Day 87 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

1 Samuel 21

1 And David arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city. 2 And David comes to Nomba to Abimelech the priest: and Abimelech was amazed at meeting him, and said to him, Why [art] thou alone, and nobody with thee? 3 And David said to the priest, The king gave me a command to-day, and said to me, Let no one know the matter on which I send thee, and concerning which I have charged thee: and I have charged my servants [to be] in the place that is called, The faithfulness of God, phellani maemoni. 4 And now if there are under thy hand five loaves, give into my hand what is ready. 5 And the priest answered David, and said, There are no common loaves under my hand, for I have none but holy loaves: if the young men have been kept at least from women, then they shall eat [them]. 6 And David answered the priest, and said to him, Yea, we have been kept from women for three days: when I came forth for the journey all the young men were purified; but this expedition is unclean, wherefore it shall be sanctified this day because of my weapons. 7 So Abimelech the priest gave him the shewbread; for there were no loaves there, but only the presence loaves which had been removed from the presence of the Lord, in order that hot bread should be set on, on the day on which he took them. 8 And there was there on that day one of Saul's servants detained before the Lord, and his name [was] Doec the Syrian, tending the mules of Saul. 9 And David said to Abimelech, See if there is here under thy hand spear or sword, for I have not brought in my hand my sword or my weapons, for the word of the king was urgent. 10 And the priest said, Behold the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou smotest in the valley of Ela; and it is wrapt in a cloth: if thou wilt take it, take it for thyself, for there is no other except it here. And David said, Behold, there is none like it; give it me. 11 And he gave it him; and David arose, and fled in that day from the presence of Saul: and David came to Anchus king of Geth. 12 And the servants of Anchus said to him, [Is] not this David the king of the land? Did not the dancing women begin the song to him, saying, Saul has smitten his thousands, and David his ten thousands? 13 And David laid up the words in his heart, and was greatly afraid of Anchus king of Geth. 14 And he changed his appearance before him, and feigned himself a false character in that day; and drummed upon the doors of the city, and used extravagant gestures with his hands, and fell against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard. 15 And Anchus said to his servants, Lo! ye see the man [is] mad: why have ye brought him in to me? 16 [Am] I in want of madmen, that ye have brought him in to me to play the madman? he shall not come into the house.

1 Samuel 22

1 And David departed thence, and escaped; and he comes to the cave of Odollam, and his brethren hear, and the house of his father, and they go down to him there. 2 And there gathered to him every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was troubled in mind; and he was a leader over them, and there were with him about four hundred men. 3 And David departed thence to Massephath of Moab, and said to the king of Moab, Let, I pray thee, my father and my mother be with thee, until I know what God will do to me. 4 And he persuaded the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him continually, while David was in the hold. 5 And Gad the prophet said to David, Dwell not in the hold: go, and thou shalt enter the land of Juda. So David went, and came and dwelt in the city of Saric. 6 And Saul heard that David was discovered, and his men with him: now Saul dwelt in the hill below the field that is in Rama, and his spear [was] in his hand, and all his servants stood near him. 7 And Saul said to his servants that stood by him, Hear now, ye sons of Benjamin, will the son of Jessæ indeed give all of you fields and vineyards, and will he make you all captains of hundreds and captains of thousands? 8 that ye are all conspiring against me, and there is no one that informs me, whereas my son has made a covenant with the son of Jessæ, and there is no one of you that is sorry for me, or informs me that my son has stirred up my servant against me for an enemy, as [it is] this day? 9 And Doec the Syrian who was over the mules of Saul answered and said, I saw the son of Jessæ as he came to Nomba to Abimelech son of Achitob the priest. 10 And [the priest] enquired of God for him, and gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 11 And the king sent to call Abimelech son of Achitob and all his father's sons, the priests that were in Nomba; and they all came to the king. 12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Achitob. And he said, Lo! I [am here], speak, [my] lord. 13 And Saul said to him, Why have thou and the son of Jessæ conspired against me, that thou shouldest give him bread and a sword, and shouldest enquire of God for him, to raise him up against me as an enemy, as [he is] this day? 14 And he answered the king, and said, And who [is] there among all thy servants faithful as David, and [he is] a son-in-law of the king, and [he is] executor of all thy commands, and [is] honourable in thy house? 15 Have I begun to-day to enquire of God for him? by no means: let not the king bring a charge against his servant, and against the whole of my father's house; for thy servant knew not in all these matters anything great or small. 16 And king Saul said, Thou shalt surely die, Abimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. 17 And the king said to the footmen that attended on him, Draw nigh and slay the priests of the Lord, because their hand [is] with David, and because they knew that he fled, and they did not inform me. But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to fall upon the priests of the Lord. 18 And the king said to Doec, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests: and Doec the Syrian turned, and slew the priests of the Lord in that day, three hundred and five men, all wearing an ephod. 19 And he smote Nomba the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both man and woman, infant and suckling, and calf, and ox, and sheep. 20 And one son of Abimelech son of Achitob escapes, and his name [was] Abiathar, and he fled after David. 21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain all the priests of the Lord. 22 And David said to Abiathar, I knew it in that day, that Doec the Syrian would surely tell Saul: I am guilty of the death of the house of thy father. 23 Dwell with me; fear not, for wherever I shall seek a place [of safety] for my life, I will also seek a place for thy life, for thou art safely guarded [while] with me.

1 Samuel 23

1 And it was told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines war in Keila, and they rob, they trample on the threshing-floors. 2 And David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said, Go, and thou shalt smite these Philistines, and shalt save Keila. 3 And the men of David said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judea; and how shall it be if we go to Keila? shall we go after the spoils of the Philistines? 4 And David enquired yet again of the Lord; and the Lord answered him, and said to him, Arise and go down to Keila, for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hands. 5 So David and his men with him went to Keila, and fought with the Philistines; and they fled from before him, and he carried off their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter, and David rescued the inhabitants of Keila. 6 And it came to pass when Abiathar the son of Achimelech fled to David, that he went down with David to Keila, having an ephod in his hand. 7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keila: and Saul said, God has sold him into my hands, for he is shut up, having entered into a city that has gates and bars. 8 And Saul charged all the people to go down to war to Keila, to besiege David and his men. 9 And David knew that Saul spoke openly of mischief against him: and David said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod of the Lord. 10 And David said, Lord God of Israel, thy servant has indeed heard, that Saul seeks to come against Keila to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will [the place] be shut up? and now will Saul come down, as thy servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, It will be shut up. 13 And David arose, and the men with him, in number about four hundred, and they went forth from Keila, and went whithersoever they could go: and it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keila, and he forbore to come. 14 And he dwelt in Maserem in the wilderness, in the narrow [passes]; and dwelt in the wilderness in mount Ziph, in the dry country. And Saul sought him continually, but the Lord delivered him not into his hands. 15 And David perceived that Saul went forth to seek David; and David was in the dry mountain in the New Ziph. 16 And Jonathan son of Saul rose, and went to David to Cæne, and strengthened his hands in the Lord. 17 And he said to him, Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be second to thee; and Saul my father knows it. 18 So they both made a covenant before the Lord; and David dwelt in Cæne, and Jonathan went to his home. 19 And the Ziphites came up out of the dry country to Saul to the hill, saying, Behold, is not David hidden with us in Messara, in the narrows in Cæne in the hill of Echela, which is on the right of Jessæmon? 20 And now [according to] all the king's desire to come down, let him come down to us; they have shut him up into the hands of the king. 21 And Saul said to them, Blessed [be] ye of the Lord, for ye have been grieved on my account. 22 Go, I pray you, and make preparations yet, and notice his place where his foot shall be, quickly, in that place which ye spoke of, lest by any means he should deal craftily. 23 Take notice, then, and learn, and I will go with you; and it shall come to pass that if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Juda. 24 And the Ziphites arose, and went before Saul: and David and his men [were] in the wilderness of Maon, westward, to the right of Jessæmon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek him: and they brought word to David, and he went down to the rock that was in the wilderness of Maon: and Saul heard, and followed after David to the wilderness of Maon. 26 And Saul and his men go on one side of the mountain, and David and his men are on the other side of the mountain: and David was hiding himself to escape from Saul: and Saul and his men encamped against David and his men, in order to take them. 27 And there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come hither, for the Philistines have invaded the land. 28 So Saul returned from following after David, and went to meet the Philistines: therefore that place was called The divided Rock.