1 Samuel 23

David Saves the City of Keilah

23Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against ^aKeilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”

²Therefore David ^binquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ¹attack these Philistines?”

And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

³But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” ⁴Then David inquired of the Lord once again.

And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” ⁵And David and his men went to Keilah and ^cfought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

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

⁷And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” ⁸Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, ^ehe said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah ^fto destroy the city for my sake. ¹¹Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, 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 ²deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”

And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”

¹³So David and his men, ^gabout six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.

David in Wilderness Strongholds

¹⁴And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in ^hthe mountains in the Wilderness of ⁱZiph. Saul ^jsought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. ¹⁵So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph ³in a forest. ¹⁶Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and ⁴strengthened his hand in God. ¹⁷And he said to him, ^k“Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. ^lEven my father Saul knows that.” ¹⁸So the two of them ^mmade a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.

¹⁹Then the Ziphites ⁿcame up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? ²⁰Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and ^oour part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”

²¹And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. ²²Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. ²³See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the ⁵clans of Judah.”

²⁴So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness ^pof Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. ²⁵When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down ⁶to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. ²⁶Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. ^qSo David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men ^rwere encircling David and his men to take them.

^27sBut a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” ²⁸Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place ⁷the Rock of Escape. ²⁹Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at ^tEn Gedi.