23:1 Now
they
told
David,
"Behold,
the
Philistines
are
fighting
against
Keilah
and
are
robbing
the
threshing
floors."
23:2 Therefore
David
inquired
of
the
LORD,
"Shall
I
go
and
attack
these
Philistines"
And
the
LORD
said
to
David,
"Go
and
attack
the
Philistines
and
save
Keilah."
23:3 But
David's
men
said
to
him,
"Behold,
we
are
afraid
here
in
Judah;
how
much
more
then
if
we
go
to
Keilah
against
the
armies
of
the
Philistines"
23:4 Then
David
inquired
of
the
LORD
again.
And
the
LORD
answered
him,
"Arise,
go
down
to
Keilah,
for
I
will
give
the
Philistines
into
your
hand."
23:5 And
David
and
his
men
went
to
Keilah
and
fought
with
the
Philistines
and
brought
away
their
livestock
and
struck
them
with
a
great
blow.
So
David
saved
the
inhabitants
of
Keilah.
23:6 When
Abiathar
the
son
of
Ahimelech
had
fled
to
David
to
Keilah,
he
had
come
down
with
an
ephod
in
his
hand.
23:7 Now
it
was
told
Saul
that
David
had
come
to
Keilah.
And
Saul
said,
"God
has
given
him
into
my
hand,
for
he
has
shut
himself
in
by
entering
a
town
that
has
gates
and
bars."
23:8 And
Saul
summoned
all
the
people
to
war,
to
go
down
to
Keilah,
to
besiege
David
and
his
men.
23:9 David
knew
that
Saul
was
plotting
harm
against
him.
And
he
said
to
Abiathar
the
priest,
"Bring
the
ephod
here."
23:10 Then
said
David,
"O
LORD,
the
God
of
Israel,
your
servant
has
surely
heard
that
Saul
seeks
to
come
to
Keilah,
to
destroy
the
city
on
my
account.
23:11 Will
the
men
of
Keilah
surrender
me
into
his
hand
Will
Saul
come
down,
as
your
servant
has
heard
O
LORD,
the
God
of
Israel,
please
tell
your
servant."
And
the
LORD
said,
"He
will
come
down."
23:12 Then
David
said,
"Will
the
men
of
Keilah
surrender
me
and
my
men
into
the
hand
of
Saul"
And
the
LORD
said,
"They
will
surrender
you."
23:13 Then
David
and
his
men,
who
were
about
six
hundred,
arose
and
departed
from
Keilah,
and
they
went
wherever
they
could
go.
When
Saul
was
told
that
David
had
escaped
from
Keilah,
he
gave
up
the
expedition.
23:14 And
David
remained
in
the
strongholds
in
the
wilderness,
in
the
hill
country
of
the
wilderness
of
Ziph.
And
Saul
sought
him
every
day,
but
God
did
not
give
him
into
his
hand.
23:15 David
saw
that
Saul
had
come
out
to
seek
his
life.
David
was
in
the
wilderness
of
Ziph
at
Horesh.
23:16 And
Jonathan,
Saul's
son,
rose
and
went
to
David
at
Horesh,
and
strengthened
his
hand
in
God.
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.
Saul
my
father
also
knows
this."
23:18 And
the
two
of
them
made
a
covenant
before
the
LORD.
David
remained
at
Horesh,
and
Jonathan
went
home.
23:19 Then
the
Ziphites
went
up
to
Saul
at
Gibeah,
saying,
"Is
not
David
hiding
among
us
in
the
strongholds
at
Horesh,
on
the
hill
of
Hachilah,
which
is
south
of
Jeshimon
23:20 Now
come
down,
O
king,
according
to
all
your
heart's
desire
to
come
down,
and
our
part
shall
be
to
surrender
him
into
the
king's
hand."
23:21 And
Saul
said,
"May
you
be
blessed
by
the
LORD,
for
you
have
had
compassion
on
me.
23:22 Go,
make
yet
more
sure.
Know
and
see
the
place
where
his
foot
is,
and
who
has
seen
him
there,
for
it
is
told
me
that
he
is
very
cunning.
23:23 See
therefore
and
take
note
of
all
the
lurking
places
where
he
hides,
and
come
back
to
me
with
sure
information.
Then
I
will
go
with
you.
And
if
he
is
in
the
land,
I
will
search
him
out
among
all
the
thousands
of
Judah."
23:24 And
they
arose
and
went
to
Ziph
ahead
of
Saul.
Now
David
and
his
men
were
in
the
wilderness
of
Maon,
in
the
Arabah
to
the
south
of
Jeshimon.
23:25 And
Saul
and
his
men
went
to
seek
him.
And
David
was
told,
so
he
went
down
to
the
rock
and
lived
in
the
wilderness
of
Maon.
And
when
Saul
heard
that,
he
pursued
after
David
in
the
wilderness
of
Maon.
23:26 Saul
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.
As
Saul
and
his
men
were
closing
in
on
David
and
his
men
to
capture
them,
23:27 a
messenger
came
to
Saul,
saying,
"Hurry
and
come,
for
the
Philistines
have
made
a
raid
against
the
land."
23:28 So
Saul
returned
from
pursuing
after
David
and
went
against
the
Philistines.
Therefore
that
place
was
called
the
Rock
of
Escape.
23:29 And
David
went
up
from
there
and
lived
in
the
strongholds
of
Engedi.