David Flees to Adullam and Mizpeh
(Psalm 57:1–11; Psalm 142:1–7)

1Dauid therfore departed thence, & escaped to the caue Adullam: Whe his brethren also & his fathers house heard it, they went downe thyther to him. 2And there gathered vnto him all men that were in combraunce, and in det, and troubled in their mindes, & he became a captayne ouer them: And there were with him vpon a foure hundred men.

3And Dauid went thence to Mispah in the land of Moab, and sayde vnto the king of Moab: Let my father and my mother (I pray thee) come foorth vnto you, till I knowe what God wyl do for me. 4And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the whyle that Dauid kept him selfe in the holde. 5And the prophete Gad sayde vnto Dauid: Abyde not in the hold, but depart & go into the land of Iuda. Then Dauid departed, & came into the forest Hareth.

Saul Slays the Priests of Nob
(Psalm 52:1–9)

6And Saul hearde that Dauid was discouered, and also the men that were with him: and Saul sat in Gibea vnder a tree in Rama, hauing his speare in his hande, and all his men stoode about him. 7And Saul sayde vnto his seruauntes that stoode about him, Heare I pray you, ye sonnes of Iemini: will ye sonne of Isai geue euery one of you fieldes and vineyardes, and make you all captaines ouer thousandes and ouer hundredes, 8That ye haue also conspired agaynst me, & there is none that telleth me that my sonne hath made a couenaunt with the sonne of Isai, and there is none of you yt is sory for me, or sheweth me that my sonne hath stirred vp my seruaunt to lye in wayte agaynst me as appeareth this day? 9Then aunswered Doeg the Edomite (which was appoynted by ye seruauntes of Saul) and sayd: I sawe the sonne of Isai, when he came to Nob to Ahimelech the sonne of Ahitob, 10Whiche asked councel of the Lorde for him, and gaue him vittayles, and the sword of Goliath the Philistine also.

11Then the king sent and called for Ahimelech the priest the sonne of Ahitob, & all his fathers house that is to saye the priestes that were in Nob: And they came all to the king. 12And Saul sayde: Heare nowe thou sonne of Ahitob. He aunswered: Here I am, my lorde. 13And Saul sayde vnto him: Why haue ye conspired agaynst me, thou, and the sonne of Isai, in that thou hast geuen him vittayle, and a sworde, and hast asked councel of God for him, yt he shoulde aryse against me, and lye in waite for me as appeareth this day?

14Ahimelech aunswered the king, and sayde: Who is so faithfull among all thy seruauntes, as Dauid, and therto the kinges sonne in lawe: and goeth at thy bidding, and is had in honour in thyne house? 15Haue I this day begun first to aske councell of God for him? That be farre from me: Let not the king impute any thing vnto his seruaut, nor to all ye house of my father: For thy seruaunt knewe nothing of all this, either lesse or more. 16The king sayde, Thou shalt surely die Ahimelech, thou, & al thy fathers house. 17And the king sayde vnto the footemen that stoode about him: Turne, and slay the priestes of the Lorde: both because their hand is with Dauid, and because they knewe when Dauid fled, and shewed it not to me. But the seruauntes of the king would not moue their hades to fal vpon the priestes of the Lorde. 18And the king sayde to Doeg: Turne thou, & fall vpon the priestes. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and ranne vpon the priestes, & slue that same day fourescore and fiue persons that did weare a linnen Ephod. 19And Nob the citie of ye priestes, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklinges, oxen and asses, & sheepe, with the edge of the sworde.

20And one of the sonnes of Ahimelech the sonne of Ahitob, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled to Dauid. 21And Abiathar shewed Dauid howe that Daul had slayne ye Lordes priestes. 22And Dauid sayde vnto Abiathar: I wist it the same day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would tel Saul: and I am cause of the death of all the persons of thy fathers house. 23Abyde thou with me, and feare not: For he that seketh my lyfe, he shall seke thine also, with me thou shalt be in safegarde.