1 Samuel 23
GOD’S WORD Translation
David Saves the City of Keilah
23 David was asked, “Did you know that the Philistines are fighting against Keilah? They are robbing the threshing floors.” [a]
2 David asked the Lord, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?”
“Go,” the Lord told David, “attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”
3 David’s men told him, “We’re afraid of staying here in Judah. How much more ⌞afraid do you think we’ll be⌟ if we go to Keilah against the Philistine army?”
4 David asked the Lord again, and the Lord answered him. He said, “Go to Keilah. I’m giving you the power to defeat the Philistines.”
5 David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines, drove off their livestock, and decisively defeated them. So David rescued the people who lived in Keilah.
6 When Ahimelech’s son Abiathar fled to David at Keilah, Abiathar brought a priestly ephod [b] with him.
7 When Saul was told that David went to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hands. He has trapped himself by going into a city which has ⌞a gate with⌟ a double door ⌞held shut by⌟ a bar.” 8 So Saul called together all the troops to go to war and blockade Keilah, where David and his men were.
9 When David learned that Saul was planning to harm him, he told the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod.” 10 Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, I have actually heard that Saul is going to come to Keilah and destroy the city on account of me. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come here as I have heard? Lord God of Israel, please tell me.”
“He will come,” the Lord answered.
12 “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” David asked.
“They will hand you over,” the Lord answered.
13 So David and his men, about six hundred [c] in all, left Keilah. They went wherever they could go. Then Saul was told, “David has escaped from Keilah!” So he gave up the campaign. 14 David lived in fortified camps in the desert, and he lived in fortified camps in the mountains of the desert of Ziph. Saul was always searching for him, but God didn’t let him capture David.
David in the Desert of Ziph
15 David was afraid because [d] Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph. 16 Saul’s son Jonathan came to David at Horesh. He strengthened David’s ⌞faith⌟ in the Lord.[e] 17 “Don’t be afraid,” he told David, “my father Saul won’t find you. You will rule Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this.” 18 Both of them made a pledge in the Lord’s presence. David stayed in Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
19 Then the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah. They said, “David is hiding with us in fortified camps at Horesh on the hills of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon. 20 Come, Your Majesty, whenever you want. We will hand him over to you.”
21 Saul responded, “The Lord bless you for feeling sorry for me! 22 Please make more plans, and watch where he goes. Who has seen him there? I’m told he’s very clever. 23 Watch and learn about all the hiding places where he may be hiding, and come back to me with the facts. Then I’ll go with you, and if he’s in the country, I’ll search for him among all the families of Judah.” 24 They left for Ziph ahead of Saul.
David in the Desert of Maon
David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plains south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men came to look for him, David was told the news. So he went to his mountain stronghold in the desert of Maon. Saul heard about it and pursued David into the desert of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, and Saul and his men were going around ⌞the mountain⌟ toward David and his men, trying to capture them. 27 Then a messenger came to Saul and said, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the country.”
28 Saul gave up pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. So that place was called Slippery Rock.[f] 29 From there David went to stay in the fortified camps of En Gedi.
Footnotes
- 23:1 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks.
- 23:6 Ephod is a technical term for a part of the priest’s clothes. Its exact usage and shape are unknown.
- 23:13 Masoretic Text; Greek “four hundred.”
- 23:15 Or “David saw that.”
- 23:16 Dead Sea Scrolls, Greek; Masoretic Text “in God.”
- 23:28 1 Samuel 23:29 in English Bibles is 1 Samuel 24:1 in the Hebrew Bible.
1 Samuel 23
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. 15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph [c]in a forest. 16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and [d]strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, (K)“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. (L)Even my father Saul knows that.” 18 So the two of them (M)made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.
19 Then the Ziphites (N)came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and (O)our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”
21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. 22 Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. 23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the [e]clans of Judah.”
24 So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness (P)of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down [f]to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. (Q)So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men (R)were encircling David and his men to take them.
27 (S)But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place [g]the Rock of Escape. 29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at (T)En Gedi.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 23:2 Lit. strike
- 1 Samuel 23:12 Lit. shut up
- 1 Samuel 23:15 Or in Horesh
- 1 Samuel 23:16 encouraged him
- 1 Samuel 23:23 Lit. thousands
- 1 Samuel 23:25 Or from the rock
- 1 Samuel 23:28 Heb. Sela Hammahlekoth
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Ang Bagong Tipan: Filipino Standard Version, Copyright © Philippine Bible Society 2009.
