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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Samuel 23 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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David Protects the Town of Keilah

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:1 - One day news came to David that the Philistines were at Keilah stealing grain from the threshing floors.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:2 - David asked the LORD, “Should I go and attack them?”
“Yes, go and save Keilah,” the LORD told him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:3 - But David’s men said, “We’re afraid even here in Judah. We certainly don’t want to go to Keilah to fight the whole Philistine army!”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:4 - So David asked the LORD again, and again the LORD replied, “Go down to Keilah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:5 - So David and his men went to Keilah. They slaughtered the Philistines and took all their livestock and rescued the people of Keilah.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:6 - Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he brought the ephod with him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:7 - Saul soon learned that David was at Keilah. “Good!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got him now! God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself in a walled town!”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:8 - So Saul mobilized his entire army to march to Keilah and besiege David and his men.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:9 - But David learned of Saul’s plan and told Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and ask the LORD what he should do.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:10 - Then David prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:11 - Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him?[fn] And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell me.”
And the LORD said, “He will come.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:12 - Again David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?”
And the LORD replied, “Yes, they will betray you.”
David Hides in the Wilderness

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:13 - So David and his men—about 600 of them now—left Keilah and began roaming the countryside. Word soon reached Saul that David had escaped, so he didn’t go to Keilah after all.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:14 - David now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:15 - One day near Horesh, David received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:16 - Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:17 - “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:18 - So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the LORD. Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:19 - But now the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah and betrayed David to him. “We know where David is hiding,” they said. “He is in the strongholds of Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which is in the southern part of Jeshimon.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:20 - Come down whenever you’re ready, O king, and we will catch him and hand him over to you!”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:21 - “The LORD bless you,” Saul said. “At last someone is concerned about me!

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:22 - Go and check again to be sure of where he is staying and who has seen him there, for I know that he is very crafty.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:23

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:23 - Discover his hiding places, and come back when you are sure. Then I’ll go with you. And if he is in the area at all, I’ll track him down, even if I have to search every hiding place in Judah!”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:24

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:24 - So the men of Ziph returned home ahead of Saul.
Meanwhile, David and his men had moved into the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah Valley south of Jeshimon.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:25

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:25 - When David heard that Saul and his men were searching for him, he went even farther into the wilderness to the great rock, and he remained there in the wilderness of Maon. But Saul kept after him in the wilderness.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:26

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:26 - Saul and David were now on opposite sides of a mountain. Just as Saul and his men began to close in on David and his men,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:27

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:27 - an urgent message reached Saul that the Philistines were raiding Israel again.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:28

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:28 - So Saul quit chasing David and returned to fight the Philistines. Ever since that time, the place where David was camped has been called the Rock of Escape.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 23:29

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 23:29 - [fn]David then went to live in the strongholds of En-gedi.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Some manuscripts lack the first sentence of 23:11.
Hebrew Sela-hammahlekoth.
Verse 23:29 is numbered 24:1 in Hebrew text.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

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

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1 Samuel Chapter 23 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version 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