^{12 Ref} and Saul saith, `Hear, I pray thee, son of Ahitub;' and he saith, `Here `am' I, my lord.'

^{13 Ref} And Saul saith unto him, `Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, by thy giving to him bread and a sword, and to ask for him at God, to rise against me, to lie in wait, as `at' this day?'

^{14 Ref} And Ahimelech answereth the king and saith, `And who among all thy servants `is' as David -- faithful, and son-in-law of the king, and hath turned aside unto thy council, and is honoured in thy house?

^{15 Ref} To-day have I begun to ask for him at God? far be it from me! let not the king lay anything against his servant, against any of the house of my father, for thy servant hath known nothing of all this, less or more.'

^{16 Ref} And the king saith, `Thou dost surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all the house of thy father.'

^{17 Ref} And the king saith to runners, those standing by him, `Turn round, and put to death the priests of Jehovah, because their hand also `is' with David, and because they have known that he is fleeing, and have not uncovered mine ear;' and the servants of the king have not been willing to put forth their hand to come against the priests of Jehovah.

^{18 Ref} And the king saith to Doeg, `Turn round thou, and come against the priests;' and Doeg the Edomite turneth round, and cometh himself against the priests, and putteth to death in that day eighty and five men bearing a linen ephod,

^{19 Ref} and Nob, the city of the priests, he hath smitten by the mouth of the sword, from man even unto woman, from infant even unto suckling, and ox, and ass, and sheep, by the mouth of the sword.

^{20 Ref} And there escapeth one son of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, and his name `is' Abiathar, and he fleeth after David,

²¹ and Abiathar declareth to David that Saul hath slain the priests of Jehovah.

^{22 Ref} And David saith to Abiathar, `I have known on that day when Doeg the Edomite `is' there, that he doth certainly declare `it' to Saul; I have brought `it' round to every person of the house of thy father;

^{23 Ref} dwell with me; fear not; for he who seeketh my life seeketh thy life; for a charge `art' thou with me.'