4 ^jWhen they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and ^kthe apostles and the elders, and ^gthey declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to ^lthe party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ^m“It is necessary ⁿto circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

6 ^oThe ^kapostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much ^pdebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, ^qthat by my mouth the Gentiles should hear ^rthe word of ^sthe gospel and believe. 8 And God, ^twho knows the heart, ^ubore witness to them, ^vby giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and ^whe made no distinction between us and them, ^xhaving cleansed their hearts ^yby faith. 10 Now, therefore, why ^zare you putting God to the test ^aby placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples ^bthat neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we ^cbelieve that we will be ^dsaved through ^ethe grace of the Lord Jesus, ^wjust as they will.”

12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul ^fas they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, ^gJames replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 ^hSimeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them ⁱa people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

19 Therefore ⁿmy judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who ^oturn to God, 20 but should write to them ^pto abstain from ^qthe things polluted by idols, and from ^rsexual immorality, and from ^swhat has been strangled, and from ^sblood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, ^tfor he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then it seemed good to ^uthe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called ^vBarsabbas, and ^wSilas, leading men among ^xthe brothers, 23 with the following letter: ^x“The brothers, both ^uthe apostles and the elders, to the brothers³ who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, ^ygreetings. 24 Since we have heard that ^zsome persons have gone out from us and ^atroubled you⁴ with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come ^bto one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our ^cbeloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 ^dmen who have ^erisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent ^fJudas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good ^gto the Holy Spirit and ^hto us ⁱto lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 ^jthat you abstain from ^kwhat has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves ^lprophets, encouraged and ^mstrengthened ⁿthe brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off ^oin peace by ⁿthe brothers to those who had sent them.⁵ 35 But ^pPaul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Paul and Barnabas Separate

36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit ⁿthe brothers ^qin every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them ^rJohn called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one ^swho had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose ^ta sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. ^uBarnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, ^vhaving been commended by ^wthe brothers to ^xthe grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, ^ystrengthening the churches.