1 Samuel 22–23

22David therefore departed thence, and escaped to ^athe cave ^bAdullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. ²And ^cevery one that was in distress, and every one that ^†was in debt, and every one that was ^†discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about ^dfour hundred men. ³And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto ^ethe king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. ⁴And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold. ⁵And the prophet ^fGad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.

⁶When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in ^gGibeah under a ^||tree in ^hRamah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;) ⁷Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse ⁱgive every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; ⁸That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that ^†sheweth me that ⁱmy son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is ^jnone of you that is sorry for me, or ^†sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? ⁹Then answered ^kDoeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to ^lNob, to Ahimelech the son of ^mAhitub. ¹⁰And he ⁿinquired of the Lord for him, and ^ogave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. ¹¹Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in ^lNob: and they came all of them to the king. ¹²And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, ^†Here I am, my lord. ¹³And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast ⁿinquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, ^pto lie in wait, as at this day? ¹⁴Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? ¹⁵Did I then begin to ⁿinquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, ^†less or more. ¹⁶And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house. ¹⁷And the king said unto the ^||footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and ^qslew on that day fourscore and five persons that ^rdid wear a linen ephod. ¹⁹And ^lNob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, ^sboth men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

²⁰And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named ^tAbiathar, ^uescaped, and fled after David. ²¹And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the Lord’s priests. ²²And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house. ^23xAbide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

23Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against ^aKeilah, and they rob the threshingfloors. ²Therefore David ^binquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. ³And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? ⁴Then David inquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for ^cI will deliver the Philistines into thine hand. ⁵So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. ⁶And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^dfled 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 mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. ⁸And Saul ^ecalled all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. ⁹And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and ^fhe said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. ¹⁰Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, ^gto destroy the city for my sake. ¹¹Will ^hthe men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. ¹²Then said David, Will ^hthe men of Keilah ^†deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will ^†deliver thee up. ¹³Then David and his men, which were about ⁱsix hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and ^kwent whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth. ¹⁴And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of ^lZiph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. ¹⁵And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of ^lZiph in a wood.

¹⁶And ^mJonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. ¹⁷And 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 ⁿthat also Saul my father knoweth. ¹⁸And they two ^omade a covenant ^pbefore the Lord: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹Then ^qcame up the ^lZiphites to Saul to ^rGibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in ^sthe hill of Hachilah, which is ^†on the south of ^||Jeshimon? ²⁰Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to ^tdeliver him into the king’s hand. ²¹And Saul said, ^uBlessed be ye of the Lord; for ^wye have compassion on me. ²²Go, I pray you, prepare yet, 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 subtilly. ²³See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me ^xwith the 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 throughout all the thousands of Judah. ²⁴And they arose, and went to ^lZiph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of ^yMaon, in the plain on ^zthe south of Jeshimon. ²⁵Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down ^||into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. ²⁶And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made ^ahaste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them. ²⁷But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; ^bfor the Philistines have ^†invaded the land. ²⁸Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place ^||Sela-hammahlekoth.

²⁹And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at ^cEn-gedi.