In the case of Abiathar, the high priest, the king told him, “Go home and take care of your fields. You should be condemned to death, but I will not kill you right now because you carried the Ark of the Lord God ahead of my father David and went through all his hard times with him.”
“He went into God's house when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the consecrated bread which no one except the priests are permitted to eat, and gave it to his men too.”