1 Samuel 23 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

David Rescues Keilah

Then they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering (robbing) the threshing floors [of the grain].”

1Sa 23:2

1Sa 23:2So 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.”

1Sa 23:3

1Sa 23:3But David’s men said to him, “Listen, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the battle lines of the Philistines?”

1Sa 23:4

1Sa 23:4Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will hand over the Philistines to you.”

1Sa 23:5

1Sa 23:5So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines; he drove away their cattle and struck them with a great slaughter. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.

1Sa 23:6

When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.

1Sa 23:7

1Sa 23:7Now when Saul was informed that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has handed him over to me, for he shut himself in by entering a city that has double gates and bars.”

1Sa 23:8

1Sa 23:8So Saul summoned all the people (soldiers) for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

1Sa 23:9

1Sa 23:9But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”

1Sa 23:10

1Sa 23:10Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul intends to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.

1Sa 23:11

1Sa 23:11“Will the men of Keilah hand me over to him? 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.”

1Sa 23:12

1Sa 23:12Then David asked, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” The LORD said, “They will surrender you.”

1Sa 23:13

1Sa 23:13Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and left Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit.

1Sa 23:14

1Sa 23:14David stayed in the wilderness in strongholds, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.

Saul Pursues David

1Sa 23:15

Now David became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the Wilderness of Ziph [in the woods] at Horesh.

1Sa 23:16

1Sa 23:16And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went [into the woods] to David at Horesh, and [fn]encouraged him in God.

1Sa 23:17

1Sa 23:17He said to him, “Do not be afraid; the hand of my father Saul will not find you. You will be king over Israel and I will be second in command to you; my father Saul knows this too.”

1Sa 23:18

1Sa 23:18So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD; and David stayed [in the woods] at Horesh and Jonathan went to his house.

1Sa 23:19

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds of Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of [fn]Jeshimon?

1Sa 23:20

1Sa 23:20“Now then, O king, come down [to Ziph] in accordance with all your heart’s desire to do so [and capture him]; and our part shall be to hand him over to the king.”

1Sa 23:21

1Sa 23:21Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, because you have had compassion on me.

1Sa 23:22

1Sa 23:22“Go now, be very persistent and investigate, and see where his [fn]haunt is and who has seen him there; for I am told he is very cunning.

1Sa 23:23

1Sa 23:23“So look, and take note of all the places where he hides and come back to me with the established facts, then I will go with you. If he is [anywhere] in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”

1Sa 23:24

So they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.

1Sa 23:25

1Sa 23:25Then Saul and his men went to search for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed [there] in the Wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard it, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.

1Sa 23:26

1Sa 23:26Saul 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 were surrounding David and his men to capture them.

1Sa 23:27

1Sa 23:27But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, because the Philistines have attacked the land.”

1Sa 23:28

1Sa 23:28So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape.

1Sa 23:29

1Sa 23:29 [fn]David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.