David Delivers Keilah

23 Then they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against ^(A)Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors.” ² So David ^(B)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ^[a]attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and ^[b]attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah.” 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 ranks of the Philistines?” ⁴ Then David inquired of the Lord once more. And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for ^(C)I will give the Philistines into your hand.” ⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^(D)fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. ⁷ When it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has ^[c]delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.” ⁸ So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. ⁹ Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to ^(E)Abiathar the priest, “^(F)Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. ¹¹ Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just 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 surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “^(G)They will surrender you.” ¹³ Then David and his men, ^(H)about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went ^(I)wherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he ^[d]gave up the pursuit. ¹⁴ David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of ^(J)Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but ^(K)God did not deliver him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

¹⁵ Now David ^[e]became aware that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. ¹⁶ And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and ^[f](L)encouraged him in God. ¹⁷ Thus he said to him, “^(M)Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and ^(N)Saul my father knows that also.” ¹⁸ So ^(O)the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹ Then ^(P)Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on ^(Q)the hill of Hachilah, which is on the ^[g]south of ^[h]Jeshimon? ²⁰ Now then, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to ^[i]do so; and ^(R)our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” ²¹ Saul said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, ^(S)for you have had compassion on me. ²² Go now, make more sure, and investigate and see his place where his ^[j]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 ^(T)Maon, in the Arabah to the ^[k]south of ^[l]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 ^(U)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 ^[m]the Rock of Escape. ^29 [n]David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of ^(V)Engedi.

Qoph.

Unity of the Spirit

4 Therefore I, ^(A)the prisoner of the Lord, ^(B)implore you to ^(C)walk in a manner worthy of the ^(D)calling with which you have been ^(E)called, ² with all ^(F)humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another ^(G)in love, ³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the ^(H)bond of peace. ⁴ There is ^(I)one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one ^(J)hope of your calling; ^5 (K)one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all ^(L)who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But ^(M)to each one of us ^(N)grace was given ^(O)according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore ^[a]it says,

⁹ (Now this expression, “He ^(R)ascended,” what ^[b]does it mean except that He also ^[c]had descended into ^(S)the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is Himself also He who ascended ^(T)far above all the heavens, so that He might ^(U)fill all things.) ¹¹ And He ^(V)gave ^(W)some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as ^(X)evangelists, and some as pastors and ^(Y)teachers, ^12 (Z)for the equipping of the ^[d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of ^(AA)the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to ^(AB)the unity of the faith, and of the ^[e](AC)knowledge of the Son of God, to a ^(AD)mature man, to the measure of the stature ^[f]which belongs to the ^(AE)fullness of Christ. ^14 [g]As a result, we are ^(AF)no longer to be children, ^(AG)tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ^(AH)craftiness ^[h]in ^(AI)deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but ^[i]speaking the truth ^(AJ)in love, ^[j]we are to ^(AK)grow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^(AL)head, even Christ, ¹⁶ from whom ^(AM)the whole body, being fitted and held together ^[k]by what every joint supplies, according to the ^[l]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^(AN)in love.

The Christian’s Walk

^17 (AO)So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, ^(AP)that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the ^(AQ)futility of their mind, ¹⁸ being ^(AR)darkened in their understanding, ^[m](AS)excluded from the life of God because of the ^(AT)ignorance that is in them, because of the ^(AU)hardness of their heart; ¹⁹ and they, having ^(AV)become callous, ^(AW)have given themselves over to ^(AX)sensuality ^[n]for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁰ But you did not ^(AY)learn ^[o]Christ in this way, ²¹ if indeed you ^(AZ)have heard Him and have ^(BA)been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²² that, in reference to your former manner of life, you ^(BB)lay aside the ^(BC)old ^[p]self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ^(BD)lusts of deceit, ²³ and that you be ^(BE)renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and ^(BF)put on the ^(BG)new ^[q]self, which ^[r](BH)in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵ Therefore, ^(BI)laying aside falsehood, ^(BJ)speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are ^(BK)members of one another. ^26 (BL)Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not ^(BM)give the devil ^[s]an opportunity. ²⁸ He who steals must steal no longer; but rather ^(BN)he must labor, ^(BO)performing with his own hands what is good, ^(BP)so that he will have something to share with ^[t]one who has need. ²⁹ Let no ^[u](BQ)unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for ^(BR)edification ^[v]according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. ^30 (BS)Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^[w]by whom you were ^(BT)sealed for the day of redemption. ^31 (BU)Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be ^(BV)put away from you, along with all ^(BW)malice. ^32 (BX)Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, ^(BY)just as God in Christ also has forgiven ^[x]you.