21

Tavi tswv Xa‑u

¹Tes Tavi txawm moog txug tug pov thawj Ahimelej huv lub moos Nau. Mas Ahimelej tawm tuaj tog Tavi ua tshee quas nyo has tas, “Ua caag koj yuav tuab leeg tuaj xwb, tsw muaj leejtwg nrug koj tuaj?” ²Tavi has rua tug pov thawj Ahimelej tas, “Vaajntxwv khaiv kuv tuaj ua ib yaam num. Nwg has rua kuv tas, ‘Tsw xob qha zaaj kws kuv khaiv koj moog ua hov hab tej kws kuv muab cob rua koj lawd rua leejtwg paub le.’ Kuv tub teem cov tub hluas ntswb kuv dua rua ib qho chaw lawm. ³Nwgnuav koj muaj daabtsw ntawm teg? Thov muab tswb lub ncuav lossws ib yaam daabtsw kws koj muaj ntawm nuav rua kuv noj.” ⁴Tug pov thawj teb Tavi tas, “Kuv tsw muaj cov ncuav kws naj nub noj, tsuas yog cov ncuav kws dawb huv xwb. Yuav yog koj cov hluas tsw nrug quaspuj pw txhad noj tau.” ⁵Tavi teb tug pov thawj tas, “Qhov tseeb txhua zag kws kuv tawm moog ua num tej quaspuj yeej nyob deb ntawm peb. Txawm yog peb tawm moog ua tej num tsw tseem ceeb los tej tub hluas lub cev yeej dawb huv lawm. Mas nub nua puab lub cev yimfuab dawb huv.” ⁶Yog le hov tug pov thawj txhad muab cov ncuav dawb huv rua Tavi, vem yog hov ntawd tsw muaj lwm yaam ncuav, tsuas yog cov ncuav kws xyeem txawb rua ntawm Yawmsaub lub xubndag xwb, yog cov kws nyav khaws ntawm Yawmsaub xubndag lug es yuav muab cov tshab txawb rua tuab nub ntawd.
⁷Nub ntawd muaj ib tug yawm yog Xa‑u le ib tug qhev nyob hov ntawd, nwg tuaj ua nug rua Yawmsaub. Nwg npe hu ua Ntau‑e, yog tuabneeg Entoo, yog tug thawj kws yug Xa‑u paab yaaj.
⁸Hab Tavi has rua Ahimelej tas, “Koj muaj ib raab ntaaj lossws muv ntawm koj txhais teg los tsw muaj? Tsua qhov kuv tsw coj kuv raab ntaaj lossws tej cuab yeej tuaj hlo le vem vaajntxwv tej num yog num ceev.” ⁹Tug pov thawj has tas, “Kaulia kws yog tuabneeg Filixatee kws koj tua huv lub haav Ela hov raab ntaaj nyob ntawm nuav, tseed qhwv ntaub quas nreeg nyob ntawm lub efauj⚓ saab nrau. Yog koj cheem tsum raab ntaaj ntawd kuj coj moog, tsuas yog muaj tuab raab ntaaj ntawd xwb.” Mas Tavi has tas, “Tsw muaj ib raab ntaaj zoo le raab nuav lawm. Thov muab rua kuv lauj.”
¹⁰Tes nub ntawd Tavi txawm sawv kev tswv Xa‑u moog cuag vaajntxwv Akhij huv lub moos Ka. ¹¹Mas Akhij cov tub teg tub taw has tas, “Tug yawm nuav tsw yog Tavi kws ua vaajntxwv kaav lub tebchaws hov lov? Puab tsw tau moog tog hu nkauj seev cev has tas, ‘Xa‑u tua tau quas txheeb leej, Tavi tua tau quas vaam leej,’ lov?” ¹²Tavi kuj khaws tej lug nuav rua huv nwg lub sab hab ntshai vaajntxwv Akhij huv lub moos Ka kawg le. ¹³Nwg txhad txhob txwm ua ib tug nam tsw thooj le qub rua puab pum, nwg ua txuj ua ib tug tuabneeg vwm. Nwg laam sau kis kaaj kis kag rua ntawm tej rooj loog, hab ua qub ncaug nrug quas zwg ntawm tej fwj txwv. ¹⁴Tes Akhij txhad has rua nwg cov tub teg tub taw tas, “Saib maj, mej tub pum tas tug yawm nuav vwm, mej tseed coj nwg tuaj cuag kuv ua daabtsw? ¹⁵Kuv tsw muaj tuabneeg vwm lov es mej tseed yuav coj tug yawm nuav tuaj vwm rua ntawm kuv xubndag? Tswm nyog tug yawm nuav tuaj rua huv kuv lub vaaj lub tsev lov?”

21

David and the Holy Bread

¹Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And ⚓Ahimelech was ⚓afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”
²So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. ³Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.”
⁴And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is ⚓holy bread, ⚓if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”
⁵Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the ⚓vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated ⚓in the vessel this day.”
⁶So the priest ⚓gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread ⚓which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.
⁷Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was⚓Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.
⁸And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”
⁹So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in ⚓the Valley of Elah, ⚓there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one 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 before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹And ⚓the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:
⚓‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
¹²Now David ⚓took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³So ⚓he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. ¹⁴Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”