1 Samuel 23:19-29

New Century Version

¹⁹ The people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and told him, “David is hiding in our land. He’s at the hideouts of Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon. ²⁰ Now, our king, come down anytime you want. It’s our duty to hand David over to you.”

²¹ Saul answered, “The Lord bless you for helping me. ²² Go and learn more about him. Find out where he is staying and who has seen him there. I have heard that he is clever. ²³ Find all the hiding places he uses, and come back and tell me everything. Then I’ll go with you. If David is in the area, I will track him down among all the families in Judah.”

²⁴ So they went back to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon^[a] in the desert area south of Jeshimon. ²⁵ Saul and his men went to look for David, but David heard about it and went down to a rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard that, he followed David into the Desert of Maon.

²⁶ Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side. They were hurrying to get away from Saul, because Saul and his men were closing in on them. ²⁷ But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly! The Philistines are attacking our land!” ²⁸ So Saul stopped chasing David and went to challenge the Philistines. That is why people call this place Rock of Parting. ²⁹ David also left the Desert of Maon and stayed in the hideouts of En Gedi.