1 Kingdoms 23

1And it was told to David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are at war against Keilah. They are robbing and trampling upon the threshing floors.”

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2Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, 'Shall I go and attack these Philistines?' And the Lord said to David, 'Go and attack these Philistines and save Keilah.'

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3But David's men said to him, 'Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more so if we go to Keilah, to go after the plunder of the Philistines?'

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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 hands.'

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5And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, and the Philistines fled from his presence, and David carried off their livestock and struck them with a mighty blow. David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

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6Now when Abiathar the son of Abimelech fled to David and was with David at Keilah, he went down with an ephod in his hand.

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7And Saul was told that David went to Keilah. So Saul said, 'God sold him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with gates and bars.'

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8Then Saul charged all the people to go down to war against Keilah and to hold David and his men as prisoners.

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9When David knew Saul had not kept silent about the evil against him, David said to Abiathar the priest, 'Bring the ephod of the Lord.'

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10Then David said, 'O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.

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11Will he close in upon me? Will Saul come down now, as Your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, tell Your servant.' And the Lord said, 'He will close in upon you.'

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12So David and his men, about four hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was announced to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.

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13And David stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and remained in the mountain of Ziph, which was dry country. Saul sought him every day, but the Lord did not deliver him into his hands.

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14So David saw that Saul had come out to seek him. And David was on the arid mountain in New Ziph.

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15Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in New Ziph and strengthened his hands in the Lord.

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16And 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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17So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in New Ziph, and Jonathan went to his own house.

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18Then the Ziphites came up from the dry places to Saul, who was upon the hill, saying, 'Behold, is David not hiding with us in Messara, in the strongholds in New Ziph, in the hill of Hachilah on the south of Jeshimon?

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19Now come down to us, according to all the desire of the king.' They cornered him in for the hands of the king.

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20And Saul said, 'Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have toiled on my account.

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21Please go and make more preparations. See the place where his hideout is and tell me quickly, lest by any means he escape through cunning.

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22See therefore and know, and we will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search for him among the thousands of Judah.'

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23So the Ziphites arose and went before Saul.

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24But David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the wilderness of Maon, westward and to the right of Jessaemon. So Saul and his men went to seek him. It was reported to David, and he went down to the rock in the Desert of Maon. And Saul heard and pursued David in the Desert of Maon.

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25Then Saul and his men went on one side of this mountain, and David and his men on the other side of this mountain. And David was hiding himself to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them.

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26But a messenger came to Saul, saying, 'Hasten and come here quickly, for the Philistines have invaded the land!'

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27Therefore Saul turned back from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines in battle. So they called that place the Rock of Dividing.

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