THE KING'S MIRROR 331 



God rescued your entire kingdom through David's won- 

 derful victory, which he won fighting unarmed against 

 a giant. He has waited upon you in your distressing ill- 

 ness; and wherever you have placed him at the head of 

 the host, he has brought a vigorous defense to your 

 kingdom, and no one knows that he has been anything 

 but loyal. Therefore conquer your wrath, sire, and do 

 not fall into such an evident sin of murder before God 

 as to slay an innocent man." * Saul, however, became 

 only the more wrathful and charged with treason his 

 son and everyone else who spoke a good word for 

 David. 



David fled from King Saul's wrath with a few men, 

 but provided with neither clothes nor weapons. He 

 came to the city called Nob, the bishop of which was 

 Ahimelech, a son of Ahitub the bishop; but Ahitub was 

 the son of Ichabod, the son of Phineas, the son of Eli 

 the bishop(When David came to the bishop Ahimelech, ~> 

 he pretended to be traveling on an important mission 

 for King Saul, and asked him to give him and his men 

 something to eat and to furnish him with weapons. The 

 bishop Ahimelech gave him such victuals as he had, but 

 weapons he had none to give him except the sword that 

 had belonged to Goliath; and this he gave him, for he 

 did not know that he was a fugitive, but believed he 

 was traveling on the king's errand, as he had saidjBut 

 so fierce was Saul's hatred toward David, that as soon 

 as he learned that the bishop Ahimelech had given him 

 food, he seized the bishop and all his kinsmen and 

 charged them with treason. The bishop replied to the 



* Cf. / Samuel, xix, 4-7. 



