1 Samuel 23
1 And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against
Keilah, and are robbing the threshing-floors.
2 Therefore David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and smite these
Philistines? And Jehovah said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and
save Keilah.
3 And David's men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much
more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
4 Then David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah answered him, and said,
Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.
5 And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and
brought away their cattle, and slew them with a great slaughter. So David save
the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to
Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath
delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath
gates and bars.
8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege
David and his men.
9 And David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to
Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
10 Then said David, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thy servant hath surely heard
that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as
thy servant hath heard? O Jehovah, the God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy
servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down.
12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver up to me and my men into the
hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up.
13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of
Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David
was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.
14 And David abode in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the
hill-country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God
delivered him not into his hand.
15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the
wilderness of Ziph in the wood.
16 And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David into the wood, and
strengthened his hand in God.
17 And he said unto him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find
thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and
that also Saul my father knoweth.
18 And they two made a covenant before Jehovah: and David abode in the wood, and
Jonathan went to his house.
19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide
himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which
is on the south of the desert?
20 Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of thy soul to
come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king's hand.
21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have had compassion on me.
22 Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his
haunt is, [and] who hath seen him there; for it is told me that he dealeth very
subtly.
23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hideth
himself, and come ye again to me of a certainty, and I will go with you: and it
shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out among all
the thousands of Judah.
24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in
the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.
25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came
down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard
[that], he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that
side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for
Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.
27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the
Philistines have made a raid upon the land.
28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines:
therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.
29 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi.