¹⁹ Then ^(A)Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on ^(B)the hill of Hachilah, which is on the ^[a]south of ^[b]Jeshimon? ²⁰ Now then, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to ^[c]do so; and ^(C)our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” ²¹ Saul said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, ^(D)for you have had compassion on me. ²² Go now, make more sure, and investigate and see his place where his ^[d]haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning. ²³ So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he hides himself and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”

²⁴ Then they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of ^(E)Maon, in the Arabah to the ^[e]south of ^[f]Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. 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, for Saul and his men ^(F)were surrounding David and his men to seize them. ²⁷ But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land.” ²⁸ So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place ^[g]the Rock of Escape. ^29 [h]David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of ^(G)Engedi.

David Again Spares Saul

26 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “^(A)Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before ^[a]Jeshimon?” ² So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him ^(B)three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. ³ Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before ^[b]Jeshimon, ^(C)beside the road, and David was staying in the wilderness. When ^(D)he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, ⁴ David sent out spies, and he knew that Saul was definitely coming. ⁵ David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and ^(E)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.