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.”
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,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
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?”
Psalm 34
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.
Psalm 56
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A pMiktam1 of David, when the qPhilistines seized him in Gath.
1 rBe gracious to me, O God, for man stramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
I tput my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;2
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They vstir up strife, they wlurk;
they xwatch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
8 You have kept count of my tossings;3
aput my tears in your bottle.
bAre they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
cin the day when I call.
This I know, that4 dGod is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my evows to you, O God;
I will erender thank offerings to you.
13 fFor you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
gthat I may walk before God
hin the light of life.
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