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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Samuel 23 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

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David Saves the City of Keilah
David Escapes to the Wilderness

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:1 - Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:2 - Therefore 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:3 - But 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?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:4 - Then 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:5 - And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:6 - Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:7 - And 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:8 - Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:9 - When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:10 - Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:11 - “Will 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.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:12 - Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will deliver you.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:13 - So David and his men, about 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

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:14 - And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:15 - So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:16 - Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:17 - And he said to him, “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. Even my father Saul knows that.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:18 - So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:19 - Then the Ziphites came 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?

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:20 - “Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:21 - And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, for you have compassion on me.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:22 - “Please 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:23

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:23 - “See 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 clans[fn] of Judah.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:24

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:24 - So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:25

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:25 - When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:26

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:26 - Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:27

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:27 - But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:28

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:28 - Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:29

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:29 - Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.
See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NKJV Footnotes
Or in Horesh
Literally thousands
Hebrew Sela Hammahlekoth
NKJV

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.

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1 Samuel Chapter 23 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New Living Translation New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras