1 Samuel 23:1-14

New King James Version

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against ^(A)Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”

² Therefore David ^(B)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ^[a]attack these Philistines?”

And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

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?” 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.” ⁵ And David and his men went to Keilah and ^(C)fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^(D)fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

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.” ⁸ Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹ When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, ^(E)he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah ^(F)to destroy the city for my sake. 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.”

¹² Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah ^[b]deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”

And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”

¹³ So David and his men, ^(G)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

¹⁴ And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in ^(H)the mountains in the Wilderness of ^(I)Ziph. Saul ^(J)sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.