1. Then David left and Jonathan went back to the town. David went to the town named Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech went out to meet David. He was afraid of David and asked, “Why are you alone? Why isn’t anyone with you?”
2. David answered him, “The king gave me a special order. He told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know about this mission. No one must know what I told you to do.’ I told my men where to meet me.
3. Now, what food do you have with you? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you have to eat.”
4. The priest said to David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread here, but I do have some of the holy bread. Your officers can eat it if they have not had sexual relations with any women.”
5. David answered the priest, “We have not been with any women. My men keep their bodies holy every time we go out to fight, even on ordinary missions. And this is especially true today.”
6. There was no bread except the holy bread, so the priest gave David this bread. This was the bread that the priests put on the holy table before the Lord. Each day they took this bread away and put fresh bread in its place.