So at the feast, the place was empty. And Saul said, “Where is David?” and Jonathan said, “He has gone to Bethlehem.” And Saul rose up in fierce anger and took his spear and tried to kill his son. Then the next day, Jonathan went out with his bow and shot five arrows, and as the boy went to pick them up, he called, “Go farther, the arrows are beyond you.” And David knew that there was but a step between him and death. And Jonathan sent the boy home and found David, and they both wept bitterly. Then Jonathan returned to his father’s house, and David fled as fast as he could go into the wilderness. XXXVI THE CAVE OF ADULLAM When David fled for his life from the displeasure of King Saul, he became an outlaw, like Robin Hood. On the way he stopped at a village called Nob, where the Ark of God was kept. And he asked the priest for bread and a sword. And the priest said, “There is no bread here except that which is on the holy table.” And David said, “Let me have that.” So the priest gave him five loaves. And the priest said, “There is no sword here except that with which you cut off the giant’s head. It is wrapped up in a cloth.” And David said, “I am on the king’s business, and in great haste, and I have no sword. There is none like that; give it to me.” So the priest gave him the sword. But a man named Doeg, the king’s chief herdsman, saw what was done, and told the king. Then David went to Bethlehem to his father’s farm and told the bad news of the anger of the king. “He has threatened to kill me. Indeed, he has already tried twice to kill me, once with his own hand. You and mother must go at once to a place of safety. Come, let me take you to our cousins in Moab, the family of my great-grandmother Ruth.” So over they went, across the Jordan, and put themselves under the protection of the king of Moab. As for David, he found a place of refuge in the Cave of Adullam. And there men gathered about him. The first to come was Abiathar. He had been a priest at Nob, and he told David what had happened. Doeg had gone straight to Saul. “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob,” he said, “and the chief priest gave him bread from the holy table and the giant’s sword.” And Saul sent for the chief priest, and the priest said, “Here am I.” And Saul frowned upon him, and said, “Why have you conspired against me with the son of Jesse, and have given him a sword to slay me?” And the chief priest answered, “Who is so faithful among all your servants as David, your son-in-law, and honorable in your house? I knew nothing of any trouble between you and him.” Then the king’s old madness came upon him, and he called for men to kill not only the chief priest, but all the other priests. And at first, nobody would do it. Not a man would lift his sword to strike those unarmed, innocent men. Finally, Doeg did it. He fell upon them with such fury that only one escaped. Abiathar escaped, and became one of David’s band.