1Sam 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 YHWH, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines?
And YHWH said to David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.
3
And David`s men said to 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 YHWH yet again. And YHWH answered him, and said, Arise, go
down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into your 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 has delivered
him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has 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 here the ephod.
10
Then said David, O YHWH, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul
seeks 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 your servant
has heard? O YHWH, the God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant. And YHWH 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 YHWH said, They will deliver you up.
13
Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah,
and went wherever 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 to him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and
you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; and that also Saul my father
knows.
18
And they two made a covenant before YHWH: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan
went to his house.
19
Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does 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 your soul to come
down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king`s hand.
21
And Saul said, Blessed be you of YHWH; for you 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 has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtly.
23
See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hides himself,
and come you 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 to Saul, saying, Haste you, 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 there, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi.