1 Samuel 23
23
David Rescues Keilah
1Then they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering (robbing) the threshing floors [of the grain].” 2So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3But David’s men said to him, “Listen, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the battle lines of the Philistines?” 4Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will hand over the Philistines to you.” 5So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines; he drove away their cattle and struck them with a great slaughter. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.
6When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand. 7Now when Saul was informed that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has handed him over to me, for he shut himself in by entering a city that has double gates and bars.” 8So Saul summoned all the people (soldiers) for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul intends to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11Will the men of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? O Lord, God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” 12Then David asked, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” The Lord said, “They will surrender you.” 13Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and left Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit. 14David stayed in the wilderness in strongholds, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.
Saul Pursues David
15Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the Wilderness of Ziph [in the woods] at Horesh. 16And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went [into the woods] to David at Horesh, and #23:16 Lit strengthened his hand.encouraged him in God. 17He said to him, “Do not be afraid; the hand of my father Saul will not find you. You will be king over Israel and I will be second in command to you; my father Saul knows this too.” 18So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed [in the woods] at Horesh and Jonathan went to his house.
19Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds of Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of #23:19 Or the desert.Jeshimon? 20Now then, O king, come down [to Ziph] in accordance with all your heart’s desire to do so [and capture him]; and our part shall be to hand him over to the king.” 21Saul said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you have had compassion on me. 22Go now, be very persistent and investigate, and see where his #23:22 Lit foot.haunt is and who has seen him there; for I am told he is very cunning. 23So look, and take note of all the places where he hides and come back to me with the established facts, then I will go with you. If he is [anywhere] in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
24So they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon. 25Then Saul and his men went to search for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed [there] in the Wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard it, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to capture them. 27But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, because the Philistines have attacked the land.” 28So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape. 29#23:29 In Hebrew this is v 1 of the next chapter.David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.
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1 Samuel 23
23
Keilah Liberated. 1David was informed that the Philistines were attacking Keilah and plundering the threshing floors.#Jos 15:44. 2So he consulted the Lord, asking, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord answered, Go, attack them, and free Keilah.#1 Sm 28:6. 3But David’s men said to him: “Even in Judah we have reason to fear. How much more so if we go to Keilah against the forces of the Philistines!” 4Again David consulted the Lord, who answered: Go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your power.#1 Sm 17:47. 5So David went with his men to Keilah and fought against the Philistines. He drove off their cattle and inflicted a severe defeat on them, and freed the inhabitants of Keilah.
6Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, who had fled to David, went down with David to Keilah, taking the ephod with him.#1 Sm 22:20; 30:7.
Flight from Keilah. 7When Saul was told that David had entered Keilah, he thought: “God has put him in my hand, for he has boxed himself in by entering a city with gates and bars.” 8Saul then called all the army to war, in order to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. 9When David found out that Saul was planning to harm him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod here.”#1 Sm 2:28. 10“Lord God of Israel,” David prayed, “your servant has heard that Saul plans to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11Will they hand me over? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, tell your servant.” The Lord answered: He will come down. 12David then asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” The Lord answered: They will deliver you. 13So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and wandered from place to place. When Saul was informed that David had fled from Keilah, he did not go forth.
David and Jonathan in Horesh. 14David now lived in the strongholds in the wilderness, or in the barren hill country near Ziph. Though Saul sought him continually, the Lord did not deliver David into his hand. 15While David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh he was afraid that Saul had come out to seek his life. 16Then Saul’s son, Jonathan, came down to David at Horesh and encouraged him in the Lord.#1 Sm 18:1. 17He said to him: “Have no fear, my father Saul shall not lay a hand to you. You shall be king of Israel#King of Israel: to emphasize the inevitability of the Lord’s plan, the narrator frames Jonathan’s statement with two accounts of David’s mercy toward Saul. and I shall be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.”#1 Sm 20:14–16. 18The two of them made a covenant before the Lord in Horesh, where David remained, while Jonathan returned to his home.#1 Sm 18:3; 20:8.
Treachery of the Ziphites. 19Some of the Ziphites went up to Saul in Gibeah and said, “David is hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon.#1 Sm 26:1–3; Ps 54. 20Therefore, whenever the king wishes to come down, let him do so. It will be our task to deliver him into the king’s hand.” 21Saul replied: “The Lord bless you for your compassion toward me.#2 Sm 2:5. 22Go now and make sure once more! Take note of the place where he sets foot for I am told that he is very cunning. 23Look around and learn in which of all the various hiding places he is holding out. Then come back to me with reliable information, and I will go with you. If he is in the region, I will track him down out of all the families of Judah.” 24So they went off to Ziph ahead of Saul. At this time David and his men were in the wilderness below Maon, in the Arabah south of the wasteland.#1 Sm 25:2.
Escape from Saul. 25When Saul and his men came looking for him, David got word of it and went down to the gorge in the wilderness below Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David into the wilderness below Maon. 26As Saul moved along one side of the gorge, David and his men took to the other. David was anxious to escape Saul, while Saul and his men were trying to outflank David and his men in order to capture them. 27Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have invaded the land.” 28Saul interrupted his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. This is how that place came to be called the Rock of Divisions.
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