They answered them and said, “He is there, ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come today to the town because people have a sacrifice at the high place today.
After that, you will arrive at the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is. It will come about, as soon as you enter the town, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by a harp, a tambourine and a flute, and they will be prophesying.
But Samuel replied, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” Adonai said, “Take a heifer with you and say: ‘I have come to sacrifice to Adonai.’
“Yet I will raise up for Myself a faithful kohen who will do according to what is in My heart and My mind. Then I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one all the time.
If your father misses me at all, then say: ‘David earnestly asked my permission to run to Beth-lehem, his town, for it is the annual sacrifice there for the whole family.’