1 Samuel 23
23
1And they declare to David, saying, ‘Lo, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are spoiling the threshing-floors.’
2And David asketh at Jehovah, saying, ‘Do I go? — and have I smitten among these Philistines?’ And Jehovah saith unto David, ‘Go, and thou hast smitten among the Philistines, and saved Keilah.’
3And David's men say unto him, ‘Lo, we here in Judah are afraid; and how much more when we go to Keilah, unto the ranks of the Philistines?’
4And David addeth again to ask at Jehovah, and Jehovah answereth him, and saith, ‘Rise, go down to Keilah, for I am giving the Philistines into thy hand.’
5And David goeth, and his men, to Keilah, and fighteth with the Philistines, and leadeth away their cattle, and smiteth among them — a great smiting, and David saveth the inhabitants of Keilah.
6And it cometh to pass, in the fleeing of Abiathar son of Ahimelech unto David, to Keilah, an ephod came down in his hand.
7And it is declared to Saul that David hath come in to Keilah, and Saul saith, ‘God hath made him known for my hand, for he hath been shut in, to enter into a city of doors and bar.’
8And Saul summoneth the whole of the people to battle, to go down to Keilah, to lay siege unto David and unto his men.
9And David knoweth that against him Saul is devising the evil, and saith unto Abiathar the priest, ‘Bring nigh the ephod.’
10And David saith, ‘Jehovah, God of Israel, Thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul is seeking to come in unto Keilah, to destroy the city on mine account.
11Do the possessors of Keilah shut me up into his hand? doth Saul come down as Thy servant hath heard? Jehovah, God of Israel, declare, I pray Thee, to Thy servant.’ And Jehovah saith, ‘He doth come down.’
12And David saith, ‘Do the possessors of Keilah shut me up, and my men, into the hand of Saul?’ And Jehovah saith, ‘They shut [thee] up.’
13And David riseth — and his men — about six hundred men, and they go out from Keilah, and go up and down where they go up and down; and to Saul it hath been declared that David hath escaped from Keilah, and he ceaseth to go out.
14And David abideth in the wilderness, in fortresses, and abideth in the hill-country, in the wilderness of Ziph; and Saul seeketh him all the days, and God hath not given him into his hand.
15And David seeth that Saul hath come out to seek his life, and David [is] in the wilderness of Ziph, in a forest.
16And Jonathan son of Saul riseth, and goeth unto David to the forest, and strengtheneth his hand in God,
17and saith unto him, ‘Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father doth not find thee, and thou dost reign over Israel, and I am to thee for second, and also so knoweth Saul my father.’
18And they make a covenant both of them before Jehovah; and David abideth in the forest, and Jonathan hath gone to his house.
19And the Ziphites go up unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, ‘Is not David hiding himself with us in fortresses, in the forest, in the height of Hachilah, which [is] on the south of the desolate place?
20And, now, by all the desire of thy soul, O king, to come down, come down, and ours [is] to shut him up into the hand of the king.’
21And Saul saith, ‘Blessed [are] ye of Jehovah, for ye have pity on me;
22go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his foot is; who hath seen him there? for [one] hath said unto me, He is very subtile.
23And see and know of all the hiding-places where he hideth himself, and ye have turned back unto me prepared, and I have gone with you, and it hath been, if he is in the land, that I have searched him out through all the thousands of Judah.’
24And they rise and go to Ziph before Saul, and David and his men [are] in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain, at the south of the desolate place.
25And Saul and his men go to seek, and they declare to David, and he goeth down the rock, and abideth in the wilderness of Maon; and Saul heareth, and pursueth after David [to] the wilderness of Maon.
26And Saul goeth on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain, and David is hastened to go from the face of Saul, and Saul and his men are compassing David and his men, to catch them.
27And a messenger hath come in unto Saul, saying, ‘Haste, and come, for the Philistines have pushed against the land.’
28And Saul turneth back from pursuing after David, and goeth to meet the Philistines, therefore they have called that place ‘The Rock of Divisions.’
29And David goeth up thence, and abideth in fortresses [at] En-gedi.
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1 Samuel 23: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
1 Samuel 23
23
1One day David heard the news, “The Philistines are attacking Keilah and stealing the grain from the threshing floors.” 2So he asked advice from the Lord, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?”
The Lord told David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
3But David's men told him, “Even here in Judah we feel afraid. If we went to Keilah to fight the Philistine armies we'd be absolutely terrified!”
4So David asked advice from the Lord again, and the Lord told him, “Go immediately to Keilah, for I will give you victory over the Philistines.”
5Then David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. They slaughtered them and drove off their livestock. By doing this David saved the people of Keilah. 6(When Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, ran away to David at Keilah he brought the ephod with him.)
7When Saul found out that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, because he has locked himself inside a town with gates that can be barred shut.” 8So Saul called up his whole army to go and attack Keilah and to besiege David and his men.
9When David learned that Saul was plotting to attack him, he asked Abiathar the priest, “Please bring the ephod.”
10David prayed, “Lord, God of Israel, I your servant have been clearly told that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me. 11Are the town leaders of Keilah going to hand me over to him? Is Saul going to come, as I have heard? Lord, God of Israel, please tell me.”
“Yes, he'll come,” the Lord replied.
12“And will the town leaders of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” David asked.
“Yes, they will,” the Lord replied.
13So David and his men, who numbered around six hundred, left Keilah and moved around from place to place. When Saul discovered that David had escaped from Keilah, he didn't bother going there. 14David set up camp in the wilderness strongholds, staying in the mountains of the Desert of Ziph. Saul searched for him continually, but God did not let David be captured.
15While David was staying at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he found out#23:15. “Found out”: or “was afraid.” that Saul was on his way to murder him. 16Saul's son Jonathan went to see David in Horesh and encouraged him to go on trusting in God, telling him, 17“Don't worry, because my father Saul is never going to find you. You're going to be king of Israel, and I'll be your deputy. Even my father Saul knows this.” 18The two of them made an agreement before the Lord. David stayed in Horesh and Jonathan went home.
19Then the people of Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and told him, “David is hiding in our area, in the strongholds in Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, in the southern wastelands. 20So, Your Majesty, please come whenever you want, and we'll make sure to hand him over to you.”
21“The Lord bless you for thinking about me,” Saul replied. 22“Please go and make absolutely sure you know exactly where he is—where he stays and who has seen him there—because people tell me that he's very devious. 23Look for and mark down all his hiding places. Then come back to me when you're sure, and I'll go back with you. If he's here in the country, I will hunt him down among all the people of Judah.”
24So the people of Ziph set off, returning to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the Desert of Maon in the Arabah Valley#23:24. “Arabah Valley”: another name for the Jordan Valley. in the southern wastelands. 25Saul and his men started hunting for him. When David found out, he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he chased after David in the Desert of Maon.
26Saul was traveling along one side of the mountain, while David and his men were on the other side, rushing to get away. But just as Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men, about to capture them, 27a messenger arrived to tell Saul, “Come at once! The Philistines have invaded the country!”
28So Saul had to stop chasing David and went to confront the Philistines. That's why the place is called the “Rock of Escape.” 29Then David left and went to live in the strongholds of En-gedi.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com