1 Samuel 22–23

Chapter 22

The Priests Slain at Nob

¹So David departed from there and ^aescaped to ^bthe cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him.

²Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who ¹was in debt, and everyone who was ²discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were ^aabout four hundred men with him.

³And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”

⁴Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

^5aThe prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

⁶Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now ^aSaul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.

⁷Saul said to his servants who stood around him, “Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? ^aWill he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

⁸“For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who ¹discloses to me ^awhen my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you ^bwho is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day.”

⁹Then ^aDoeg the Edomite, who was ¹standing by the servants of Saul, said, “^bI saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to ^cAhimelech the son of Ahitub.

¹⁰“^aHe inquired of the Lord for him, ^bgave him provisions, and ^cgave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹Then the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king.

¹²Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” And he ¹answered, “Here I am, my lord.”

¹³Saul then said to him, “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he would rise up against me ^aby lying in ambush as it is this day?”

^14aThen Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, even the king’s son-in-law, who ¹is captain over your guard, and is honored in your house?

¹⁵“Did I just begin ^ato inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! ^bDo not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing ¹at all of this whole affair.”

¹⁶But the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s household!”

¹⁷And ^athe king said to the ¹guards who were attending him, “Turn around and put the priests of the Lord to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not ²reveal it to me.” But the ^bservants of the king were not willing to put forth their hands to ³attack the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and ¹attack the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned around and ²attacked the priests, and ^ahe killed that day eighty-five men ^bwho wore the linen ephod.

¹⁹And ^ahe struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword.

²⁰But ^aone son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, ^bescaped and fled after David.

²¹Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

²²Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when ^aDoeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household.

²³“Stay with me; do not be afraid, for ^ahe who seeks my life seeks your life, for you are ¹safe with me.”

Chapter 23

David Delivers Keilah

¹Then they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against ^aKeilah and are plundering the threshing floors.”

²So David ^ainquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ¹attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah.”

³But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?”

⁴Then David inquired of the Lord once more. And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for ^aI will give the Philistines into your hand.”

⁵So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^afled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷When it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has ¹delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.”

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

⁹Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to ^aAbiathar the priest, “^bBring the ephod here.”

¹⁰Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account.

¹¹“Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? 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 said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “^aThey will surrender you.”

¹³Then David and his men, ^aabout six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went ^bwherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he ¹gave up the pursuit.

¹⁴David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of ^aZiph. And Saul sought him every day, but ^bGod did not deliver him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

¹⁵Now David ¹became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.

¹⁶And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and ^1aencouraged him in God.

¹⁷Thus he said to him, “^aDo not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and ^bSaul my father knows that also.”

¹⁸So ^athe two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹Then ^aZiphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on ^bthe hill of Hachilah, which is on the ¹south of ²Jeshimon?

²⁰“Now then, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to ¹do so; and ^aour part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.”

²¹Saul said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, ^afor you have had compassion on me.

²²“Go now, make more sure, and investigate and see his place where his ¹haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning.

²³“So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he hides himself and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”

²⁴Then they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of ^aMaon, in the Arabah to the ¹south of ²Jeshimon.

²⁵When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And 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 ^awere surrounding David and his men to seize them.

²⁷But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land.”

²⁸So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place ¹the Rock of Escape.

²⁹¹David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of ^aEngedi.