1 Samuel 23

¹It was told to David, saying, 'Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are plundering the threshing floors.'

²David inquired of the LORD, saying, 'Shall I go and strike these Philistines?' And the LORD said to David, 'Go and strike the Philistines and save Keilah.'

³And the men of David said to him, 'Look, we are afraid here in Judah; and how much more if we go to Keilah against the battle lines of the Philistines!'

⁴So David inquired of the LORD once more, and the LORD answered him and said, 'Arise, go down to Keilah, for I am giving the Philistines into your hand.'

⁵So David and his men went to Keilah and fought against the Philistines and drove off their livestock and struck them with a great blow, and David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶And when Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, an ephod came down in his hand.

⁷It was told to Saul that David had come to Keilah, and Saul said, 'God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a city that has doors and bars.'

⁸And Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹And David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, 'Bring the ephod near.'

¹⁰David said, 'O LORD, God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account.'

¹¹Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell your servant.' And the LORD said, 'He will come down.'

¹²David said, 'Will the men of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?' And the LORD said, 'They will hand over.'

¹³So David and his men, about six hundred in number, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. When it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.

¹⁴And David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and he stayed in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him all the days, but God did not give him into his hand.

¹⁵David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph, at Horesh.

¹⁶And Jonathan son of Saul arose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God.

¹⁷He said to him, 'Do not be afraid, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall reign over Israel, and I will be second to you; and even Saul my father knows this.'

¹⁸And the two of them cut a covenant before the LORD, and David stayed at Horesh, while Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, 'Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?'

²⁰And now, according to all the desire of your soul, O king, come down; and it is ours to surrender him into the hand of the king.

²¹Saul said, 'May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me.'

²²Go, please, and prepare yet further, and know and see his place where his foot is, who has seen him there; for it was told to me that he is very shrewd.

²³See and learn all the hiding places where he hides, and come back to me with a reliable report. Then I will go with you, and if he is in the land I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.

²⁴And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul, while David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah to the south of the Jeshimon.

²⁵Saul and his men went to seek him. It was told to David, and he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard this, he pursued David into the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶And Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to go away from Saul, while Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.

²⁷A messenger came to Saul, saying, 'Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land.'

²⁸And Saul returned from pursuing after David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape.

²⁹David went up from there and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi.