1 Samuel 21
1NOW when David came to Nomba, to Abimelech the priest, Abimelech was astonished at meeting him, and said to him, Why art thou alone, and nobody with thee?
2Thereupon David said to the priest, The king hath given me to-day a business in charge, and said to me, Let none know the business on which I send thee, and with which I have charged thee; therefore I appointed my servants to meet me at the place called Faith of God Phellani Maemoni.
3Now therefore hast thou five loaves at hand? Give me what thou hast ready.
4And the priest in reply said to David, I have no common bread at hand. Because there is none but the holy bread; if thy servants have but kept themselves from women they may eat it.
5And David in answer to the priest, said to him, Of a truth we have kept ourselves from women these three days. When I set out on the journey, all the servants were purified (though the journey was on secular affairs) because they were to be holy this day, on account of my provision for it.
6So Abimelech the priest gave him the presence loaves, because he had no other, but only those loaves which were taken from the presence of the Lord, that fresh bread might be put in their place on the day he took them.
7Now there was there that day, near the Neessaran before the Lord, one of Saul’s servants. His name was Doek, the Syrian, who tended Saul’s asses.
8Then David said to Abimelech, See if there be at hand a spear or a sword, for I did not bring my sword, nor my arms with me, because the king’s business required haste.
9And the priest said, Behold here is the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou didst slay in the valley of Ela. It is wrapped up in a garment. If thou wilt take that, take it; for there is no other besides that here. And David said, There is none like it, give it me.
10And when he had given it to him, David arose, and fled that day from the presence of Saul. And when David came to Angchus, king of Geth,
11the servants of Angchus said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? Was it not of him the choirs of women sung their responsive song saying, Saul hath slain his thousands—and David his ten thousands.
12And David treasured up these words in his mind, and was greatly afraid of Angchus king of Geth,
13therefore he changed his countenance before him, and personated a character on that day, and beat as on a tympanum on the city gates, and scrabbled with his hands, and fell against the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down on his beard.
14Thereupon Angchus said to his servants, Behold, you see the man is epileptic! Why have you brought him to me?
15Am I in want of epileptics, that you should bring him to be taken with a fit before me? He shall not enter my house.